Game: Song(s) Within A Song...

[KWalkerInc]

7 hours ago, Twilight Man said:

(M.C.) Hammer has a song called "Burn It Up", in which he is constantly saying '"GET IT STARTED was part one / part two is Burn It Up"              and then he goes on what I describe as a "tirade" at the end, mentioning seven of his songs, including "Get It Started", "Pray", "Here Comes The Hammer", "Turn This Mutha Out", and, of course, "U Can't Touch This".

He does pretty much exactly the same thing in "It's All Good" as well.  There is a section that starts, "They put me in the mix, too legit to quit..." and of course he ends it with "You still can't touch...this."  I think at one point he also says, "Homeboy, you have to pray just to make it today."  (I just tried to look up the lyrics to confirm, but the person who transcribed them basically had no idea what he said for most of the song, with tons of question marks and lyrics that even my memory knows are way wrong.)

[KWalkerInc]

In "Let's Get to What's Real," another song from the Elliott Yamin album of the same name that I bought recently after it always coming up in my "new from your artists" section of iTunes for years, he repeatedly sings, "I'm all cried out...over you" in a style that seems to be an homage to the '80s hit "All Cried Out" by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force.

[BetterButter]

House of Pain - On Point -  Don't 'Start Me Up' like a Rolling Stone -So Get a Grip like Steven Tyler

[KWalkerInc]

From "Shoop" by Salt-N-Pepa:  "Like Prince said, you're a Sexy Mother..."  (They don't finish the word.)

From "Change Clothes" by Jay-Z:  "Afro Puffs like R.A.G.E." (Lady of Rage)

[shoregirl]

Two from Romeo and Juliet from Dire Straights:

"she's singing, hey la my boyfriend's back"

A reference to My Boyfriends Back from The Angels.

"And there's a place for us, you know the movie song"

A reference to Somewhere from West Side Story.

[WendyCR72]

10 hours ago, shoregirl said:

Two from Romeo and Juliet from Dire Straights:

"she's singing, hey la my boyfriend's back"

A reference to My Boyfriends Back from The Angels.

"And there's a place for us, you know the movie song"

A reference to Somewhere from West Side Story.

I love the live version of this song from their LP Alchemy. (Much more than the studio version, which is rare for me.) Can't believe I didn't remember this!

[KWalkerInc]

In the last day or so, I've heard a couple songs (one relatively old) where rappers break out into song and do basically the entire chorus of an older song.  In "Fat Rat" by Grand Puba, he sings a bunch of "Ooo La La" by Teena Marie.  I don't usually go to the Music Choice channels with more recent songs, but yesterday I passed the current rap channel which was playing "I Love Dem Strippers" by 2 Chainz (this is why I usually stick with old stuff).  He started singing "Mr, Telephone Man" by New Edition.

[Popples]

4 hours ago, KWalkerInc said:

In the last day or so, I've heard a couple songs (one relatively old) where rappers break out into song and do basically the entire chorus of an older song.  In "Fat Rat" by Grand Puba, he sings a bunch of "Ooo La La" by Teena Marie.  I don't usually go to the Music Choice channels with more recent songs, but yesterday I passed the current rap channel which was playing "I Love Dem Strippers" by 2 Chainz (this is why I usually stick with old stuff).  He started singing "Mr, Telephone Man" by New Edition.

This reminded me of LL Cool J's "Candy" off of his Phenomenon album. He sampled "Candy Girl" and had Ralph Tresvant and Ricky Bell from New Edition sing the hook. But the song he references is his own "I Need Love".

I Need Love:
"When I'm alone in my room sometimes I stare at the wall
And in the back of my mind I hear my conscience call"

Candy:
"When I'm alone in my room sometimes I stare at the wall
And in the back of my mind I hear my memories call"

[KWalkerInc]

From "Make Me Lose Control" by Eric Carmen:  "Jennifer singing 'Stand by Me' and she knows every single word by heart."

In the remix of Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny," she refers to one of her own songs:  "I thought I told you, 'Love Don't Cost a Thing.'"

Journey's "Raised on Radio" basically refers to older songs for the entire song.

ETA:  "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa just played, and they start singing "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks at the end:  "[Boy], you really got me going.  You got me so I don't know what I'm doing."  I wonder if they had to pay for using that.

And another one:  In "Deadbeat Club" by the B-52's, they sing, "And the jukebox playing real loud, '96 Tears.'"

Edited November 7, 2020 by KWalkerInc
Added "Push It," and then "Deadbeat Club."

