Pop songs that borrow melodies from classical music or old, public domain songs

The chorus of Billy Joel's "This Night" borrows part of the melody of Beethoven's Sonata No 8 In C Minor Op 13 'Pathetique'" (as did Louise Tucker's "Midnight Blue").

 

I can't believe no one mentioned Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind" yet.

 

Sinatra's "I think of you" (J. Elliot/D. Marcotte) from the album "Where are you" borrowed the main part of the melody from the first movement of the same Concerto No. 2. (the lyrical theme in A-flat).
I've never seen an additional credit there (?)....

Martin

 

Are you sure? What is the Bernstein-specific part??

Martin

 

Nigel Tufnell's songwriting was highly influenced by Mach.

 

In the same vein as "Joy" are David Shire's "Night on Disco Mountain" (using Modest Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain") and Walter Murphy's "A Fifth of Beethoven" (using, well, Beethoven's Fifth).

Coolio had a hit in the 90s called "C U When U Get There" that borrowed heavily from Pachelbel's Canon.

 

Amy Grant's version of Sing Your Praise To The Lord's intro came from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier.

 

Isn't Paul Simon's American Tune from a Bach melody? ..I think Peter, Paul and Mary used the same melody for Because All Men Are Brothers.

 

Broken Music

Zappa's Call Any Vegetable impales Holst's Jupiter on its own petard.

Isn't the melody of the Beatles Because Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata's opening movement played backwards?

Speaking of the Beatles, the end of She's So Heavy has the ostinato bassline increasing in volume to the point of becoming pure clipping distortion and then is abruptly cut off at peak volume. This echos Iannis Xenakis' Bohor.

Turning this inside out, Violist Roy Whelden has cooked up Prelude And Divisions On She's So Heavy for his Galax CD—I should know, I was the recording engineer for that part of the CD. It sounds just like a French Baroque chaconne for solo viol.

http://www.amazon.com/Galax-Whelden-Carl-Friedrich-Abel/dp/B000000R3J

 

Didn't McGuinn borrow a little Bach for EIGHT MILES HIGH? "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" I think?

 

Lutheran Tune.

It's from Bach's St. Matthew Passion.

 

Time it was and what a time it was

I don't think so, however there is an extended quote from Jesu in She Don't Care About Time.

 

High 5, more dead than alive Rockin' the plastic like a man from a casket

Beck has a marvelous use/abuse of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony in his hilarious High Five—Rocking the Catskills.

Turn that **** off! Play the other record!

 

I always thought it was more Scarborough Fair.


Strawberry Swicthblade uses a classical piece as the basis for Since Yesterday but I cannot remember what piece.

 

Whoo, I get to post this again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4z8EnpQbVw

 

Doesn't Bowie's "Life on Mars" come from the same Rachmaninoff piece?

 

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

. . . 'cept that it's played in four instead of three. You might think that this is a minor issue but my piano teacher didn't.

 

The chords are lifted from Comme d'habitude.

Edit - Oops, just remembered the end piece, which I think Ken Scott did say was a classical piece of music, but cannot remember what.

 

Also inspired Englebert Humperdinck's "When There's No You"

Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata': "Past, Present, Future" - The Shangri-Las

 

A very large part of the melody of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb2YSAVHmIE&fmt=18

is borrowed from the folk song "Stewball": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuGt66WyO-8

 

Oh, beg your pardon.

Bach's Air and A Whiter Shade Of Pale's organ melody are not the same. All they have in common is one note in the first bar.

I synced them up to show this when there was a big discussion a while back.

 

Here's my source:

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=9381

 

But the You Tube only plays the PH. I was interested in hearing the Bach.

 

Broadway musical hit, and later jazz standard, Baugles, Bangles & Beads (Robert Wright - George Forrest), is founded note for note on a main theme from the 2nd movement of Alexander Borodin's string quartet in D.