What songs (musically) quote other songs?

January 15, 2011 3:31 PM

What songs (musically) quote other songs?

Help me think of songs that quote the melody, lyrics, or (especially) both from other songs.

A few examples I can think of are:

• Jimmy Eat World - A Praise Chorus (the phrase "crimson and clover, over and over" is delivered in a very similar style to Tommy James & The Shondells' original song, as is the line "don't, don't, don't let's start" from They Might Be Giants' song of the same name.)
• Barenaked Ladies - The King Of Bedside Manor (lifts a significant chunk of Styx's "Mr. Roboto".)
• The Beatles - All You Need is Love (musically quotes La Marseillaise, Glenn Miller's "In the Mood", and, self-referentially, "She Loves You".)
• Paul Simon - American Tune (quotes the melody of JS Bach's chorale from the St. Matthew Passion)
• Eddie Money - Take Me Home Tonight (quotes The Ronettes' "Be My Baby", but had Ronnie Spector sing the line "be my little baby", so it's not a pure example...)
• John Fogerty - Centerfield (slightly misquotes Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" for the line "A-roundin' third, and headed for home, it's a brown-eyed handsome man".)

I think the fleeting quotes are interesting, too (say, The Beastie Boys - Intergalactic quoting "mmm...drop", from Pharcyde - Drop, which sampled...the Beastie Boys' "The New Style". There are other examples that I've always thought of as possible winking references, but could never really decide on for sure -- say, James Taylor - Money Machine (echoing the phrasing/delivery from Stevie Wonder's "Maybe Your Baby" for the line "maybe my baby"; Stevie Wonder guested on the same album).

If you're well-versed in classical music, I'm also curious about compositions that lift from other pieces; I'm just not knowledgeable enough to name any, although I'm sure it happens (and even moreso in jazz, though embarrassingly enough, I can't think of any better example at the moment than Dave Brubeck working "shave and a haircut" into Unsquare Dance).

By way of clarification, I'm not trying to track down songs that just name-check other songs (e.g., Lynyrd Skynyrd telling Neil Young that "a Southern Man don't need him around anyhow") or mash-ups (so, as entertaining as Girl Talk is, that's not what I'm trying to find here).

Thanks, hivemind!

posted by theoddball to media & arts (81 answers total)

Usher's "You Got It Bad" briefly quotes Maxwell's lyrics and melody in "Fortunate."
posted by biochemist at 3:35 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Sting's "Russians" uses a theme from the Lieutenant Kije Suite by Sergei Prokofiev.
posted by kindall at 3:35 PM on January 15, 2011

Bedouin Soundclash's song Living in Jungles quotes Buju Banton twice.
posted by sacrifix at 3:37 PM on January 15, 2011

The Mountain Goats' California Song has the lyrics and a little of the melody from You Really Got a Hold On Me.
posted by wayland at 3:38 PM on January 15, 2011

Well, there's always the famous Pachelbel Rant
posted by lumpenprole at 3:39 PM on January 15, 2011 [3 favorites]

The Budos Band: Reppirt Yad
posted by Cuspidx at 3:42 PM on January 15, 2011

The Beatles did it quite a bit.

"Come Together" more-or-less quotes Chuck Berry's "You can't catch me" - the part about "old flattop." And "Run for your life" quotes Elvis' "Baby Let's Play House" - "I'd rather see you dead than to be with another guy."
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:42 PM on January 15, 2011

"Ode to Joy" also gets used quite a bit- Bright Eyes' "Road to Joy" is one big play on it, just to name one.
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:47 PM on January 15, 2011

In Elliott Smith's Waltz #2, the point-of-view character starts singing You're No Good.
posted by Superfrankenstein at 3:48 PM on January 15, 2011

Doing this overtly can be problematic; note the recent judgement against Men At Work.

Their well-known song "Down Under" quotes a riff from the old camp song "Kookaburra", and the current rights holders successfully brought suit for infringement.
posted by Aquaman at 3:49 PM on January 15, 2011

Bloodhound Gang's The Roof is on Fire quotes the Pixies a few times.
posted by sacrifix at 3:49 PM on January 15, 2011

Built To Spill's You Were Right quotes, um, pretty much everybody.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:51 PM on January 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

Steve Miller's "The Joker" lifts a whole verse from The Clover's "Lovey Dovey".
posted by Benjy at 3:52 PM on January 15, 2011

"You Were Right" by Built to Spill is almost entirely composed of quotes from other songs.

