Wearing Influences on their sleeve

[YI]

Basically...another thread where I get to shill the everloving shit out of The Gaslight Anthem. But yeah, there's so many references and stuff in their music, it's brilliant. Some are subtle ("Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts"), some are obvious ("I'da Called You Woody Joe") and some are flat out homages ("Red At Night"). And there's some, which I'm sure I haven't/other people haven't noticed yet.

Anyways...the point of this topic is I want a few more bands that kind of reference other bands, whether through lyrics, song titles, whatever. I just think it's a cool little thing. Anyways, quickly some I've (or found out elsewhere...which is normally the case) picked up.

Gaslight Anthem

"Angry Johnny And The Radio" (Bob Dylan references)

"Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?" (Obvious?...however...it ties in with the above song...so...hmmmm...but then again, it's references, not really what the song is 'about', per se)

"I'Da Called You Woody Joe" (Joe Strummer)

"Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts" (Tom Waits reference...I believe there's another reference or two in here, I can't really remember)

"Red At Night" (Lyrical reworking of "Way Over Yonder (In The Minor Key)" by Woody Guthrie)

"Senor & The Queen" (Meatloaf reference)

"We Came To Dance" (Lifetime reference)

Speaking of Lifetime...

Lifetime

"Young, Loud & Scotty" (reference to Dead Boys "Young, Loud & Scotty" album)

I think Lifetime have a few more too, I'll check later, that one just came straight to mind.

There's that god awful Gym Class Heroes song too, which is basically just him listing off bands for 3 minutes.

[K]

Umm, well in the song Army of One by Annihilator, they reference (And not subtly), Anthrax, Motorhead, Exodus, Slayer, Judas Priest, Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath

With the following lyrics...

Anthrax and Motorhead

Exodus, Slayer, bang your head

Dedication when the going got through

Was never enough

Priest, Metallica, Megadeth

Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath

That shits deep.

Also, Hip-Hop act Satellite High (Album is free in the thread at the top guys, fucking get it) references every hard rock and metal band from the eighties in the song (Poison Says) Rock The Fuck Out. Everyone from Metallica to Ratt and Great White. It's fucking killer.

[METALMAN]

Thou Shalt Always Kill!

[K]

... I should have gotten that >_>

[Nerf]

Standing on the Verge by Hardcore Superstar.

"Same old situation, sad but true."

It's known they're influenced heavily by 80's metal, so how plausible is it that that line is in reference to the Motley Crue and Metallica songs, respectively?

[Iain76er]

'Heart Songs' by Weezer. Judas Priest taught me how to shred.

You don't need to be a genius to work it out.

[Skummy]

The Lucksmiths' "There Is A Boy That Never Goes Out", even if it is only the title, is one of my personal favourites. I should know hundreds of these, my twee indie nonsense that I love is full of referential lyrics, but most of it seems to be referencing books and films, rather than other bands.

[VerbalPuke]

Big Boys "Fun, Fun, Fun" has a reference to the Cockney Rejects. They sing the lines "I'm a punk, and I like Sham. Cockney Rejects are the worlds greatest band." This is a reference to the Cockney Rejects song "Police Car" with the lines "I'm a punk and I like Sham" which refers to Sham 69. I guess that is a two in one deal with the Rejects referencing Sham 69, and then the Big Boys playing the exact same chords as the Cockney Rejects and borrowing a line from their song, then adding in Cockney Rejects are the worlds greatest band. Actually though, the chords to the Big Boys song mentioned are from the Cockney Rejects song "I am not a fool", which is a different song than the one with the lyrics mentioned.

Antidote has a song called 15 in 77 which is basically them rattling off all of the classic punk bands of 1977. The premise of the song is that they wanted to be 15 years old in 1977, back when the punk scenes had multitudes of great bands throughout the world.

[Skummy]

Oh, The Ramones' "Judy Is A Punk" references Herman's Hermits with the "second verse, same as the first" line, and plenty of punk bands have referenced The Ramones with that line, making that a kind of double-header as well.

Also, the New York Dolls' "Looking For A Kiss" references (and probably makes more famous) The Shangri-Las opening line from "I Gave Him A Great Big Kiss"; "when I say I'm in love, you best believe I'm in love: L-U-V!"

[ROC]

Vampire Weekend: Peter Gabriel and Ivy League faggotry.

Edited May 10, 2008 by ROC

[VerbalPuke]

Oh, The Ramones' "Judy Is A Punk" references Herman's Hermits with the "second verse, same as the first" line, and plenty of punk bands have referenced The Ramones with that line, making that a kind of double-header as well.

Also, the New York Dolls' "Looking For A Kiss" references (and probably makes more famous) The Shangri-Las opening line from "I Gave Him A Great Big Kiss"; "when I say I'm in love, you best believe I'm in love: L-U-V!"

The Ramones reference reminds me, Motorhead had a song titled R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

Another one I just thought of, the Minutemen have a song where D. Boone is talking about him and Mike Watt growing up and getting into punk. He makes mention of being influenced by people like Richard Hell, Joe Strummer, and John Doe (of X).

[Dont Fear The Reaper]

I know the band Sabaton have made a few metal homages, cant remember the song titles though...anyone know?