Artists who recycle their own lyrics?

Let's come up with a list of artists who have recycled their own lyrics. Sting has done this quite a bit, both in his days with The Police and then using Police lyrics in his solo work. Others?

 

I don't know if this counts, but on the new Fleetwood Mac album, Stevie Nicks uses an entire block of lyrics (word for word) in two separate and distinct songs on the alubm.

But because these songs are in the same album - it may not really be considered "recycled" as much as creating a common thread between the two songs.

 

Madonna has recycled her lyrics as well.

 

Robert Plant recycles Zeppelin lyrics from time to time.

 

The Who reprise the "my jackets gonna be cut slim and checked" theme from Quadrophenia in Long Live Rock, but I think that was from the same "batch" of songs (just like using a verse from Pure and Easy in The Song is Over). A bit closer to "recycled" is the re-naming of the end theme from "Rael" (on The Who Sell Out) as Sparks (on the Tommy album), however this has no lyrics, just the musical theme.

Elvis Costello uses the "Checking on a checkmate, grassing on a classmate" verse in both Love for Tender and Clean Money - but again I think these were just the yin and yang of the same idea, recorded and written at roughly the same time.

 

Prince will often do this. An example that comes to mind is "Batdance," which was a remix of a rejected track for the Batman film called "200 Balloons." On top of that, he used lyrics from an unreleased song called "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic," which later appeared on the 1999 album of the same name.

 

Springsteen's "Nebraska" repeats a few lyrics on different songs. Since the tracks were originally meant to be demos, it's possible Bruce planned to rewrite them later on. It still works great, though. My favorite Springsteen album.

 

In addition, Lindsay Buckingham recycled the lyrics on the bridge of Bleed To Love Her from his Out Of The Cradle album (can't remember which song).

Stevie Nicks has been recycling lyrics for years (Blue Lamp - Welcome To The Room Sara, Enchanted - Destiny, Whole Lotta Trouble - Thousand Days).

 

I'm no expert here, but I would think that rap artists would be more so in this category than anyone. If I'm wrong on this, let me know.

 

Hell, Sting even COVERED a Police song on his first solo album...

 

And at the end of Clean Money during the fade Elvis repeats the line,
"But they won't take my love for tender, won't take my love for tender...".

 

If you listen to "Tracks", lots of lyrics pop up that we know from elsewhere - many related to "Nebraska". "Living On the Edge Of the World" is really just an alternate version of "State Trooper", for instance, and "Mary Lou" reworks "Be True". (Everyone seems to hate "Mary Lou", but I rather like it - I think it's a fun variation on the wonderful "Be True"...)

 

Yeah, that's just the earliest example of Costello abandoning a song and reusing some of its lyrics in a new song... and then later releasing the abandoned song on a B-side or a reissue. In that case, "Clean Money" was recorded first, but "Love for Tender" was released first.

Other examples of this:

"The Invisible Man" uses bits of "Seconds of Pleasure" and "I Turn Around."

The version of "The Other End of the Telescope" on All This Useless Beauty recycles lyrics from "The Days Take Care of Everything."

"Inch by Inch" reworks "Little Goody Two Shoes."

"The Miranda Syndrome," a collaboration between Elvis and Ruben Blades, uses a couple of lines from Costello's "The Town Where Time Stood Still."

"Crimes of Paris" reuses some lines from "Suffering Face."

"Poisoned Letter" was abandoned and recycled as "My Science Fiction Twin" and "All the Rage."

"Joe Porterhouse" reused some lines from "(I Love You) When You Sleep," which Elvis had written for Tracie. (That's a rare case where the original version was released first.)

 

We should have James Hetfield (Metallica) reuse "F*** it all and f****** no regrets" from "Damage Inc." on the new St. Anger CD.

Metallica shared many lyrics from "Unforgiven" (the Black album) and "Unforgiven II" (Reload). Worked well IMO.

 

Van Morrison mentions the "garden wet with rain" in "Sweet Thing" on Astral Weeks and again in "In The Garden" on No Guru, No Method, No Teacher.

 

Lewis Taylor seems particularly fond of the well/river running dry.
At the beginning of "Party", he sings:
"Me, oh my, your river's running dry."
then later in the same song:
"I want you to try, before your river runs dry..."

from the same album, on "The Way You Done Me"
"You know I had a good thing but it passed me by,
I don't miss my water, 'til the well runs dry..."

And then on his "Stoned, part One" album, on the song "Send Me An Angel", he sings:
"It's the end, I'm not gonna cry,
I don't miss my water 'til the well runs dry..."