The guitar solo from Pearl Jam's "Alive" is totally lifted from "Five to One" by the Doors.

"Drive" by REM quotes a few songs (Hey, kids, rock 'n' roll)
posted by LionIndex at 3:52 PM on January 15, 2011

Previously.

Also, about 33 seconds into "Bricks" by Crimpshrine, the bass borrows a beat from the intro to "Take on Me" by Aha.
posted by 23skidoo at 3:55 PM on January 15, 2011

Sugarloaf's hit "Don't Call Us" mentions in the lyrics "sounds too much like John, Paul and George" and then immediately plays the guitar riff from "I Feel Fine."
posted by Oriole Adams at 3:56 PM on January 15, 2011

Better Than Ezra's "Extra Ordinary" not only quotes other songs, it credits the borrowed lyrics within its own lyrics.
posted by AlliKat75 at 3:57 PM on January 15, 2011

Sublime: Doin' Time
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 3:57 PM on January 15, 2011

Steve Miller's "The Joker" lifts a whole verse from The Clover's "Lovey Dovey".

He also cribbed the term "the pompatus of love" from the truly bizarre doo-wop track "The Letter" by The Medallions.
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:01 PM on January 15, 2011

I'm surprised none of us have yet mentioned the "Bo Diddley beat" which is absolutely everywhere- from "Not Fade Away" by Buddy Holly to "I Want Candy."

George Thorogood even name-checked it verbally: "got that goodtime music with the Bo Diddley beat."
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:06 PM on January 15, 2011

Eddie Money - Take Me Home Tonight (quotes The Ronettes' "Be My Baby", but had Ronnie Spector sing the line "be my little baby", so it's not a pure example...)

The drum pattern that starts "Be my baby" is another big one, notably used by Brian Wilson in "Don't worry baby" as a tribute to his hero Phil Spector.
posted by drjimmy11 at 4:07 PM on January 15, 2011

The Smiths' Hand That Rocks The Cradle is essentially Patti Smith's Kimberly. The House of Love's Christine might be better than both.

The Smiths' Rusholme Ruffians is a steal from Elvis's (Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame, completely acknowledged on many live performances which integrate the two.

The Smiths' Panic similarly references T-Rex's Metal Guru explicitly.

I could go on all day with Smiths/Morrissey references actually.
posted by cincinnatus c at 4:15 PM on January 15, 2011 [3 favorites]

Hootie and the Blowfish's Only Wanna Be With You quotes Bob Dylan's Idiot Wind and name checks Tangled Up in Blue.
posted by cali59 at 4:19 PM on January 15, 2011

I don't know if this qualifies, but the 3rd track on Pink Floyd's album "Meddle" has a chorus of "You'll never walk alone".
posted by Fortnight Bender at 4:20 PM on January 15, 2011

Kimya Dawson's Rollercoaster has lines from a hodgepodge of different songs!
posted by estlin at 4:27 PM on January 15, 2011

At the risk of another anti-DS derail, I adore the quoting of "There's a Place for Us" in the middle of Dire Straits's "Romeo and Juliet"
posted by Mchelly at 4:28 PM on January 15, 2011

"The '59 Sound" by the Gaslight Anthem quotes Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" in words & melody:
"Every night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet, it's a pretty good song, yeah you know the rest."

Not sure if this counts, but Oasis manages to jam a Beatles title into nearly every song, ie:
"Tomorrow never knows what it doesn't know too soon." (from What's the Story, Morning Glory?)
posted by Bella Sebastian at 4:36 PM on January 15, 2011

Both They Might Be Giants' "Rhythm Section Want Ad" and Devo's Fraulein use Powerhouse, the "assembly line" music from Warner Brothers cartoons.
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 4:40 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure if this qualifies, but OK Go's song "A Good Idea at the Time" is a response to The Rolling Stones' 'Sympathy for the Devil.' It's not quite in the same order, but everything in the OK Go song is a response to something in the Stone's song, and includes the line "well earned politesse"
posted by Caravantea at 4:44 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Can't be Still" by Reverend Organ Drum ===> "War Pigs"
posted by Cuspidx at 4:44 PM on January 15, 2011

David Bowie's Young Americans misquotes the Beatles - A Day in The Life but keeps the tune.
I heard the news today oh boy! and I read the news today oh boy.
posted by merocet at 4:47 PM on January 15, 2011

