Answer song

An answer song (or answer record) is, as the name suggests, a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s. Answer songs were also extremely popular in country music in the 1950s and 1960s, most often as female responses to an original hit by a male artist.

The original "Hound Dog" song sung by Big Mama Thornton reached number 1 in 1953, and there were six answer songs in response; the most successful of these was "Bear Cat", by Rufus Thomas which reached number 3. This led to a successful copyright lawsuit for $35,000 which is said to have led Sam Phillips of Sun Records to sell Elvis Presley’s recording contract to RCA^[1][2]

Today, this practice is most common in hip hop music and filk, especially as the continuation of a feud between performers; the Roxanne Wars was a notable example which resulted in over a hundred answer songs.^[3] Answer songs also played a part in the battle over turf in the The Bridge Wars.^[3] Sometimes an answer record imitated the original very closely and occasionally a hit song would be followed up by the same artist.

Example answer songs

• Woody Guthrie's anthem “This Land Is Your Land” was written in 1940 as an answer to “God Bless America” written by Irving Berlin in 1918 (and revised in 1938). Guthrie originally called his response "God Blessed America for Me".^[4]
• “It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”, written by J. D. "Jay" Miller in 1952 and originally sung by Kitty Wells, was a response to “The Wild Side of Life”, made famous that same year by Hank Thompson.^[5]
• "Mannish Boy" (1955) by Muddy Waters was a response to Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man", which also happened to be a response to "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", an earlier song by Muddy Waters.
• “That Makes It” was Jayne Mansfield's response to The Big Bopper's “Chantilly Lace” (1958),^[6] suggesting what the girl may have been saying at the other end of the line.
• “Short Mort” (1959) by Carole King was a response to Annette Funicello's "Tall Paul" (1959), referencing "Tall Paul" in the line, "You can keep Tall Paul, I'll take Short Mort."
• "I’ll Save The Last Dance For You” by Damita Jo answers “Save The Last Dance For Me” (1960) by The Drifters,^[7] sung by Ben E. King. Her 1961 "I'll Be There" was also in response to Ben E. King singing "Stand By Me" (1960).
• “He'll Have to Stay” (1960) was Jeanne Black's response to Jim Reeves' “He'll Have to Go” (1959).
• “Judy's Turn to Cry” (1963) was Lesley Gore's response to her own “It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To)"”, which had been released earlier in the same year. The song chronicles her revenge on Judy, by 'kissing some other guy' to make Johnny jealous and leave Judy for the song's protagonist once more.
• “Queen of the House” (1965) was Jody Miller's response to Roger Miller's “King of the Road” (1964).
• "That's My Life (My Love And My Home)" (1965) by Alfred Lennon, John Lennon's father, was a response to his son's song "In My Life" (1965).
• “Blackberry Way” (1968) was The Move's response to The Beatles' “Penny Lane” (1967).
• “Sweet Home Alabama” (1974) was Lynyrd Skynyrd's response to Neil Young's “Southern Man” (1970) and “Alabama” (1972).
• "Superstar" (1983) by Lydia Murdock was an answer song to "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson.
• “The Boy Is Mine” (1998) by Brandy and Monica was a response to “The Girl Is Mine” by Michael Jackson featuring Paul McCartney.
• “F.U.R.B. (Fuck You Right Back)” (2004) was Frankee's response to Eamon's “Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)”, promoting rumors that the two had been dating.^[8] It was the first answer song to reach No. 1 on the U.K. Top 40 Hit charts.^[9]
• "Me and Mr. Jones" (2006) on the Back to Black album by Amy Winehouse was an answer song to--at least a riff off the title of--"Me and Mrs. Jones" (1972) made famous by Billy Paul.
• “Boys, Boys, Boys” (2008) on The Fame album by Lady Gaga's was a response to "Girls, Girls, Girls" by Motley Crüe.

See also

• Diss track

References

Further reading

• "Answer Records / Sequels", list of Answer Songs from everyhit.com
• B. Lee Cooper and Wayne S. Haney, Response Recordings: An Answer Song Discography, 1950-1990, Scarecrow Press, 1990, ISBN 081082342 (A comprehensive alphabetized list of over 2500 hit tunes that prompted the production of answer songs or other forms of response recordings)