[KWalkerInc]

In "Batter Up" by Nelly, a lot of lyrics are taken from the theme song from The Jeffersons, with a few other words mixed in:

I say the fish don't fry in the kitchen
Beans don't burn on the grill (that's right)
It took a whole lot of trying
Just to get up that hill
I said but now we're up in the big leagues
My dirty it's our turn at bat
And just as long as we living, it's Lunatics player
It ain't nothing wrong with that, batter up

In "Who Shot Ya" by The Notorious B.I.G., he says, "I burn baby burn, like 'Disco Inferno'" and "I feel for you, like Chaka Khan."

L.L. Cool J refers to one of his previous songs in "To Da Break of Dawn":  "I'm That Type of Guy."

[WendyCR72]

An old obscure '80s song I came across and vaguely remember called "Don't Shut Me Out" by Kevin Paige seemed to lift a line straight from Buddy Holly's song, "Oh, Boy!":

You don't know what you've been missing,

all of my love and all of my kissing...

And I was listening to the Rockin' Xmas Channel on SiriusXM when the Twisted Sister rendition of "O Come All Ye Faithful" (yes, it exists!) seemed to use the riff from one of their hits, "We're Not Gonna take It" and the guitar solo even harkened back to it in the middle. Oddly, it actually...kind of worked!

[BetterButter]

Ballad of G.I. Joe - And he is a big fan of Three Dog Night “One is the loneliest number”

[KWalkerInc]

In David Bowie and Mick Jagger's version of "Dancing in the Street," they throw in the line "Back in the U.S.S.R."

I have the only album by season 1 American Idol contestant Tamyra Gray, and her song "Good Ol' Days" came up on the iPod the other day.  Besides mentioning her love for Prince and her dad listening to the O'Jays, she names "My Adidas" by Run DMC as one of her favorite things from back in the day.

[Popples]

Ernie Marisca's "Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out"):

"Joe's all alone and he wants to be kissed
While Mary's in the corner and she's doin' The Twist"

"Hey play another song like Runaround Sue
Whoa let's do a dance that we all can do"

[KWalkerInc]

I heard a couple more today on the Y2K channel.  In "Work Out," J. Cole sings most of the chorus of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up," occasionally changing a few words or adding a different line.  In "Don't Phunk With My Heart" by the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie sings the title refrain of "I Wonder If I Take You Home" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam.

In "Work It" by Nelly and Justin Timberlake, Nelly says, "She got me hypnotized / Just like that Biggie guy."

[KWalkerInc]

In "Whatta Man" by Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue, Spinderella says, "And he knows that my name is not Susan" in a reference to the Whitney Houston song. 

[Annber03]

Oh, wow, I did not know that was a song reference. 

[KWalkerInc]

"My Name Is Not Susan" fared relatively poorly in comparison to all of the hits Whitney'd had by that time (1991).  I don't know if I even heard it on the radio at the time, but a friend did and gave a funny description of Whitney berating the guy for calling out another name in his sleep and then trying to hug her.

[KWalkerInc]

In "The Boomin' System," L.L. Cool J names several rappers that he actually liked (which was not always common on that album, or some of his work in general!).  As part of it, he says, "Tell the cops, 'You Gots to Chill' with EPMD."

[madmax]

"Gator Country" by Molly Hatchet is a who's who of Southern Rock:

Lynryd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels, Allman Brothers (Dickey Betts), Elvin Bishop, Marshall Tucker, The Outlaws

[KWalkerInc]

In "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground, their previous song "Doowutchyalike" is mentioned and Shock G/Humpty Hump quotes lines he had in that song.

A remix of Mariah Carey's "Heartbreaker" includes a rap by Da Brat where she mentions "Money Ain't a Thang" by Jermaine Dupri.

"Hold On" by En Vogue begins with the ladies singing part of "Who's Loving You?" a capella.

Edited February 13, 2021 by KWalkerInc
Added En Vogue song.

[madmax]

"Fabuless" by Stone Sour, from the Hydrograd album has in the chorus:

"Been a long time since I rock and rolled
It's only rock and roll but I like it, like it"

referencing Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.  

[madmax]

Can't believe I put Gator Country where Charlie Daniels is referenced and forgot this one:

The South's Gonna Do it Again by Charlie Daniels Band

(Marshall) Tucker Boys, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dickey Betts, Elvin Bishop, ZZ Top, Wet Willie and Barefoot Jerry and the Charlie Daniels Band themselves

[KWalkerInc]

From "No More (Baby I'ma Do Right)" by 3LW (a very young girl group in the early 2000s):  "You ain't Biggie, boy, so there ain't 'One More Chance'."

