List of answer songs

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This is an incomplete list of songs, which can or may never satisfy any objective standard for completeness. Revisions and additions are welcome.

This is a list of answer songs, songs that refer directly to another song or that are meant as a reply to another song. It is organized alphabetically by title.

Songs that refer to themselves should be listed at List of self-referential songs.

Contents

0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


[edit] 0–9

[edit] A

  • "Annie Had A Baby" and "Annies's Aunt Fanny" by Hank Ballard are followup songs to his Work With Me, Annie.
  • "The Answer Is Clear" by Peter Murphy is an answer to former Bauhaus bandmate Daniel Ash's song "The Movement of Fear" (recorded by Ash's side project Tones on Tail), which was a song written in second person to Murphy.
  • "Ashes To Ashes" by David Bowie makes reference to the character of Major Tom from his earlier "Space Oddity", talking about how connection was re-established with the wiser-for-the-wear astronaut who exiled himself in space. He also returns in Bowie's duet with Pet Shop Boys Hallo Spaceboy where the original wordings are thrown around creating a catastrophe scenario during take-off with references to sexual ambivalence.

[edit] B

  • "Baby Bitch" by Ween is a bitter song about the same person that the earlier Ween song "Birthday Boy" was written about. The singer mentions; "Wrote 'Birthday Boy' for you, babe".
  • "Baby, Hold On" by Eddie Money is a response to "Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be)"[citation needed] by Doris Day with the lyrics "'whatever will be, will be...the future is ours to see.'"
  • "Bad Old World" by New Model Army is a response to the same band's "Green and Grey". "Green and Grey" takes the form of a letter from Justin Sullivan to an old friend who moved away to "the land of gold and poison" and dropped out of touch. "Bad Old World" is the friend's response.
  • "Bandwitch" by Broken Social Scene contains a fragment from Carole King's popular classic, "You've Got A Friend".
  • "Bark, Battle and Bawl" by The Platters is a response to "Shake, Rattle and Roll" by Big Joe Turner and Bill Haley and His Comets, and opens with a direct reference to the opening verse of that song.
  • "The Best Song In the World" (aka "Tribute" in the album version) by Tenacious D refers obliquely to "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin; the stage version contains lots of Stairway riffs; the album version, for legal reasons, contains much less.
  • "Boom I Got Your Boyfriend" by M.C. Luscious is an answer to "Boom I Got Your Girlfriend" by Boyz From the Bottom. The group also produced the response song, which was more popular than the original.
  • "Bossy" by Kelis has an answer lyric to 50 Cent's "Piggybank" The Lyric "That's right, I brought all the boys to the yard/And that's right, I'm the one who's tattooed on his arm," in response to 50 Cent rapping, "Kelis said her milkshake bring all the boys to the yard/Then Nas went and tattooed the bitch on his arm" in his song.
  • "But Julian, I'm a Little Older Than You", by Courtney Love, is an answer to The Strokes' song "Meet Me In The Bathroom", about a fling between Love and Julian Casablancas.
  • "Bye Bye Johnny" by Chuck Berry is a sequel to and references the events in "Johnny B. Good".
  • "BB King Was Wrong" by John Gorka answers "The Thrill is Gone" by saying "BB King was wrong/The thrill, it isn't gone/The thrill, it is here, it is now, it is strong."

[edit] C

[edit] D

Daddy's home - to stay
I'm not a thousand miles away
Iggy says I wanna be your dog,
But I want you to be a devil dog.
  • "Don't Wanna Know Why", written by Ryan Adams, on the Whiskeytown album Pneumonia was written in response to a song called "You Never Say Goodbye" by an unnamed musician.
  • "Dreams" by Gabrielle was a positive response to Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" and originally contained the same guitar sample.
  • "Dublin Blues" by Guy Clark includes this tribute to Doc Watson: "I have seen the David/I've seen the Mona Lisa too/And I have heard Doc Watson play 'Columbus Stockade Blues.'"

