In popular music, there are approximately 10 zillion songs that mention other songs in popular music. One of my favorites is Sly and the Family Stone’s Thank You, which references several Sly songs: - Dance to the musicAll night longEvery day peopleSing A Simple Song
- The Beatles appear frequently in this list. Glass Onion mentions several songs by the group. All You Need Is Love lifts a snippet of She Loves You; similarly, the Rutles’ Love Life echoes Hold My Hand. John Lennon famously mentions Sgt Pepper and Yesterday in his How Do You Sleep? Harry Nilsson’s You Can’t Do That references several Beatles songs.
- Perhaps my favorite linkage is the one that starts with Neil Young’s Southern Man, which is name-checked in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama, which in turn is quoted in Play It All Night Long by Warren Zevon.
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That Rockpile guy
- However, one that I somehow managed to miss is Nick Lowe’s All Men Are Liars. I have the album Party Of One, on which it appears. But until Lowe’s birthday at the end of March, I managed to miss this particular reference:
Do you remember Rick Astley?He had a big fat hit that was ghastlyHe said I’m never gonna give you up or let you downWell, I’m here to tell ya that dick’s a clownThough he was just a boy when he made that vowI’d bet it all that he knows by now
Some other songs:
Tom Petty’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream” (Del Shannon’s Runaway)
The Kinks’ Destroyer (The Kinks’ Lola and All Day and All of the Night
The Stills-Young Band’s Long May You Run (The Beach Boys’ Caroline, No)
Arthur Conley’s Sweet Soul Music (a bunch of soul classics by Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson & the Miracles)
What are your favorite songs that namecheck other songs?
Gunhill Road’s 1970’s bubblegum hit “Back When My Hair Was Short” references the Turbans’ doo-wop classic “When You Dance,” complete with a few bars of the song itself.
Bobby Darin’s “Splish Splash” mentions Lollipop (the Chordettes), Peggy Sue (Buddy Holly) and Good Golly, Miss Molly (Little Richard).
Peter Paul & Mary’s “I Dig Rock and Roll Music” not only name-checks the Beatles, Donovan, and the Mama’s and the Papa’s, the trio also tries singing in the style of those artists in the track as well.
Bruce Springsteen mentions Roy Orbison singing for the lonely in “Thunder Road.”
Johnny Rivers references both the album and song “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in his song “Summer Rain” from his pseudo-psychedelic album “Realization.”