# Songs you always thought were by a different artist?



## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

There are songs that sound so much like artists I'm familiar with that I have been shocked to learn the actual artists who performed / recorded them.

1. Send Me on My Way - Rusted Root (from the soundtrack of Matilda). (I would have bet my left nut that was Talking Heads or David Byrne).






2. Little Light of Love - Eric Serra (RXRA) - Little Light of Love. (again, I was dead sure this was Peter Gabriel).







Does anybody else have such impressions of other songs?


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

I always thought "Stuck in the middle with you" Stealers Wheel was George Harrison when I was younger.


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## Thunderboy1975 (Sep 12, 2013)

Didnt know this was a Kate Bush song till Stranger Things 😅


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Running with the devil.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Thunderboy1975 said:


> Didnt know this was a Kate Bush song till Stranger Things 😅



I was a big Kate Bush fan from pretty early on so I knew this one, but lately there are many covers of it.

Here's one I like:






The original (featuring David Gilmour).


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

I always assumed “Fat Bottom Girls” was made by a dude who liked women.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Always12AM said:


> I always assumed “Fat Bottom Girls” was made by a dude who liked women.



I think it was made by someone who was unincumbered by notions of gender when it came to love.


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## Rollin Hand (Jul 12, 2012)

Always12AM said:


> I always assumed “Fat Bottom Girls” was made by a dude who liked women.


Well, it was written by Brian May.

And Freddie was known to "explore his full slate of options."


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

Milkman said:


> I was a big Kate Bush fan from pretty early on so I knew this one, but lately there are many covers of it.
> 
> Here's one I like:
> 
> ...


I always thought that it was her studio guitarist/boyfriend (the dude in the video IIRC) doing his best Gilmour impression. Neat.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Milkman said:


> I think it was made by someone who was unincumbered by notions of gender when it came to love.


No man… John Lennon doesn’t sing that song.

It was sang by someone very encumbered by love from one very specific region of one very specific gender’s bottom.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Always12AM said:


> No man… John Lennon doesn’t sing that song.
> 
> It was sang by someone very encumbered by love from one very specific region of one very specific gender’s bottom.



Well, I never knew the man personally Freddie Mercury that is), so like you, I'm gathering this from second hand accounts, but he WAS known to swing from both sides of the plate.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Milkman said:


> Well, I never knoew the man personally, so like you, I'm gathering this from second hand accounts, but he WAS known to swing from both sides of the plate.


Growing up, I thought every song played on Rock 95 was a local band. So I pictured a fat red headed guy in a bud light T-Shirt singing that song.

I assumed Eric Clapton was an old frail man who looked like Smithers from the Simpsons (nailed it) and I assumed Aerosmith was black.


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## diyfabtone (Mar 9, 2016)

'No Other Baby' - from McCartney's Run Devil Run album, always though he wrote it - should have read the notes!
'The Day Before You Came' - Only heard the version on Famous Blue Rain Coat sung by Leonard Cohen - assumed he wrote it! Very surprised to find out recently its actually by ABBA!


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

For a brief time, I thought America was Neil Young.

And having discovered an amazing recording of John Sebastian live and solo in the early eighties, I thought for quite a while that "Goodnight Irene" was his tune - I still play his version.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

jimmythegeek said:


> I always thought that it was her studio guitarist/boyfriend (the dude in the video IIRC) doing his best Gilmour impression. Neat.


Yeah she was all about performance art. I love most of what she released.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)




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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

I think a fair amount of us thought “All the Young Dudes” was Bowie. Yes, he wrote it. But an easy assumption he sang it.

I always thought this was Steve Miller


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

I started listening to music in the late 70's and The Eagles "Hotel California" album was playing constantly. I was surprised to learn years later that "James Dean" was an Eagles tune.

Hush by Deep Purple was another one.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Any of our French speaking members notice this?
Eric Serra (RXRA)

Pretty convenient.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Alex said:


> I started listening to music in the late 70's and The Eagles "Hotel California" album was playing constantly. I was surprised to learn years later that "James Dean" was an Eagles tune.
> 
> Hush by Deep Purple was another one.


On a dark dessert highway..
Cool wind on my balls..
I was thinking to myself “why the fuck is there Niagara Falls”

Relax said Mr Lahey..
The liquors.. calling.. the shots..
My wife grew heavy and the bear drew near..
But She just can’t.. climb a tree!!

**walsh solo begins


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## Verne (Dec 29, 2018)

SWLABR said:


> I think a fair amount of us thought “All the Young Dudes” was Bowie. Yes, he wrote it. But an easy assumption he sang it.


Mott the hoople. I am an Ian Hunter fan. I could pick that out instantly. Bowie did sing on it, but it wasn't under his name as a release. It's a great song.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Remember how Zep went all synthy towards the end and it drove Pagey bananas. Well when I first heard this song on FM, I thought it was new Zep material released.