[edit] E

  • "Eden is Burning" by John Mellencamp starts with the line, "Diane and Jack went to the movies," an obvious reference to his classic, "Jack and Diane."
  • "El Paso City" by Marty Robbins refers in detail to his earlier hit "El Paso," although he says "I don't recall who sang the song, but I recall the story that I heard."
  • "Emancipate Myself" by Thirsty Merc opens with the lines "'Every breath you take...' as if I'd sing that song to you", referring to The Police's song of the same name (and misinterpreting it).[citation needed]
  • Exile in Guyville (the album) by Liz Phair is generally considered to be a song-by-song response to The Rolling Stones' classic Exile on Main Street.
  • "Everytime" by Britney Spears is a response to Justin Timberlake's songs "Cry Me A River" and "Never Again". She refers to the song in the line "I may have made it rain, please forgive me. My weakness caused you pain, and this song's my sorry" - referring to her "supposed" affair.

[edit] F

  • "The Father Of A Boy Named Sue" is Shel Silverstein's sequel to his earlier song "A Boy Named Sue".
  • "Fred Jones Part 2" by Ben Folds is a sequel to "Cigarette" by Ben Folds Five
  • "F.U.R.B. (Fuck U Right Back)" by Frankee answers Eamon's "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)".
  • "Fuck Vans" by Drino Man answers to The Pack's Vans.
  • According to critics, "Fourth Time Around" is Bob Dylan's answer to The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)." While Dylan doesn't directly refer to the Beatles song, his song is uncannily similar in melody and subject matter.

[edit] G

"Played them all the old songs, thought that's why they came
"No one heard the music, we didn't look the same
"I said hello to "Mary Lou", she belongs to me
"When I sang a song about a honky-tonk, it was time to leave"
"I told you about strawberry fields
you know the place where nothing is real...
We'll here's another place you can go,
where everything flows..."
. . .
"...Looking through a glass onion..."
. . .
"I told you about the walrus and me, man
you know we're as close as can be, man
Well here's another clue for you all,
The walrus was Paul."
. . .
"...Standing on the cast iron shore- yeah...
Lady Madonna trying to make ends meet- yeah"
. . .
"I told you about the fool on the hill
I tell you man he's living there still"
. . .
"Fixing a hole in the ocean.."
  • "God Tonight (Beat Me Senseless Mix)" by Real Life contains the line "Couldn't I just send you an angel instead?", which of course refers to their hit, "Send Me An Angel". It could be a reference to the song of the same name by Scorpions.
  • "Gordon's Not A Moron" by Julie and Gordon is a reply to "Jilted John" by Jilted John, supposedly by the girl who jilted him and her new boyfriend. The title refers to the original song's refrain "Gordon is a moron".

[edit] H

  • "He'll Have to Stay" Jeannie Black answers "He'll Have To Go" by Jim Reeves.
  • "Hope" from R.E.M.'s Up uses the same lyrical structure as Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne." Because of this, Cohen is credited as a co-writer of the song.
  • The title of "How He Wrote Elastica Man" by Elastica, featuring guest Mark E. Smith on vocals, refers to the song "How I Wrote Elastic Man" by Smith's band The Fall. (Note that "Elastic Man" is not actually the title of a song Smith ever wrote.)
  • "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen is the 1972 answer song to 1950's "Hot Rod Race" by various artists.

