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Songs With Beatles References (Beatles mentioned in others' songs)
6 April 2010
2.22am
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Chollie
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O.K. I’ll try to start one of these things. I’m quite a newbie so …….

While listening to an oldies station, the song” Don’t Call Us”  by Sugar Loaf came on and I was singing along, of course, and got to the line  It sounds like ah  John, Paul and George…. (almost all of the Beatles)

I started to come up with other mentions of the Beatles in song..

Never been to Spain by Three Dog Night.. ….The Seeker by The Who….A song in the musical,Hair, mentions George Harrison (Frank Mills) ..after that I am stumped!

Surely, there are alot more! Hope to see some!

Note by Ahhh Girl 18 March 2016: For the songs we have come up with so far see post 27 and post 191 and post 192

The following people thank Chollie for this post:

ewe2, Von Bontee

A restless wind inside a letterbox

6 April 2010
3.19am
iCaramba
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Oh, yes, Chollie… there are tons more. And welcome to the Fab Forum, btw! a-hard-days-night-john-6

1) To start, there’s one of my all-time faves… David Bowie’s “Life on Mars”: Now the workers have struck for fame, ‘Cuz Lennon’s on sale again

2) “Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio” by the fabulous Ramones (who named themselves after Paul Ramon, Paulie’s stage name when the boys toured Scotland with Johnny Gentle): Will you remember Jerry Lee, John Lennon , T. Rex and Ol’ Moulty?

3) Mott the Hoople’s “All the Young Dudes” (written by Bowie): My brother’s back at home with his Beatles and his Stones, We never got it off on that Revolution stuff

4) “London Calling” by The Clash had the infamous line: Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust (but they were huge Beatles fans, especially Joe Strummer) and their song “1977” had this line: I don’t care ‘cuz I’m not all there, No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones

5) There was a California band called 18 Visions that had a song called “Who the F— Killed John Lennon ?”

There are tons more. I’ll hand it over to the rest of the forum…

6 April 2010
4.14am
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skye
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Off the top of my head:

American Pie by Don McLean

Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny by Lemon Demon (The reference is actually to the blue-meanie, but you didn’t want Mr. Rogers killing The Beatles did you?)

Paul McCartney by The Scissor Sisters

That’s all I can think of for now.

Ad hoc, ad loc, and quid pro quo! So little time! So much to know!

6 April 2010
3.52pm
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Lewis346
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skye said:

Off the top of my head:

American Pie by Don McLean


American Pie. Only just noticed it but the line says “And while Lennon read a book of Marx” 

Anytime at all, all you gotta do is call, and I'll be there.

6 April 2010
5.08pm
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Joe
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Do tribute songs count? I’m sure there were loads in the 60s. The best-known is probably Dora Bryan’s All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle.

Last week I published this article about The Beatles holding the top five positions in the Billboard chart in 1964, and 12 singles in there altogether. I found out there were also two tribute songs: We Love You
Beatles by The Carefrees at 42, and A Letter To The Beatles by The Four
Preps at 85.

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6 April 2010
7.12pm
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PeterWeatherby
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Paul Simon’s “The Late Great Johnny Ace” is another one.  He refers to “the year of the Beatles” in the chorus, and the entire last verse is about how he heard the news of Lennon’s death:

 

 

On a cold december evening 
I was walking through the Christmas tide 
When a stranger came up and asked me 
If I’d heard John Lennon had died 
And the two of us went to this bar 
And we stayed to close the place 
And every song we played 
Was for the late great Johnny Ace

Not a bit like Cagney.

6 April 2010
10.01pm
Marcelo
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I’m not sure if this example fits the topic, but U2’s “God Part II” (Rattle & Hum album) is in itself a homage to John’s solo song “God “…

I'd like to say "thank you" on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we passed the audition.
John Lennon

6 April 2010
11.38pm
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Chollie
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Awesome songs…just thought of another, Summer Rain By Johnny Rivers ….

All summer long, we spent dancin’ in the sand,
And the jukebox kept on playin’
Sargeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
I guess it kind of counts.