[Popples]

On 6/30/2020 at 5:21 AM, KWalkerInc said:

In "Nightshift," the tribute by the Commodores to Marvin Gaye and Jackie Wilson, they mention both "What's Going On?" and "Higher and Higher."

It references Jackie Wilson's "Baby, Workout" as well.

[Popples]

The Beatles "Back in the U.S.S.R." references "Georgia on My Mind", and I'm upset I didn't remember this until it came up on my shuffled playlist earlier today.

[KWalkerInc]

"Money Ain't a Thang" by Jermaine Dupri featuring Jay-Z is now playing, and it includes the lyric, "I write the songs the whole world sing," a reference to Barry Manilow!

[BetterButter]

Rock On - Hey, shout, summertime blues Jump up (up, down) and down in my blue suede shoes

[WendyCR72]

This one's not too well known, but on one of the massive 50th Anniversary Beatles White Album sets, there are rarities and instrumentals of the tracks from The White Album.

And for Take 18 of Revolution 1 (in which it seems John Lennon goes a bit s****** at points!), Paul McCartney can clearly be heard singing a refrain of "Love Me Do" in that take.

If you're curious, here:

 

[Popples]

Aerosmith's "Amazing" references the title track of their album 1987 Permanent Vacation.

"That one last shot's permanent vacation
And how high can you fly with broken wings?"

[MsTree]

" Party Lights" by Claudine Clark. ...they're doing The Twist...the Mashed Potato too.

[KWalkerInc]

In "The Glow of Love" by Change, Luther Vandross says, "You're a shining star, no matter who you are" as in the chorus of Earth, Wind & Fire's "Shining Star."

[Rushmoras]

Nightwish:

"End of All Hope": <...>Angels, they fell first, but I'm still here<...>, referencing their first album "Angels fall first".

"Bless the Child". The whole first part (I don't know, who is saying the words, Tuomas perhaps?) is referencing other songs in the album: "Dead to the World" and "Beauty of the Beast" (which, in turn, and that's only my opinion, is a continuation of Beauty and the Beast song from their first album):

I was born amidst the purple waterfalls
I was weak, yet not unblessed
Dead to the world
Alive for the journey
One night I dreamt a white rose withering
A newborn drowning a lifetime loneliness
I dreamt all my future. Relived my past
I witnessed the beauty of the beast

Also, the ending words of the song references the main theme of a couple of songs in the album as well the song with the same name:

Remember, my child
Without innocence the cross is only iron,
Hope is only an illusion
And the ocean soul's
Nothing but a name

The child bless thee
And keep thee forever

On the more popular music, I guess Bon Jovi referencing Tommy and Gina in "It's My Life" - a nod to "Living on a Prayer".

Sparks - When Do I get to Sing My Way. The whole chorus references F. Sinatra.

Edited April 10, 2021 by Rushmoras

[KWalkerInc]

On this week's episode of American Idol, a contestant sang "2002" by Anne-Marie, which I think I'd heard maybe once in its original version.  The lyrics refer to many songs such as "Oops...I Did It Again" and "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears, "99 Problems" by Jay-Z, "Bye Bye Bye" by *NSYNC and "Ride Wit Me" by Nelly.  I don't think any of these songs came out in 2002, and "99 Problems" hadn't even been recorded by that time!  At least the other songs were older so the singer and her love interest could have been singing them in 2002 the way it's described in the lyrics.

I also noticed in "Come on Over Baby" by Christina Aguilera that she sings the chorus of "What a Girl Wants."  That's an unusual reference because they're both from her debut album, so maybe the record company had already planned the single releases and knew that "Come on Over Baby" would come after "What a Girl Wants" and people would recognize that chorus.

[Lya167]

On 11/2/2020 at 7:21 AM, KWalkerInc said:

In the remix of Jennifer Lopez's "Ain't It Funny," she refers to one of her own songs:  "I thought I told you, 'Love Don't Cost a Thing.'"

Gotta love Jennifer Lopez!

Camila Cabello's song Crying in the Club samples Christina Aguilera's Genie in a Bottle, with a "ohhh, ohhh...." in the middle of it.

Puff Daddy's feat Faith Evans I'll be missing you is a reference to The Police's Every breath you take, especially during the chorus. 

99 souls' song chorus The girl is mine is a reference to Brandy and Monica's The boy is mine.

Edited April 27, 2021 by Lya167

[KWalkerInc]

In "Love at 1st Sight" by Mary J. Blige, Method Man names several of her other songs, including "What's the 411?" "911" (with Wyclef Jean, who is mentioned) and "Be Happy." 