[edit] I

  • "I'll Bring It Home" by Carla Thomas, was the reply to Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home to Me."
  • "I Am The Walrus" by The Beatles makes reference to one of their previous songs "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
"See how they fly like Lucy in the sky, see how they run"
  • "I Hate Hate Haters" by NOFX was a humorous response to another punk rock song, "I Hate Hate" by the Reagan Youth.
  • "If You Want To Sex Me Up" by TCF Crew is an answer song to "I Want To Sex You Up" by Color Me Badd.
  • "I'll Save The Last Dance For You" by Damita Jo is the answer song to "Save The Last Dance For Me" by The Drifters. [1]
  • "(I'm Not Your) Wild Thing" by Dizzie Dee is a female answer version of Tone Loc's "Wild Thing".
  • "I'm Mr. Big Stuff" by Jimmy Hicks refers to Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff"
  • "I'm That Type Of Nigga" by Tony MF Rock is a hardcore reply to L.L. Cool J.'s track "I'm That Type Of Guy" which was deemed as too soft and radio friendly by most hardcore rappers and rap aficionados.
  • "I'm Too Tough for Mr. Big Stuff (Hot Pants)" by Vicki Anderson refers to Jimmy Hicks's "Mr. Big Stuff"
  • "It'll Chew You Up and Spit You Out" by Concrete Blonde has the same chorus and melody as the same band's "Still in Hollywood".
  • "It Still Ain't Easy" by Long John Baldry is a follow up song to "It Ain't Easy" that he recorded 20 years earlier.
  • "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels" by Kitty Wells is an answer song to "The Wild Side of Life" by Hank Thompson.
  • "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi refers to Frank Sinatra's "My Way" in the line "like Frankie said I did it my way". It also contains the line "for Tommy and Gina, who never backed down", referring to the couple in the earlier Bon Jovi song "Living On A Prayer".
  • The title, "I Wrote Holden Caulfield" by Screeching Weasel, is a reference to the title of Green Day's "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?"

[edit] J

"'Cause now it's Judy's turn to cry, Judy's turn to cry, Judy's turn to cry-y-y-y-y-y, 'cause Johnny's come back (Johnny's come back, come back) to me."
  • 'Julian Cope Is Dead' from the 1986 Bill Drummond album 'The Man' is an answer to the song 'Bill Drummond Said' from Julian Cope's 1984 album 'Fried'.
  • 'James Brown Is Still Alive' from Holy Noise is an answer to the song 'James Brown Is Dead' from LA Style.

[edit] K

  • "Kick It" is a duet between Iggy Pop and Peaches. Peaches says to Iggy "I'm not sixteen but I got leather boots..." in reference to the Stooges song "Sixteen"-- to which Iggy replies "Aw go fuck your pain away" in reference to Peaches' song by that name.
  • "Killing Me Softly" by Lori Lieberman (Roberta Flack, The Fugees), often thought to be the answer song to "American Pie" by Don Mclean, is actually the answer song to Mclean's lesser known song on his American Pie album: "Empty Chairs". See L. Lieberman comments, Oct. 2002., [2]

[edit] L

  • "Lake Marie" by John Prine includes this verse: "That night she fell asleep in my arms, humming the tune to 'Louie Louie': 'Aah baby, we gotta go now.'"
  • "Let It All Out" by Relient K immediately follows and concludes the song "Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet" on their album Mmhmm. "Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet" spoke of fighting your friends and holding grudges, and it fades into "Let It All Out" with the same piano chords, and that song finishes the story by talking about getting the emotion and problems out, and God making it alright in the end.
  • "Let Me Roll It" is the second of Paul McCartney and Wings' answer songs to Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?".
  • "Little Joe" was recorded by Red Sovine to refute the song "Teddy Bear's Last Ride", and to show that the little boy from the song "Teddy Bear" was alive and well, and driving a truck of his own.
  • "Little Marie" by Chuck Berry is a continuation of the storyline from Berry's earlier recording "Memphis, Tennessee".
  • "Loom" by Ani DiFranco is an answer to "Vivid" by Greg Brown (which is an answer to DiFranco's "This Bouquet").

[edit] M

"'Slim Anus', you damn right slim anus. I don't get fucked in mine like you two little flaming faggots."
  • "Me in Honey" by R.E.M. is an answer to "Eat for Two" by 10,000 Maniacs. The latter song dealing with an unexpected pregnancy from a young girl's perspective; the former song is from the young boy's point of view.
"but sometimes you've got to send it away to bring it, to bring it back again"
  • "My Dick, My Sack" by Too $hort is a male's fellatio-inspired response to Khia's "My Neck, My Back (Lick it)," which is about cunnilingus.

