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

[KWalkerInc]

In "Hot in Herre," Nelly refers to Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers - "I feel like Bustin' Loose."

Anoop Desai, a contestant on season 8 of American Idol (I can't believe how long ago that was!) had an EP.  In his song "My Name," he refers to Destiny's Child:  "Won't you do like D.C. and Say My Name for me?"

[BetterButter]

Warren G - What’s Love Got to Do With It - Thought you was TLC, you had to creep

You’re Pretty When I’m Drunk - I'm hungry like the wolf but i'll end up tending cattle

[KWalkerInc]

In "You and I," Lady Gaga refers to Neil Young with "On my birthday, you sang me a 'Heart of Gold.'"

And Jennifer Lopez refers to herself again in "Jenny From the Block":  "'I'm Real,' I thought I told ya."

[KWalkerInc]

From "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio:  "I wanna take you there like the Staple Singers."

This is kind of obscure, but on her song "I'm Gonna Blow Your Mind," Carly Hennessy at one point sings, "Hit me baby, one more time."  This was apparently supposed to be a cheeky reference to the fact that she (then a teen) was expected to become a musical rival of Britney Spears.  Unfortunately for Carly, her album only sold a few hundred copies, although she did sell some more a few years later when she appeared on American Idol under her married name, Carly Smithson.

[KWalkerInc]

In the remix of SWV's "Anything," Method Man refers to their previous songs "I'm So Into You," "Right Here," "Weak" and "Downtown."

In her version of "You're All I Need to Get By," Aretha Franklin spells out "r-e-s-p-e-c-t" a couple of times.

[KWalkerInc]

Sorry about so many posts in a row, but I was just a little too late to edit this into the last one (I blame the cat sitting on me for a while).

In her new song "Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You)," Kelly Clarkson has the line, "Like a winter dream in my bed."  This is almost certainly a reference to "Winter Dreams (Brandon's Song)," a song from her first Christmas album where she gushed about her now ex-husband (also likely the subject of "Christmas Isn't Canceled").  I remember that a friend had me make a copy of Kelly's first Christmas album, but it later got scratched.  Instead of asking for another copy, she did go buy the album and was pleased that the new one she bought didn't have "Winter Dreams" on it because it made her "want to barf."  It was pretty over the top.

[KWalkerInc]

I heard this one today but hadn't noticed it before.  From Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," Chuck D says, "'Don't Worry Be Happy' was a number one jam / Damn if I say it you can slap me right here."  I enjoy the sentiment as someone who had to sing that song publicly both in a concert AND our city's annual parade as part of the choir in 8th grade.  (Well, we weren't required to come to the parade by the choir director, but our school paper's advisor talked most of us into it--being dressed like a giant newspaper was still less embarrassing than singing this song.)

[KWalkerInc]

At the end of "Backstabbers" by the O'Jays, they sing, "Smiling faces sometimes" in reference to the similarly themed song of the time by The Undisputed Truth.  (When I was double-checking the artist of "Smiling Faces Sometimes" because I hadn't heard it for a while, I learned that it was originally by The Temptations in a very long version.)

[KWalkerInc]

In Aerosmith's "What It Takes," Steven Tyler sings, "Girl, before I met you, I was F.I.N.E. fine."  "F.I.N.E." is another song from the Pump album.

[KWalkerInc]

In "1,2 Step" by Ciara featuring Missy Elliott, Ciara sings, "Goodies make the boys jump on it," a reference to her first hit, "Goodies."

In the novelty hit "Do the Bartman" from The Simpsons, Bart sings, "U can't touch this!" as he steals Lisa's saxophone, in reference to the MC Hammer hit that came out earlier in 1990.  (I only remember the year because when a friend and I were exchanging Christmas presents sophomore year, she was going to get me this song but it wasn't released as a single.  Otherwise I'd be thrown off because a few years later, there was a Simpsons episode where Bart embarrassed himself dancing around talking about The Bartman trying to prove he was cool, and Ralph Wiggum declared, "That is so 1991!")

[BetterButter]

Crocodile Rock - While the other kids were rocking 'round the clock

Can I Get Witcha - My name ain't 2Pac I don't "Get Around"

[KWalkerInc]

In "Beginnings" by Chicago, at one point the singer declares, "I got to get you into my life, babe," which I'm guessing was a reference to the Beatles and not just a coincidence.

[KWalkerInc]

In "They Want EFX" by Das EFX, they say, "Give a twist like Chubby Checker."

In Prince's "Batdance," he sings the entire chorus of "Electric Chair," which was another song of his from the Batman soundtrack.  I probably haven't heard that song since the early '90s, but I played the soundtrack all the time when it first came out in 1989.

[Popples]

Tevin Campbell's "Can We Talk" references Bobby Brown's "Roni."

"And just like a Roni
You were too shy
But you weren't the only
'Cause so was I"

[KWalkerInc]

In "Every Other Time" by LFO, they quote KC & The Sunshine Band:  "'Cause that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it."

I heard a song called "I Remember" by Cheat Codes & Russell Dickerson where he mentions Third Eye Blind and sings the "Doo-doo-doo  Doo-doo-doo-doo" part of the chorus in "Semi-Charmed Life."