I'm not sure if this is a reference, but it seems too close to be a coincidence.  In the third season premiere of Star, a FOX drama about an aspiring girl group, they have a song called "Madonna" that includes the lyrics:  "What's your name?  Who's your Mama and your Daddy?  Is they rich like me?"  I think this is supposed to refer to "Time of the Season" by the Zombies:   "What's your name?  (What's your name?)  Who's your Daddy?  (Who's your Daddy?)  Is he rich like me?"  What's surprising is that this song was even before my time, let alone that of the young women singing on the show!  The credits say "Madonna" was co-written by Jude DeMorest, who played the title character Star.

[BetterButter]

On 6/27/2020 at 5:10 AM, Sandman87 said:

Tone Loc's "Funky Cold Medina" makes mention of his song "Wild Thing". Bad dog!

But like Mike Jagger said, 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction'

[Rushmoras]

OK, I'm again posting a Nightwish reference of their song (sorry, I know, gets on the nerves, I know...)

So, in the song Scaretale (album Imaginaerum (2011)), there is a line in one of the song-closing lyrics: ...the Pendulum still sways for you... Referencing their ballad Poet and the Pendulum from their 2007 album Dark Passion Play. And the meaning behind it... well, the original song is about a poet, who is plagued by suicidal thoughts, but in the end finds things in the world and around him that makes him want to live (well, that's one of the interpretation, because I know that later-on Tuomas in interviews said that this song was about possible break-up of the band). And the meaning in the Scaretale song? Well, the song is about nightmares a kid dreams - withches, monsters under the bed etc. And it's just saying that you, the clock is still ticking for you.

Of course, the last song in the album Imaginareum (Song of Myself) is actually a summary of previous songs in the album, and has a couple of references to Ghost River, Storytime, Turn Loose the Mermaids songs in the album...

OK, on the side note, in the hip-hop/rap album of Dr. Dre "2001", in the song Still D.R.E., there is a line: ...ladies, they pay homage, but haters say that Dre fell-off. How, n*gga? My last album was the Cronic. Technically not a song, but a whole album. Basically, Dr. Dre is saying to the critics that he made a bunch of money from his last album and he does not care.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Rushmoras

[KWalkerInc]

In "Music" by Leela James, she sings, "Everybody knows that Marvin's gone / Still I gotta tell you 'What's Going On'" and "Still hear Donny playin' them keys / Singing 'one day we'll all be free.'"  She also mentions Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner and Chaka Khan.  (Though whoever transcribed lyrics that are on Google thought that "Tina" was "Steven."  Maybe they were thinking of Stevie Wonder, but I've never heard him called "Steven.")

"True" by Spandau Ballet has the line "Listening to Marvin all night long."

[BetterButter]

Bleed like me - Getting all nostalgic as he sings 'I will survive'

[BetterButter]

Starfucker Inc - You're so vain I bet you think this song is about you Dont you?

[KWalkerInc]

From "S.O.S." by Rihanna:  "Hold me close, boy, 'cause I'm your Tiny Dancer."

[Rushmoras]

Was relistening to Bon Jovi's "Crush" album the other week, and one line in the chorus of "It's My Life" stuck out: <...> but Frankie said "I did it my way" <...> referencing Frank Sinatra's "My Way".

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, Rushmoras said:

Was relistening to Bon Jovi's "Crush" album the other week, and one line in the chorus of "It's My Life" stuck out: <...> but Frankie said "I did it my way" <...> referencing Frank Sinatra's "My Way".

That was noted upthread.  It also calls back to their earlier song "Livin' On a Prayer" with the line "It's for Tommy and Gina who never backed down".

 

[KWalkerInc]

In the 2004 song "Move Ya Body" by Nina Sky, they sing a bunch of the chorus of "Can You Feel the Beat?" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam.  It seems that people really like referring to their songs, as when I was checking my old posts to make sure this wasn't a repeat, I found two previous references to Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam songs!

[BetterButter]

Your Disease - Like the Bee Gees' cry, I'm just stayin' alive, come on!

[KWalkerInc]

From "Get Away" by Bobby Brown:  "Do what I wanna do, 'cause it's My Prerogative."

[BetterButter]

Big Balls - Everybody says I've got Great balls of fire

Love in an Elevator - Gonna be a Penthouse Pauper

[Popples]

Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash":

There was Lollipop (The Chordettes)
With-a Peggy Sue (Buddy Holly)
Good Golly, Miss Molly was-a even there, too (Little Richard)

[BetterButter]

This Party Took a Turn for the Douche - (Hits up the jukebox and puts on Jim Croce Operator, can you help me make this call?)