[h://video]


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## FatStrat2 (Apr 7, 2021)

^ Yeah, that tune was definitely Zep like. Squier was doing great until he started frolicking in silk bedsheets for his videos which turned off his macho fanbase bigtime.

The tune that fooled me years ago was D.T. from AC/DC's "Who Made Who" EP. It's named weird, it's an instrumental and it's a bit different than their regular stuff. I thought it was a good impersonation of the band when I first heard it.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Thought these were Cheap Trick for the longest.

[h://video]



[h://video]


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

Lucky Man by ELP. I couldn't stand that song when I first heard it and it was a surprise to me that it was theirs. I started listening to them from Brain Salad Surgery onward.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

zztomato said:


> Lucky Man by ELP. I couldn't stand that song when I first heard it and it was a surprise to me that it was theirs. I started listening to them from Brain Salad Surgery onward.


I jumped on ELP at Tarkus.

I agree Lucky Man was a bit weak, but historically noteworthy as it was the first commercial hit to feature a synthesizer (correct me if I’m wrong).


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## Thunderboy1975 (Sep 12, 2013)

Thought this was The Rolling Stones for the longest time, i only had a radio in college.


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

Milkman said:


> I jumped on ELP at Tarkus.
> 
> I agree Lucky Man was a bit weak, but historically noteworthy as it was the first commercial hit to feature a synthesizer (correct me if I’m wrong).


Could be for sure. Or King Crimson? They used a Mellotron though.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

zztomato said:


> Could be for sure. Or King Crimson? They used a Mellotron though.


Well, it's in the running I guess. There are probably a few who could make that claim.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Man_(Emerson,_Lake_%26_Palmer_song)



The Mellotron was a primitive sampler, very cool.


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## 2N1305 (Nov 2, 2009)

Budda said:


> Running with the devil.


How could you not recognize David Lee Roth? Who did you think it was?


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Always thought this was The Stones with Keef singing.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

JBFairthorne said:


> Always thought this was The Stones with Keef singing.


I guess it has a bit of a Stones vibe. I like the song.


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## elburnando (11 mo ago)

Thought this was The Beatles when I was young.


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## elburnando (11 mo ago)

FatStrat2 said:


> ^ Yeah, that tune was definitely Zep like. Squier was doing great until he started frolicking in silk bedsheets for his videos which turned off his macho fanbase bigtime.
> 
> The tune that fooled me years ago was D.T. from AC/DC's "Who Made Who" EP. It's named weird, it's an instrumental and it's a bit different than their regular stuff. I thought it was a good impersonation of the band when I first heard it.


I always thought this was very brave of him. Lol🤣😂


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

All of Tom Petty's catalog I'd say. I used to listen to CHOM FM almost exclusively in the 60-70's and tunes just melted one into the other, not paying attention to who it was. Only when I finally purchase a CD of his did I realized thay most of what was on it I knew by heart.


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## Thunderboy1975 (Sep 12, 2013)

elburnando said:


> I always thought this was very brave of him. Lol🤣😂


Kenny Ortega directed the Highschool Musicals and Hocus Pocus.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I almost fell for the first Klaatu record (3:47 EST) and the Beatles thing but wasn't convinced because the vocal accents and inflections weren't right (thank you choral upbringing).


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

leftysg said:


> Thought these were Cheap Trick for the longest.
> 
> [h://video]


Well first season wasn't them--but later they did cover it, on the show and live...


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I'm not sure who I thought it was anymore--but some 60s band like the Zombies or someone like that.
Then I found out there was band I didn't know existed--and that Jerry Mercer was in it...


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## PTO (12 mo ago)

JBFairthorne said:


> Always thought this was The Stones with Keef singing.


Funny, I was going to post this as a song we thought was Bowie at the time.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

PTO said:


> Funny, I was going to post this as a song we thought was Bowie at the time.


Funny. I never made that connection but now that you mention it, I can hear what you mean.


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## danreid2727 (5 mo ago)

Thought it was the Beatles..


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Always thought this was Tom Cochrane.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Always thought that this was Sabbath


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

I thought balls to the wall was ACDC


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Thunderboy1975 said:


> Thought this was The Rolling Stones for the longest time, i only had a radio in college.


I really like/liked the tune, but even if one never saw the video, no idea how it could be misperceived as The Stones. Yes, it's a nice lazy beat like Charlie would play, but the lyrics and especially the chord progressions and harmonic complexity are miles away from Stones territory. Then again, on a cheap radio with a small speaker, sometimes anything can sound like anything else. One of the most disappointing listenings in my life was hearing _Brown Sugar_ on a decent system at a record store. It sounded as limp as one could get, once the acoustic guitars were plainly audible. A cheap AM radio made it sound wonderfully powerful.


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## Thunderboy1975 (Sep 12, 2013)

I thought more or less Mick was singing, not so much
a "Stones" song per se.


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