A restless wind inside a letterbox

7 April 2010
12.20am
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Sun Queen
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There’s a local band that’s getting quite popular in Canada called the Arkells- they have a song called John Lennon !
Quite a catchy tune too, I went to their concert and had a great time!

a-hard-days-night-john-6

The chorus is as follows:

I’m John Lennon in ’67!
(Lennon and ‘seven’ somewhat rhyme… yes?)

They also have a great verse that goes like this:

She tells me her favourite song
and I say, “yeah, that’s a good one.”
She says it follows her around-
no shit, it’s by the Beatles. 

You can imagine how loud I screamed that whole verse while they played it! a-hard-days-night-george-8 

Tongue, lose thy light. Moon, take thy flight… see ya, George!

7 April 2010
12.25am
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skye
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I assume it’s available on iTunes and the like? I’ll have to check that out. a-hard-days-night-john-3

I forgot to mention You Can Be My Yoko by The Barenaked Ladies.

Ad hoc, ad loc, and quid pro quo! So little time! So much to know!

7 April 2010
9.31am
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Joe
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Oh, how could I have forgotten that? I laughed so hard the first time I heard that.

I’m not able to embed it here, but the official video had shots of Yoko in it. I didn’t know that until now.

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8 April 2010
1.49am
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Chollie
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Well…..I had that “light bulb on” moment  today! All of these songs are going to be in my next “mix tape”. Hopefully, I will be able to find them in I-tunes or some other legal down load site! I just can’t wait to compile these!a-hard-days-night-john-3

Thought of 2 more ….

Shooting Star…Bad Company

God ……………..John Lennon

 

A restless wind inside a letterbox

8 April 2010
2.15am
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Sun Queen
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In case any one wanted to listen to the Arkells…
prepare to have this song stuck in your head for the next 24 hours! a-hard-days-night-john-6

 

Tongue, lose thy light. Moon, take thy flight… see ya, George!

9 April 2010
1.22am
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Celebrated_Mr_K
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In his comeback album, John Fogerty sings in “I Saw it on TV”:

 

We gathered round to hear
the sound comin’ on the little screen,

The grief had passed, the old men laughed, and all the girls screamed

‘Cause four guys from England took us all by the hand,

It was time to laugh, time to sing, time to join the band.

9 April 2010
5.09am
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skye
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Oh! That reminds me – We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel – British Beatlemania.

Ad hoc, ad loc, and quid pro quo! So little time! So much to know!

9 April 2010
2.04pm
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Joe
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And it reminded me too of You Were Right by Badly Drawn Boy:

“And I remember doing nothing on the night John Lennon died…”

Can buy me love! Please consider supporting the Beatles Bible on Amazon
Or buy my paperback/ebook! Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs

Don't miss The Bowie Bible – now live!

11 April 2010
3.04pm
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Chollie
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This one dates me…Ball of Confusion by  The Temptations — 1970

Fear in the air, tension everywhere

Unemployment rising fast,

The Beatles’ new record’s a gas

And the only safe place to live is

On an indian reservation

And the band played on

A restless wind inside a letterbox

11 April 2010
3.23pm
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McLerristarr
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The Monkees – Randy Scouse Git

“The four Kings of EMI are sitting stately on the floor.”

Micky Dolenz wrote this after a trip to England where he met The Beatles (yes, one of The Monkees actually wrote this one). The title isn’t a reference to a Beatle but the four Kings could only mean one thing… a-hard-days-night-john-5a-hard-days-night-george-4a-hard-days-night-paul-5a-hard-days-night-ringo-10

11 April 2010
4.46pm
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skye
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Aw, you changed your avatar. It’s a funny picture of Ringo at least.

Anyway, my brother pointed out the Frank Zappa song, Oh No:

Oh no
I don’t believe it
You say that you think you know
The meaning of love
You say love is all we need
You say
With your love you can change
All of the fools
All of the hate
I think you’re probably
Out to lunch

No one said it always would be complimentary. a-hard-days-night-john-7

Ad hoc, ad loc, and quid pro quo! So little time! So much to know!

10 June 2010
11.34am
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JoB
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I’m surprised no one’s mentioned “I Just Shot John Lennon ” by The Cranberries. One of my friends is a massive fan of theirs, so of course she had to tell me when she found out I loved The Beatles. The whole song is basically about his death.

I'd like to be, under the sea, in an octopus's garden, with you.

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