Rush's "La Villa Strangiato" quotes the Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" (aka, the iconic "assembly line" music in Warner Bros. animated cartoons).
posted by Cogito at 4:50 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture quotes from his Marche Slave.
posted by jedicus at 4:58 PM on January 15, 2011

M.I.A.'s "20 Dollar" has a few lines from "Where Is My Mind?" by Pixies.
posted by jykmf at 5:00 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Peter Schickele's (aka PDQ Bach) "Unbegun Symphony" and "Quodlibet for Small Orchestra" are nothing but quotes from other pieces. I guess you could call them mash-ups, though.
posted by hades at 5:01 PM on January 15, 2011

"Supreme" by Robbie Williams brilliantly interpolates music from "I Will Survive."
posted by mintcake! at 5:06 PM on January 15, 2011

Another Oasis example: The intro to 'Cigarettes and Alcohol' is a blatant steal from T-Rex's 'Get It On'.

The third verse of "No. 1" by "A" is the lyrics from the first verse of Billy Joel's "My Life".
posted by corvine at 5:18 PM on January 15, 2011

There's a bit of what you're looking for in TVTropes: Shout Out: Music. They need a page for just this topic!

One of my absolute favorite strange examples is I Don't Know What It Is by Rufus Wainwright, who is notorious for shoutouts:
So I knock on the door / Take a step that is new / Never been here before / Is there anyone else here too / In love with beauty / Playing all of the games / Who thinks three's company
posted by nicebookrack at 5:21 PM on January 15, 2011

The chorus of the (totally horrible) song by the Latin pop group Las Ketchup "Asereje" is a gibberish phonetic pronunciation of "Rapper's Delight." The Ketchup song is about someone who goes to the club every weekend and loves when they play "Rapper's Delight" but doesn't speak English and makes up his own lyrics instead. Bonus: the song comes with its own dance, a la the Macarena.

Jimmy Eat World also lifts a line from the Heatmiser song "Not Half Right" in their song "Kill," but it's just a small reference.
posted by lilac girl at 5:34 PM on January 15, 2011

Another I'm not sure qualifies, but quoth Lynyrd Skynyrd "Well, I hope Neil Young will remember a southern man don't need him around anyhow"
posted by Fortnight Bender at 5:35 PM on January 15, 2011

Barenaked Ladies' "Hello City" (link cued to the spot) quotes the chorus from the Housemartins' "Happy Hour" (link cued to the spot).

The Afros' "Feel It" quotes the b-b-b-ba ba b-baa! from the Jackson 5's "ABC". (links cued)

Busta Rhymes made a song title and chorus (woo-hah! got you all in check) from one line in the Sugarhill Gang's "8th Wonder".

The Beastie Boys borrowed what you see is what you get / and you ain't seen nothin' yet from the same Sugarhill Gang song in their song "Slow and Low".

Jay-Z quotes the single word baby from Notorious B.I.G.'s various songs (Big Poppa, Juicy, etc.) in his song Hard Knock Life, but he says it imitating Biggie's voice in the signature way he always used to say it. More of an homage than a quote.

In "Hand In Glove" The Smiths borrowed and everything depends upon how near you stand to me from Leonard Cohen's song "Take This Longing" (which said and everything depends upon how near you sleep to me)

The Smiths quote themselves in the song "Paint A Vulgar Picture" when they say and when it fails to recoup well maybe / you just haven't earned it yet baby, referencing the title and chorus of their earlier song "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby".

Once they even quoted themselves on the same album. "Pretty Girls Make Graves" uses the lines hand in glove / the sun shines out of our behinds, which are the opening lyrics in the song "Hand in Glove", another song on their debut album.

Humpty Hump of Digital Underground quotes himself between two songs. In the song "Dowutchalike" he says homegirls, for once, forget you got class / see a guy you like, just grab 'im in the biscuits! And then in "The Humpty Dance" he says I sang on 'Dowutchalike' and if ya missed it, I'm the one who said 'just grab 'im in the biscuits!'. The video for Humpty Dance even shows the relevant clip from the Dowutchalike video. Ha!
posted by Askr at 5:55 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Led Zeppelin's "How Many More Times" quotes Albert King's "The Hunter."