[KWalkerInc]

"Rocket" by Def Leppard pays homage to a bunch of other songs and artists (Stones, Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie), which I will copy/paste because I am lazy:

Jack Flash, rocket man, Sergeant Pepper and the band
Ziggy, Benny and the Jets

AND:

Jet Black, Johnny be, Jean Genie, Killer Queen
Dizzy Lizzy, Major Tom

[KWalkerInc]

Last year, I mentioned Kelly Clarkson's "Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You)" having a reference to another song of hers.  After hearing it on a repeat of her special tonight, I noticed she made two other references.  First, she says, "You ruined all my favorite things," and she had  done a version of "My Favorite Things" on her first Christmas album.  She later makes a reference to her holiday hit "Underneath the Tree."  In that song, she says (of future ex-husband Brandon), "You're all I need...underneath the tree!"  In "Christmas Isn't Canceled," she says, "I don't need anything underneath my tree."

[KWalkerInc]

In the Spice Girls song "Love Thing" (first album), they quote the song "Sisters" from the movie White Christmas:  "God help the mister that comes between me and my sister(s)."  I thought of this when Kelly Clarkson performed "Sisters" with backup singer Jessi Collins on her talk show before Christmas, but forgot until playing the Spice Girls song tonight.

Edited January 6, 2023 by KWalkerInc
I had somehow done strikethrough halfway through the post.

[Cinephilia]

"Circles" by Post Malone has a line that references the song "Stuck in the Middle with You" by Stealers Wheel with the line "Jokes on me, that's okay, I'll bounce back like a trampoline."

[WendyCR72]

Canadian band Barenaked Ladies' song "Grade 9" references another great Canadian band (Rush) and mentions "Tom Sawyer", even playing a bit of the melody for that song.

[KWalkerInc]

From "Slow Dance" by Cupid:  "Jodeci - 'Baby, won't you just Stay?'"

[KWalkerInc]

I just noticed that "I Wish," the 1995 hit by rapper Skee-Lo, refers to "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield with the lines, "Hey now, what's that sound? / Everybody look what's goin' down."  It seems rather random to refer to a war protest song in a humorous song about being frustrated because all the girls wanted to date basketball players instead of Skee-Lo, but that's what he did!

[KWalkerInc]

Another one from Kelly Clarkson:  a while back (2015?), she had the hit "Piece by Piece" which was about her absentee father and the fact that her then-husband had restored her faith.  In "Rock Hudson," a song from her new album, she says, "By the way, piece by piece / I found out my hero's me."  I remember her mentioning this lyric to someone (maybe Garth Brooks) on her talk show a couple years ago, but the album didn't come out until last week so it hadn't been clear until now if that would be included.

[KWalkerInc]

At the end of "Deeper and Deeper," Madonna has a nod to "Vogue" when she sings, "You've got to let your body move to the music / You've got to let your body go with the flow" which is part of the chorus of that song.

Queen Latifah mentions a lot of past songs in one part of "Nuff of the Ruff Stuff":  "I ordered them to 'Dance for Me.'  They tried to turn me 'Inside Out,' they felt the 'Wrath of My Madness.'  I let them 'Come Into My House.'  It's called 'Latifah's Law" for the criminal to curse.  All the gentlemen know its rule:  'Ladies First.'  Not the typical female that tends to fall victim to the 'Evil That Men Do.'"

I always forget this one until it comes up on my Ipod.  From Keith Urban's "Wasted Time":  "Singing out the window, on the back roads, 'Sweet Child o' Mine.'"

Edited February 20 by KWalkerInc
Added Keith Urban song.

[KWalkerInc]

"Put Your Records On" by Corinne Bailey Rae starts with a Bob Marley reference that went over my head until tonight:  "Three little birds sat on my window.  And they told me I don't need to worry."  It wasn't until "Three Little Birds" was featured on Beat Shazam that I learned what the title was (I mostly knew just the chorus), but that was awhile ago and I still hadn't put it together.

[KWalkerInc]

Music Choice played a new Bon Jovi song, "Legendary."  In the chorus, they say, "'Sweet Caroline' and we all sing along."  They also say something about a "brown-eyed girl" that might have been meant as a reference to that song.

[KWalkerInc]

In "Tonight" by New Kids on the Block, they start the song by referencing their hits:  "Remember when we said, 'Girl, please don't go'? / And how I'd be loving you forever / Taught you 'bout hangin' tough / As long as you got the right stuff" and the next line "Didn't we, girl?" might be a reference to their cover of "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)."  This song was annoying enough that it pushed me from casual fan to not liking them when I was a freshman in high school.  I later liked them well enough to get their greatest hits, which is what I was listening to tonight (I'm going through my greatest hits CDs), but this song was still not the best.

[KWalkerInc]

The songwriter of Rihanna's "SOS" has revealed that an entire verse is just '80s song titles.

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/rihanna-sos-songwriter-80s-song-titles-hidden-1235803319/

I'm surprised no one ever noticed with the way people tend to analyze lyrics nowadays, but if I'd noticed any of them, I probably would have assumed it was just a coincidence and not an intentional reference to a song (certainly not that they were ALL song references!).  (I had noticed "Tiny Dancer" upthread from a different part of the song, but that seemed more obvious.)

Also, from "I Like It" by Cardi B feat. Bad Bunny and J.Balvin, J.Balvin says, "Papa-paparazzi, like I'm Lady Gaga."