Redartz: Okay, today we have a sort-of 3-in-1 discussion. Let me explain...
The other day I was listening to a playlist on my tablet, a very eclectic one I might add. One song that came up was "Heartless" by Heart. It suddenly struck me as somewhat amusing that a song with that title would be performed by a group with that particular name; call it ironic, call it oddity, call it a "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" from the artists. Anyway, I got to thinking, what other song titles become amusing when paired with the performer's name? Another one that quickly came to mind was "Who Are You?, by the Who. A busy work day prevented me from coming up with more, and that's where you come in.
Today, we'll play a little musical wordplay game (hence the triple category discussion above). What song titles can you link to a performer in order to make it ironic, punny, amusing, self-contradictory? And for our exercise, you aren't limited to songs and the specific artists who performed them. You are free to pull any song title and join it to any musical artist. For instance, I submit a one-hit wonder group from 1975, (known for "Magic"): performing an Alan Parsons hit, gives you Pilot, "Eye in the Sky". Get it? Granted, not the greatest example; but you can do better. Have at it, crew...
13 comments:
The Who also get points in this category for their album Who's Next.
Otherwise, I can only think of bands who had songs with very apropos titles, like Queen with "Killer Queen" or the Cars with "Cruiser" and "Drive," or, say, the Doors, with their cover of "Back Door Man."
Madonna's "Like A Virgin" was rather ironic considering her raunchy bad-girl persona at the time. But the song's title is also rather amusing as The Virgin Mary is also known as The Madonna.
As we can mix any song with any artist:
The Carpenters singing "Wooden Heart" or "Knock On Wood".
Mick Jagger singing "Papa Was A Rolling Stone".
Paul McCartney singing "Wind Beneath My Wings".
The Mamas & The Papas singing "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah".
How about “The Stranglers” doing Black Sabbath “Paranoid” or ELO “Evil Woman “ LOL
“Johnny Hates Jazz” could sing “My Baby Just Cares for Me” which was a big hit for Nina Simone in 1988 when Johnny’s “Shattered Dreams” was huge.
A few I can think of:
War doing there own "Why Can't We Be Friends"
The Clash singing "Why Can't We Be Friends"
Third Eye Blind singing "See Me Feel Me"
Human League singing Kiss' "Almost Human"
The Call singing Adele's "Hello"
Propaganda singing Spandau Ballet's "True"
Genesis singing The Doors "The End"
Huey Lewis And The News singing Magazine's "About The Weather" (and traffic on the 9s)
The Blues Travelers singing Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound"
The Runaways singing Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound"
The Police singing Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law"
Soft Cell singing Simon And Garfunkel's "I Am A Rock"
Tears For Fears singing Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears"
For this one, you have to really, REALLY, be into indie rock...
Aloha singing The Beatles "Hello Goodbye"
Last one,
David Bowie singing Bryan Adams "Cuts Like A Knife"
Thanks, you've been wonderful, don't forget to tip your wait staff
(Pop pop pop music
Pop pop pop music
Get up...
Pop pop pop music
Pop pop pop music
Get down...
Radio, video
Boogie with a suitcase
Your livin' in a disco
Forget about the rat race
Let's do the milkshake, sellin' like a hotcake
Try some buy some fee-fi-for-fum
Talk about, pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Talk about pop music
Talk about pop music
Pop pop pop music
Pop pop pop music
Shoobie doobie do wop
I wanna dedicate this
Pop pop shoo wop
Everybody made it
Shoobie doobie do wop
Infiltrate it
Pop pop shoo wop
Activate it
New York, London, Paris, Munich
Everybody talk about pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Pop pop pop musik
Singing in the subway
Shuffle with a shoe shine
Fix me a molotov
I'm on the headline
Wanna be a gun slinger
Don't be a rock singer
Eenie meenie mynie moe
Tell me where you wanna go
Talk about, pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Shoobie doobie do wop
Lyin' in the tree
Pop pop shoo wop
Eenee meenie
Shoobie doobie do wop
Infortrate it
Pop pop shoo wop
You know what I mean
Hit it...
Now you know what to say...
Talk about, pop musik
Pop pop pop pop musik
All around the world
Wherever you are
Dance in the street anything you like
Do it in your car in the middle of the night
La la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la
Dance in the supermart
Dig it in the fastlane
Listen to the countdown
They're playin' our song again
I can't get jumping jack
I wanna hold - get back
Moonlight muzak
Knick knack patty whack
Talk about, pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Shoobie doobie do wop
It's all around you
Pop pop shoo wop
Gonna suround you
Shoobie doobie do wop
It's all around
Pop pop shoo wop
Hit it...
New York, London, Paris, Munich
Everybody talk about pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Talk about, pop musik
Pop pop pop pop musik
Now... Listen...
Talk about,
Pop pop pop pop musik).
From Terry in Virginia:
Not necessarily titles matching band names, but for self-referencing, I've come up with a few:
Jefferson Airplane did a cover of Donovan's "Fat Angel," which included the line, "Fly Jefferson Airplane .. gets you there on time."
Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar" included the line, "Oh, by the way, which one's Pink?" (and you could argue that the entirety of the Wish You Were Here album as well as portions of Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were mostly about their founder, Syd Barrett.
King Crimson's very first album (and its title track) was called "In the Court of the Crimson King."
The Beatles: On their album titled The Beatles (aka "The White Album"), John Lennon's "Glass Onion" contained many references to Beatles songs (e.g. "I told you about Strawberry Fields" or "And here's another clue for you all: the walrus was Paul."
John Lennon, in his scathing, mean-spirited attack on Paul McCartney, "How Do You Sleep," says "The only thing you done was 'Yesterday'; and since you've gone you're just 'Another Day' (the latter an early McCartney single). While I take issue with the nastiness, I also think it's an outstanding track off the Imagine album.
Paul McCartney, perhaps in response to Lennon, performed the song "Dear Friend" on his Wings Wild Life album, directly addressing Lennon.
Finally, The Rolling Stones, on their circa 1994 semi-acoustic album, finally got around to covering Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone."
That's all that comes to mind right now.
Terry in Virginia
Great comments, all! Keep em coming...
Oh, and Prowl- your lyrical contribution if M's "Pop Music" put another variation in my head.
M , or MFSB, or ABC doing Donald Fagen's "IGY" or ABBA's "SOS"
I'm gonna take a run at this:
Rush with "Rush Rush" (Paula Abdul)
Kiss with "Kiss" (Prince)
Sailor with "Sail On, Sailor" (Beach Boys)
Police with "Police and Thieves" (Junior Murvin)
America with "Africa" (Toto)
Europe with "Australia" Manic Street Preachers)
The Christians "Livin' On a Prayer" (Bon Jovi)
Rainbow, "Umbrella" (Rihanna)
Some interesting cover versions perhaps!
Eddie Money - Can't Buy Me Love
Since Terry noted the Stones covering Dylan's famous song, I have to say I've always wanted them to cover Dr. Hook's "Cover of the The Rolling Stone."
Hi All,
Please stay with me here, I’m going for bonus points:
Black Square by the White Stripes
Cold Turkey by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Wake me up before you go go by Tangerine Dream
Paper Roses by Yellow Card
We belong to the Night by Green Day
Be Happy by the Moody Blues
Shallow Grave by Deep Purple
Infra Red by Ultra Violet
Pleasant Valley Sunday by Black Sabbath
….and that, unless I’m mistaken, is a rainbow bookended with white & black.
Cheers
Richard
Richard- no worries, it's never too late to shoot for bonus points! Great list; especially love "Pleasant Valley Sunday" with Black Sabbath. Thanks for joining in!
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