Sting likes to do this. "Love is the Seventh Wave" quotes "Every Breath You Take." "We'll be Together" quotes "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free." "Seven Days" quotes "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic."

Here are a couple to jazz examples. Chick Corea's "Spain" quotes Rodrigo's "Concerto de Aranjuez." Medeski, Martin, and Wood's "The Lover" quotes Charles Mingus's "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat."
posted by epimorph at 5:55 PM on January 15, 2011

Steely Dan references their own "reelin' in the years" after the "Steely Dan t-shirts" line in "Show Biz Kids."

Nerf Herder's "Van Halen" quotes (musically and lyrically) a number of their songs, as "Jonathan" references numerous Modern Lovers songs, and is built on the same riff as "Roadrunner."
posted by modernserf at 6:02 PM on January 15, 2011

Rufus Wainwright's Oh What A World lifts unashamedly from Ravel's Bolero.

On the classical side: Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15 quotes from Rossini's William Tell Overture in the first movement (about 1:50 for the first instance), and from Wagners Tristan und Isolde in the fourth movement (about 1:12 for the first instance.) The composer said later that he didn't know why he put the quotes in there, but that he couldn't not include them.

Brahms's Symphony No. 1 contains a (presumably intentional) homage to Beethoven's 9th symphony in the fourth movement, (starting at 5:17, particularly 5:39 or so), so much so that it was (and still is) mockingly called "Beethoven's 10th" in some circles.

Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture quotes from his Marche Slave.

You're not talking about the bits in each where they both quote the Tsarist national anthem, right?
posted by Johnny Assay at 6:03 PM on January 15, 2011 [2 favorites]

Kid Rock quotes two Sugarhill Gang songs in a row in his song Bawitdaba. He says bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogie said up jump the boogie

In "8th Wonder", Sugarhill says yo dang diddy dang di-dang di-dang diggy diggy dang diddy dang di-dang di-dang diggy diggy...

And in "Rapper's Delight", Sugarhill says bang bang the boogie to the boogie say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie


epimorph: I love how when Sting is quoting Every Breath in 7th Wave, he in good humor follows it up with every cake you bake / every leg you break... to the same tune. Ha!
posted by Askr at 6:28 PM on January 15, 2011

One of my favorite examples: "The Drinking Song" by Moxy Früvous quotes "Goodnight, Irene".
posted by NMcCoy at 6:35 PM on January 15, 2011

You're not talking about the bits in each where they both quote the Tsarist national anthem, right?

Apparently that's what I was referring to, though I did not realize they had a common source. And in fact it appears that God Save the Tsar has been quoted repeatedly:

Many composers made use of the theme in their compositions, most notably Tchaikovsky who quoted it in the 1812 Overture, the Marche Slave and his overture on the Danish national anthem. During the Soviet era, authorities altered Tchaikovsky's music (such as the 1812 Overture and Marche Slave), substituting other patriotic melodies for "God Save the Tsar." Alexander Borodin in the final movement of his Symphony No. 2 quotes the tune. Charles Gounod uses the theme in his Fantaisie sur l'Hymne National Russe (Fantasy on the Russian National Hymn). William Walton's score for the 1970 film Three Sisters is dominated by the theme.

The linked Wikipedia article mentions several other musical quotations of the theme.
posted by jedicus at 6:42 PM on January 15, 2011

The Gaslight Anthem does it again on "High Lonesome:" Well Maria came from Nashville with her suitcase in her hand, which is from Counting Crows' "Round Here."

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes liberally steal from every punk band ever on their covers of other songs. Notable favorite of mine: the riff from Bad Religion's "Generator" in the Gimmes' "My Favorite Things."
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 6:48 PM on January 15, 2011

Golden Earring's Radar Love quotes Brenda Lee.
posted by JanetLand at 6:53 PM on January 15, 2011

In the musical Wicked, the "Unlimited" theme quotes "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Read all about it.
posted by Wordwoman at 6:59 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Okkervil River's "Lisening to Otis Redding At Home During Christmas" includes bits from "I've got Dreams To Remember".
posted by celerity at 7:01 PM on January 15, 2011

In "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" Prince quotes Joni Mitchell's "Help me" ("Help me I think I"m falling").
posted by mustard seeds at 7:15 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

The same Gaslight Anthem song also quotes Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire":

"And at night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet..."
It's a pretty good song
Maybe you know the rest
posted by platinum at 7:24 PM on January 15, 2011

In Be Bop, quoting bits of other melodies in the middle of an improvisation -- especially over an unexpected chord sequence -- is a sort of musical in-joke, a wink to the hip. Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie were very fond of this sort of thing and there are numerous examples in their recordings.