[edit] N

  • "Never Again" by Oleander contains lyrics that are a direct reference to "Take It On The Run" by REO Speedwagon ("Heard it from a friend who... heard it from a friend who...")
"Then he joked 'hey man,
your name isn't Stan, is it?
We should be together!'"
  • "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" is the final Paul McCartney and Wings answer song to Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?".
  • "No Reason For A Season" by Dr. Ring-Ding and the Senior Allstars is a response to the feud between Alex Desert of Hepcat and King Django of Skinnerbox, attacking both artists and setting Dr. Ring-Ding up as the superior toaster.

[edit] O

  • "Oh Neil" by Carole King, in response to Neil Sedaka's hit song "Oh, Carol", a song lamenting their former relationship.
  • "Old Hippie (The Sequel)" and "Old Hippie Christmas" by the Bellamy Brothers are follow up songs to their previous song "Old Hippie".

[edit] P

  • "Peggy Sue Got Married" by Buddy Holly and the Crickets refers to their hit "Peggy Sue." In the later song, Holly relates a rumor that the girl who was once the object of his affections has wed someone else.
  • "Play It All Night Long" by Warren Zevon is a response to Sweet Home Alabama (itself a response to Neil Young) mocking the song as saccharine denial of the misery of life in rural Alabama:
"Sweet Home Alabama
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long"
  • "Prove My Love" by Violent Femmes contains the line "third verse, same as the first", a reference to "Judy is a Punk" by the Ramones, which contains the line "third verse, different from the first"
  • "Pull Over" by Trina refers to, and answers, a number of recent and classic "ass songs," songs that proclaim the beauty of women with large buttocks. Among these are:
    • "Thong Song" by Sisqó: "Dumps in the truck, thighs like what / Ain't nann ho' got more booty in the butt / Sisqó made that song when he seen me in a thong th-thong thong thong"
    • "Whoa" by Black Rob: "Turn on the cameras start the freak show / This ass even make Black Rob say whoa"
    • "Back That Azz Up" by Juvenile: "I got a fat ass playa n***a can't pass up / Juvenile couldn't even back this azz up"
  • "Punk Rock 101" by Bowling for Soup makes a crack at "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi:
"The story never changes, just the names and faces
Like Tommy and Gina, they're living on a prayer"
(spoken, incredulous) "Did you just say that?"

[edit] Q

[edit] R

  • "The Return of Jackie and Judy" by The Ramones refers to their previous song "Judy Is A Punk"
  • "Return to Camp Granada" by Allan Sherman follows his earlier hit "Camp Grenada", and details the changes to the camp between visits.
  • "R-O-C-K", a 1955 recording by Bill Haley and His Comets, refers to Haley's first major hit, 1953's "Crazy Man Crazy". ("Then Haley came along with a rockin' song: Crazy Man Crazy - crazy news!")
  • "Roll With Me, Henry" (also known as "The Wallflower") by Etta James is a reply to "Work With me, Annie" by Hank Ballard; it was covered for the pop market by Georgia Gibbs as "Dance With me, Henry". Ballard also recorded his own answer with "Annie had a Baby".
  • "Rusholme Ruffians" by the Smiths was inspired by and is an answer song to a comic song "Fourteen Again" by Victoria Wood.

[edit] S

  • "Sara" by Bob Dylan refers to his own song.
Stayin' up for days in the Chelsea Hotel,
Writin' "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" for you.
  • "Scars" by Hannah Fury is an answer to "Scarborough Fair" by Simon & Garfunkel, from the woman's perspective.
  • "Sequel" by Harry Chapin is a literal sequel to his song "Taxi," continuing the story of the characters from the earlier song.
  • "She" by Green Day is an answer song to a letter/poem given to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong by an ex-girlfriend (the letter/poem was not about breaking-up, but about her self-esteem problems).
  • "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", a 1966 hit by The Royal Guardsmen was followed by three sequels: "Return of the Red Baron","Snoopy for President" and "Snoopy's Christmas".
  • "Son of a Bitch" by Lady Saw is an answer to Shaggy's hit "It Wasn't Me", and is written from the perspective of the woman being cheated on. The same backing music is used, as is the distinctive call-and-response chorus.
Don't like your hair dyed blue,
Don't like your damned new rose,
Don't like your casual pose.
"You know that song by Phil Collins, In The Air Tonight? About a guy who could've saved another guy from drowning, but didn't, and Phil saw it all and at his show he found him? That's kind of how this is, you could've rescued me from drowning, but now it's too late. I'm on a thousand downers now, I'm drowsy."
  • "Strong Enough To Be Your Man" by Travis Tritt is an answer song to the Sheryl Crow hit "Strong Enough". In Crow's song, she asks a man if he "is strong enough to be my man". In response, Tritt's song says to a woman that he "is strong enough to be your man."
Well I heard Mr. Young sing about her
Well I heard old Neil put her down
Well I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow

