Sounds Just Like

ABBA’s “Waterloo” sounds like “Build me up Buttercup”

Adam Wagner — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:46:44 +0000

Thanks to artist Robert Florczak for this soundalike suggestion. It took me a couple of listens through the chorus to find the most similar nugget, which you can hear below.

“Build me up Buttercup” is one of my favorite songs. While I’ve heard “Waterloo” many times, I didn’t hear the connect until Robert pointed it out. Thanks!

ABBA “Waterloo” (’73)

Foundations: “Build me up Buttercup” (’68)

The Civil War’s “Barton Hollow” sounds like Beck’s “Loser”

Adam Wagner — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:57:58 +0000

These two songs share a vague connection, not really heard until the chorus. Check out the samples below to hear the most similar sections.

Beck: “Loser” (’93)

The Civil Wars: “Barton Hollow” (’11)

Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed” sounds like Spin Doctor’s “Two Princes”

Adam Wagner — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:56:03 +0000

Just skip this intro, and play the samples of the songs below for 5 second or so. Okay, did you do that? Can you believe the similarity between the first couple of seconds of each song? Even the drum fill intros match up!

Both are good songs. The chord progression in both songs is common enough. The vocals are completely different. Still, the vibe between the two songs is definitely close enough to mistake one for the other during certain parts.

Have you noticed this before?

The Spin Doctors: “Two Princes” (’93)

Third Eye Blind: “Semi Charmed Life” (’97)

Three Dog Night’s “One” sounds like The Cowsill’s “I Love The Flower Girl”

Adam Wagner — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:01:00 +0000

I’ve had my car radio stuck on Cleveland’s oldies station 105.7 for, gosh, more than a decade now. So I’ve heard I Love the Flower Girl – aka The Rain, The Park And Other Things. So when a reader emailed me about this track, I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed it already myself. My first thought upon hearing the intro of I Love the Flower Girl was “They must not play this intro on the radio! I haven’t had a chance to confirm my suspicions, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was true.

The Three Dog Night breakout hit One was recorded in 1967, the year that The Cowsill’s (also breakout) hit was released. Although not nearly as world-changing as calculus or evolutionary theory, these two opening riffs were also probably created independently, by two different groups, in a very close window of time.

So here they are – snippets of both songs to satisfy your curiosity.

The Cowsills: “I Love the Flower Girl” (’67)

Three Dog Night: “One” (’68)

Bonus points: The Cowsills were a family band, and the inspiration for the TV series The Partridge Family. Thanks, Wikipedia!

Chemical Brother’s “Let Forever Be” sounds like the Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows”

Adam Wagner — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:55:54 +0000

Checked the SoundsJustLike email today and found piles & piles of awesome suggestions from all of you. Thanks! I chased down most of the leads & have a long list of posts to push out.

This sound-a-like comes from Fernando; thanks, man! As soon as I heard these two songs next to each other I was excited to post this. The atmospheric effects, runaway bassline, and loopy drum beat of “Let Forever Be” definitely owes a lot to “Tomorrow Never Knows”. Sometimes my stomach turns over with disgust at these sound a likes, but that’s not the case with these two songs. The Chemical Brothers seem to be paying a beautiful tribute to the quirky Beatles tune, and to my ear, they did a great job.

The Beatles: “Tomorrow Never Knows” (’66)

Chemical Brothers: “Let Forever Be” (’99)

David Guetta’s “When Love Takes Over” sounds like Coldplay’s “Clocks”

Adam Wagner — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 21:19:35 +0000

Checked the SoundsJustLike email today and found piles & piles of awesome suggestions from all of you. Thanks! I chased down most of the leads & have a long list of posts to push out this summer.

Here’s the first one pointed out by a reader: An odd similarity between a French DJ and a British pop singer. I say odd because my gut says that the Coldplay track “Clocks” is the newer of these two songs. My gut is wrong. “When Love Takes Over” was recorded in 2008-2009 in Paris, six years after the Coldplay tune.

The intros are the most obviously similar part of these two songs. Have a listen.

Coldplay: “Clocks” (2002)

Guetta: “When Loves Takes Over” (2009)

Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” sounds like Soundgarden’s “Hands All Over”

lauriewann — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 02:19:04 +0000

Regardless of the inspiration behind these two tunes, it’s safe to say that if you’re looking for your own chart-topper or an addition to your greatest hits album, maybe you should check out this guitar riff. Vocally the songs stray, but tuning that out, Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” is a quicker-paced version of Soundgarden’s “Hands All Over.” Both songs were some of the bands’ biggest hits and featured on their greatest hits albums. This is solid ’90s rock, leading me to think Pearl Jam was just jamming out to Soundgarden when they graced us with this song – there’s only a two year difference in release dates. What do you think?

Pearl Jam: “Even Flow” (1992)

Soundgarden: “Hands All Over” (1990)

Taylor Swift’s “Haunted” sounds like Coldplay’s “Scientist”

Adam Wagner — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:22:22 +0000

Here’s a cool sound-a-like sent in by a reader. Honestly, I don’t really listen to Taylor Swift, so I had no instinct about whether “Haunted” sounded like “Scientist”. But in the first couple chord changes of Swift’s song, there was instant recognition. The progression is really similar.

I wouldn’t really label this a rip-off, but the similarities are interesting. Have any of you noticed this while scrubbing your radio dial?

Taylor Swift: “Haunted” (2011)

Coldplay: “Scientist” (2002)

“It’s the End of the World As We Know It” sounds like “Subterranean Homesick Blues”

lauriewann — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:04:54 +0000

If we were to fast-forward Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and mix in some pop and cymbal, the closest thing you would get is REM’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” I wouldn’t say Dylan was ripped off, but he was clearly an inspiration to the song. Peter Buck (REM’s guitarist) is rumored to have confirmed this, in a quote saying the song by Dylan was the main inspiration for “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”. It could just be that REM wasn’t a fan of harmonica breaks so they rewrote the song without them and threw a catchy chorus in instead. It’s for you to decide.

Bob Dylan: “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (1965)

R.E.M.: “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (1987)

Who wants to be a Millionaire “Let’s Play” sounds like Esquivel’s “Turkish March”

Adam Wagner — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 18:07:25 +0000

It was surprising to hear the “Let’s Play” music from Who Wants to be a Millionaire stuck right at the beginning of Esquivel’s “Turkish March”.

Since “Turkish March” itself is an amalgam of well known melodies, I wouldn’t be surprised if the torrent of descending notes that contemporary couch culture recognizes as the “Let’s Play” music from Millionaire is traceable to yet another, older source. Let me know in the comments if you recognize this motif from something other than “Turkish March”.

Esquivel “Turkish March” (1959)

Who Wants to be a Millionaire Intro (1998)