Also, how about Jesse Winchester's Brand New Tennessee Waltz?

Elvis Costello makes reference to George Jones' Who Shot Sam in the first line of I Stand Accused.
posted by Jode at 7:25 PM on January 15, 2011

Okkervil River's excellent John Allyn Smith Sails quotes quite a bit from the Beach Boys' Sloop John B.
posted by millipede at 7:36 PM on January 15, 2011

On Jay-Z's "I just want to love you", he quotes carl thomas "and I wish I never met her at all".

Or you can go to whosampled.com to find a pretty complete compendium of answers to your question.
posted by hal_c_on at 7:43 PM on January 15, 2011

Neil Young's "Borrowed Tune" predictably borrows the melody from the Rolling Stones' "Lady Jane".

They Might Be Giants' "Mr. Me" (from Lincoln) uses melody-quote of "Someone's in the Kitchen with Dinah" as the bridge of the song.

Coldplay has a song called "Talk" that quotes the melody from Kraftwerk's "Computer Love", which quote I noticed immediately on hearing the Coldplay version because I have a robot alarm clock that dances and plays "Computer Love (it is one of my dearest possessions). For the record (and my pride), I strenuously prefer the Kraftwerk version.

There's a recent song that quotes most of the lyrics from the Lemonheads' "Into Your Arms," but I can't remember the name of the band and my Google-fu is not working. It hit my alternative radio station within the last six months or so.

This doesn't count, but Devo does a killer cover of "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" that almost counts as a totally separate song because it is so insane and wonderful.
posted by dialetheia at 7:45 PM on January 15, 2011

They Might Be Giants quote the theme from The Patty Duke Song at the end (instrumental trail-off) of their song Where Your Eyes Don't Go.
posted by DMelanogaster at 8:04 PM on January 15, 2011

Both Devo's "The 4th Dimension" and Roxy Music's "Re-Make/Re-Model" quote the riff from the Beatles' "Day Tripper."

Also, it might not count, but the arrangement of Devo's "The Shadow" is not quite identical to Laibach's "Geburt Einer Nation" (itself a cover of Queen's "One Vision").
posted by Devoidoid at 8:40 PM on January 15, 2011

"Lady Lynda" by the Beach Boys uses the melody of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."
posted by Devoidoid at 8:50 PM on January 15, 2011

Wolf Parade's "California Dreamer," off of At Mount Zoomer is a response to The Mamas And The Papas' "California Dreamin'," only from the perspective of the girl in the relationship instead of the guy. It doesn't quite quote the original, but references most things (the preacher, the seasonal change, the male protagonist's desire to move on) from the decades-earlier song. It's pretty awesome, in my opinion. NPR goes into more detail here.
posted by deludingmyself at 8:56 PM on January 15, 2011

Wellington's Wednesdays by The Weakerthans quotes "Oh, you've got green eyes, Oh, you've got blue eyes, Oh, you've got grey eyes" from Temptation by New Order
posted by timesarrow at 9:06 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

Billy Bragg's "A New England" quotes Simon and Garfunkel's "Leaves on the Green" in its opening line:"I was 21 years when I wrote this song/I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long."
posted by naoko at 10:09 PM on January 15, 2011

Patti Smith's "Horses" quotes Wilson Pickett's "Land of a Thousand Dances," and her "Gloria" quotes the song of the same name by Van Morrison.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:35 PM on January 15, 2011

The Strokes' "Barely Legal" takes a lot of cues from New Order's "Age of Consent."
posted by Sys Rq at 10:40 PM on January 15, 2011

Don't know if you want to count this or not, but the Elephant Love Medley from Moulin Rouge is basically nothing BUT quotes from other songs... a list from wikipedia:

