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Are there Beatles songs that sound a lot alike / very similar?
18 March 2016
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Bongo
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Don.W said
John Lennon wrote “Child Of Nature ” with The Beatles and used the same melody when he wrote the lyrics to “Jealous Guy

Yes as did George & Paul with their unfinished songs!

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18 March 2016
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Bongo said

Don.W said
John Lennon wrote “Child Of Nature ” with The Beatles and used the same melody when he wrote the lyrics to “Jealous Guy

Yes as did George & Paul with their unfinished songs!

 

Do you have a list of those? 

27 March 2017
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For some reason, I find the resemblance between Leave My Kitten  Alone and You Can’t Do That striking. I don’t even know why because the chords are not the same, the melody is different and still, I immediately had to think of the latter as I heard the former for the first time. a-hard-days-night-ringo-7

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27 March 2017
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SgtPeppersBulldog
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Does anybody else think the last 20 seconds of The End sounds very similar to Something ? Was that intended?

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27 March 2017
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It’s a similar guitar style, that effortlessly fluid melodic soloing that George got into right at the end of the Beatles — what a pity we didn’t hear more of it, as he got into slide guitar thereafter. 

Lots of guitar bits on Abbey Road recall other guitar bits. It’s one of the things that makes the album so cohesively great. 

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27 March 2017
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There are several determining factors here:

1. Same sound

For example, Dizzy Miss Lizzy and Bad Boy have the same sound and would work great as A side and B side or back to back in a playlist.

2. Same key

This is the case with Long Tall Sally and I’m Down , both songs sound very similar because they share the same key among other things

3. Same chord progression

Such as when comparing Something and Sun King or Paperback Writer and Got To Get You Into My Life

4. Same concept

Sgt. Pepper and Sgt. Pepper ‘s Reprise are prefect examples of this

5. Borderline same song

Finally we get to songs like Revolution 1 and Revolution where they are so similar that they mind as well be considered alternate versions of the same song

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27 March 2017
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Dark Overlord said
5. Borderline same song

Finally we get to songs like Revolution 1 and Revolution where they are so similar that they mind as well be considered alternate versions of the same song  

Um, I’m pretty sure there’s no ‘borderline’. They are alternate versions of the same song. 

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27 March 2017
11.38pm
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William Shears Campbell
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@Dark-Overlord said
5. Borderline same song

Finally we get to songs like Revolution 1 and Revolution where they are so similar that they mind as well be considered alternate versions of the same song  

Revolution 1 was the original Revolution , but it wasn’t fast enough for the single, so John made Revolution 2, better known as just Revolution , and then put Revolution 1 on the album.

Also, the solo in Unknown Delight sounds like a freestyled Something solo.

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28 March 2017
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I find that there are fewer Beatles-to-Beatles song comparisons than there are Writer-to-Writer comparisons. For instance, John’s chord selection, picking style, and overall motif for “Julia ” all sound very similar to his later composition “Look At Me ” from Plastic Ono Band. And Paul uses the same E minor to A major (seven) progression in “Vanilla Sky”, “Biker Like An Icon”, and “Rough Ride.”

But going Beatles song to Beatles song? I’ve always thought “There’s A Place ” and “Thank You Girl ” were so similar that I still get them confused sometimes.

I could tell the world a thing or two about our love …

Theeeeeere is a place!

Not a bit like Cagney.

28 March 2017
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Ron Nasty
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@PeterWeatherby Look At Me  is a song that had its roots in India or just after. There is a 1968 demo of it.

https://youtu.be/MwUPiRWaMqc?t=884

It is a song that is reflective of the period it was written, when John was experimenting with Travis-picking.

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28 March 2017
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That makes a ton of sense @Ron Nasty, thanks for the info. The songs are strikingly similar, and that would explain a lot, if he was writing them at the same time.

Not a bit like Cagney.

28 March 2017
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Dark Overlord
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I know some of you here consider Revolution an alternate version of Revolution 1 , which I do too, but both songs are different enough to count as separate songs, unlike Let It Be with a bad guitar solo and Let It Be with one of George’s best guitar solos or Love Me Do with the tambourine and Love Me Do with the electric guitars. Yes, they used electric guitars on the single version of Love Me Do and there many reasons I know why.

1. The single version was recorded on September 4th, 1962 and they didn’t get their J-160E’s until the 10th.

2. You could say that they used one of their older acoustic guitars, which may seem plausible for George, as he is seen in a picture from at least August 1961 with his Zenith Model 17 acoustic guitar, but what about John, I don’t even think he had an acoustic guitar at the time.

177a891eab6af43634c72fa2f10b0aed.jpgImage Enlarger

The first 2 numbers will be worthless when I explain number 3:

3. There is photographic evidence that they used electric guitars during the session.

Abbeyroad2-610.jpgImage Enlarger

01.jpgImage Enlarger

tumblr_mguo3w2owv1r7bg6wo3_500.jpgImage Enlarger

As for whether or not John played guitar on the song, your guess is as good as mine and I’d say yes but let’s not get too off topic.

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28 March 2017
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So, John was wrong when he referred to them as different versions of the same song, @Dark Overlord?

I’d like to know why you think John isn’t knowledgeable enough about his own work to know that they are not the same song?

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28 March 2017
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Not at all, John was right that they are 2 different version of the same song, but there are quite a few differences, such as the pitch change from A to B, the solo sections swapped around (on the album it’s at the end but on the single it’s in the middle), as well as a different arrangement, replacing the acoustic rhythm guitar to an electric one, replacing the trumpets with an electric piano, removing the shoo be doo wop backing vocals, and having parts in the song where certain instruments cut out, such as during the intro where you hear only guitar or the “when you talk about destruction” part where aside from the single chord hits from the guitars you hear just the drums and the vocals, but hey, let me ask you, do you think Revolution is the single version of Revolution 1 or do you think there is enough differences to call them separate songs.

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28 March 2017
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They are the same ideas, lyrics, chord progressions (correct me if I’m wrong on that one), but I think there’s enough difference to call them different.

 

As for staying on topic, I found The Word and Oh Darling to be similar, with the guitar stabs and piano. They also just sound a bit similar.

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28 March 2017
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Do I believe there are enough differences for them to count as separate songs? No. I find there are too many similarities to regard them as anything but different arrangements of the same song.

In fact, compared with someone like Dylan, the differences between the arrangements isn’t that vast.

Many different Dylan songs I could illustrate him playing in multiple different arrangements with fluid lyrics but they remain a variation of the song, how he is able to connect with and keep that song alive across the years.

I would point out about your list of differences, that while the “shoo be do wop” backing vocals didn’t make the single version, they were there loud and clear on the video for the single.

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16 May 2017
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Back then I used to confuse You Can’t Do That with I Call Your Name and I don’t know why. Maybe because of the cowbell and the guitar riff. Also Besame Mucho sounds a lot like Till There Was You but with a higher tempo.

17 May 2017
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17 May 2017
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I don’t know if this has been posted before, but the beginning of You Know My Name sounds a lot like the beginning of Baby You’re A Rich Man . In fact when I first heard YKMN(LUTN), I thought it was BYARM for the first few seconds.

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