[edit] T

  • "Teddy Bear's Last Ride" by Diana Williams and others, is a "non canon" sequel to "Teddy Bear" by Red Sovine. (See "Little Joe" above.)
  • "That Makes It" by Jayne Mansfield responds to The Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" by suggesting what Big Bopper's girlfriend was saying at the other end of the telephone conversation.
"Something's happening, sounds like thunder,
Maybe the lord is on his way.
He's still angry and He's after me
Since I cheated on the Spanish train."
  • "The Fiction We Live" by From Autumn to Ashes. It's the reply to the song, "Autumn's Monologue" also by From Autumn to Ashes.
  • "There's No 'I' in 'Team'" by Taking Back Sunday is a response to Seventy Times Seven by Brand New.
  • "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" by Meat Loaf is a response to Elvis Presley's "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You."
"I want you/I need you/But there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you"

[edit] U

[edit] V

  • "Van Halen" by Nerf Herder refers to several different Van Halen albums and songs by name.
"Tomorrow may come, tomorrow may never come again
Can't you hear Janie Crying? She's Running with the Devil, Lord."
"Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remember how she said that we would meet again some sunny day. Vera! Vera! what has become of you? Does anybody else in here feel the way I do?"
Written from the perspective of the ex-boyfriend (although he was never actually Lily's boyfriend[10]).
  • "Volcano Girls" by Veruca Salt refers to "Seether" by Veruca Salt, and mimics the "Glass Onion" reference to "I am the Walrus":
"I told you 'bout the seether before
You know, the one that's neither or nor
Well here's another clue if you please....
The seether's Louise"

[edit] W

  • "Why Must I Be Sad?" by They Might Be Giants, apparently a song about an Alice Cooper fan, has the titles of nine Cooper songs and three albums in it (plus one more that was the title of both a song and an album). It also states that the narrator "understand[s] what Alice said".
  • "Why Won't Adam Sandler Let Us Sing His Song?" by Australian Jewish-punk band YIDcore is about Sandler denying them the rights to record his "Chanukah Song."
  • "Will the Real Slim Shady Please Shut Up" by Emily Ellis is in response to Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady". Originally people thought it was Christina Aguilera who recorded it, although Aguilera gave her approval. The song disses Eminem about all the things he rapped about her and other perverseness. [3]
  • "What Wud You do" by Eazy E is a diss track aimed at the DPG who had a song by the same name. In it he fantasizes about taking out many of Death Row Record's members including Suge Knight, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Daz and Kurupt.

[edit] X

[edit] Y

  • "Yes I'll Hold Your Hand" was an "answer song" to the Beatles' I Want to Hold Your Hand.
  • "You Love This Ass" by Avenue D refers to, and is somewhat a female reaction to "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot.
  • "You Should Really Know" by The Pirates is an answer to "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario Winans. Both tracks feature heavy sampling from the same Enya track
  • "You Were Right" by Built to Spill takes canonical lines from rock and roll lyrics and either says you were right or you were wrong. For example, "You were wrong when you said everything's going to be alright. You were right when you said, all that glitters isn't gold. You were right when you said, all we are is dust in the wind." Etc.
  • "Your Generation" by Generation X is an answer song to The Who's "My Generation" and suggests that the sentiments expressed in the original song were irrelevant to the youth of the late-1970s.
  • "You've Changed" by Keyshia Cole refers to Jay-Z song, "Songcry". Giving the woman's side of the story dealing with a relationship.

[edit] Z

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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