Elephant Love Medley
"Love is Like Oxygen" – Andy Scott and Trevor Griffin
"Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" – Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster
"Up Where We Belong" – Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie
"All You Need Is Love" – John Lennon and Paul McCartney
"Lovers Game" – Chris Isaak
"I Was Made for Lovin' You" – Desmond Child, Paul Stanley, Vini Poncia
"One More Night" – Phil Collins
"Pride (In the Name of Love)" – U2
"Don't Leave Me This Way" – Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Cary Gilbert
"Silly Love Songs" – Paul McCartney
"Up Where We Belong" – Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie
"Heroes" – David Bowie
"I Will Always Love You" – Dolly Parton (and later by Whitney Houston)
"Your Song" – Elton John and Bernie Taupin
The "Elephant Love Medley" also contains additional original lyrics that are unattributed."
posted by po at 11:33 PM on January 15, 2011

Right before Don Giovanni's intervention for sex addiction, a chamber orchestra plays a series of then-contemporary hits for him -- including Mozart's Non più andrai (from Figaro). It's a great meta moment, especially when the characters complain that they're tired of hearing that tune.
posted by Ljubljana at 12:45 AM on January 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just a quick note that in Jimmy Eat World's A Praise Chorus, *every* single line in the bridge is from another song:

Crimson & Clover
Our House in the Middle of the Street (Madness)
Why Did We Ever Meet? (Eponymous song by The Promise Ring)
Started my rock 'n roll fantasy (Rock 'N Roll Fantasy by Bad Company)
Don't Let's Start (TMBG)
Why Did We Ever Part (All of My Everything by The Promise Ring)
Kickstart my rock 'n rolling heart (Kickstart My Heart by Mötley Crue)

...but, really, they asked The Promise Ring's Davey von Bohlen to "sing me something that I know" earlier in the song, so it's no surprise that he dropped two of his own songs in there...
posted by disillusioned at 12:53 AM on January 16, 2011

Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" features Sting singing "I Want My MTV" to the tune of "Don't Stand so Close to Me."

As I mentioned over here, Decemberists' "Rox in the Box" quotes "The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" at around the two minute mark.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 1:36 AM on January 16, 2011

The Dresden Dolls did this a lot. I used to be a big fan of theirs; not so much these days, but here's a few from their first album or two:

"Hello, I love you, won't you tell me your name" in The Perfect Fit
"I see a red Jeep and I want it painted black" in The Jeep Song
"...until it hits me, and my big mouth strikes again" in Glass Slipper
"I want to do more than survive, I want to rub it in your face" in Good Day
posted by sea change at 8:21 AM on January 16, 2011

Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" is both quoted and referenced by U2 in "God, Part II":

"Heard a singer on the radio late last night
He says he's gonna kick the darkness
Till it bleeds daylight"
posted by benzo8 at 9:23 AM on January 16, 2011

The Greatest by Cat Power quotes Moon River.

The verses of Fight Test by The Flaming Lips have the same melody as Father and Son by Cat Stevens but I don't know if it's intentional.
posted by Chenko at 9:55 AM on January 16, 2011

Travis - Slide Show

'Cause there is no design for life / There’s no devils haircut in my mind / There is not a wonderwall to climb or step around
posted by theraflu at 2:25 PM on January 16, 2011

Chris Knox's song "Not Given Lightly" takes its title from the Velvet Undergound's "Venus in Furs".
posted by Miss Otis' Egrets at 3:37 PM on January 16, 2011

Liz Phair's "Fantasize" includes the line "Hey, you've got to hide your love away" from (of course) the Beatles.
posted by cloudburst at 5:05 PM on January 16, 2011

Cheap Trick - Auf Wiedersehen.

Quotes part of "All along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan.

Quite amusing
posted by freakazoid at 5:07 PM on January 16, 2011

Garbage quotes The Pretenders in the out chorus of Special. (plus SciFi goodness in the Garbage vid!)
posted by digitalprimate at 5:50 PM on January 16, 2011

And of course the most famous albeit indirect is Paul's answer to John.
posted by digitalprimate at 6:02 PM on January 16, 2011

Green Day's "Waiting" quotes Petula Clark's "Downtown" both musically and lyrically.

The third movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 is largely based on "Frère Jacques."

Wikipedia lists over 20 works that incorporate the traditional Gregorian melody of the Dies Irae.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:42 PM on January 17, 2011

Handsome Furs' All We Want, Baby, Is Everything, at least in the verses, is lyrically (and to some extent musically) quoting Temptation by New Order.
posted by Judith Butlerian Jihad at 10:36 PM on January 18, 2011

Jethro Tull used to cannibalize their own songs all the time.
-Wond'ring Aloud
-Wond'ring Again
posted by Sys Rq at 11:37 AM on January 19, 2011