Beatle Songs Quoted in Songs by Other Artists

After hearing "Young Americans" by David Bowie last night I started
wondering how often other artists quoted the Beatles in their own
songs. Aside from "Young Americans" I could only come up with "Mrs.
Robinson" by Paul Simon ("Goo goo goo joob, Mrs. Robinson ...").

Are there others?

Daave...

From Dan Bern's Where is the Love? :

"And the love you make and the love you take
Ain't near the love you need"

gofab.com...

Of course you have "Titles" by Barclay James Harvest, which may be the only song
totally dedicated to Beatle quotes.

poisoned rose...

First song which comes to mind is Yes' "I've Seen All Good People,"
which quotes "Give Peace a Chance" as vocal counterpoint. Except that's

dlarsson...

In addition to the GPAC lyrics, that same song also contains
the lyric: "send an Instant Karma to me initial it with loving care"
(reference to "Instant Karma")

not really a Beatles song. Oops.

There's a really neat song by Chumbawamba where the whole song is based
around a sampled loop from "For No One"'s horn solo. Can't remember the
title, but it's on the "Shhh" album.

Brother Michael...

Another Bowie song "All The Young Dudes" references the Beatles/Stones and
Revolution. Mott The Hoople's version is the best known.

abe slaney...

I think the lyric in 'Mrs. Robinson' is "koo koo kachoo" anyway.
Wow! I just had an epiphany...probably everybody else in the world knows
this already...but that line is followed by "God bless you, please..."
like Mrs. Robinson sneezed. What do you know.

Dale Houstman...

Well, epiphanies aren't what they used to be!

I think I recall Simon ssying the line in "Mrs Robinson" was meant as a
small homage to the Beatles. But maybe not...

abe slaney...

It may well be that "koo koo kachoo" was an homage of sorts to Walrus.
But I will say this: if you said "koo...koo...KACHOO!!" to me, the next
words you would hear would be "God Bless You." And that's all I have to
say about that.

Dale Houstman...

Sounds like a bronchial infection - possibly a lung tumor. God can't
help you now!

I don't know - for certain - that Paul had "Walrus" in mind when he
wrote that line (although it seems awfully likely, but I do know that
the entire "Bookends" album (a marvelous thing) probably couldn't have
existed without the Beatles sound that proceeded it: it's an aural
compendium of "Beatlesque" production fillips and touches. "Mrs.
Robinson" is still one of my favorite 60s tunes (along with "Whiter
Shade of Pale").

And that's all I have to say about that...

Lookingglass...

Right on Dale... BOOKENDS is a brilliant album, as are all the Simon and
Garfunkle albums. They were consistently good.

Dale Houstman...

Well, their very first album is less than spectacular, being full of
rather run-of-the-mill folk diddlings and some of Simon's worst excesses
in the "sensitive academic poet" arena. But - after that - they steadied
themselves quickly.

...aside... I never much cared for Whiter Shade of Pale... never did
anything for me.
...go figure! But that's just me... doesn't mean it's not a good song...
(...it's based on a Bach composition, I believe).

Dale Houstman...

As explained by Brooker, it's sort of a combination between Bach and
Percy Sledge. Percy later covered it.My closest friend can't stand it
either, but it never fails to excite me when it comes on the radio. I
don't know that it's based on a specific Bach composition, as opposed to
a Bach-like melody, but maybe. At any rate, for me, it's one of the
premier 60s tunes. That and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It Flavor On The
Bedpost Overnight?"...

Lookingglass...

...on the other hand... "Chewing Gum" is a miracle...!... true "ART"... ;^)

Dale Houstman...

If Da Vinci had lived in the 60s...and made music...and not cared too
much one way or the other about quality... he could have made
"...Chewing Gum..."

dave (...all together now...)

dave (...will you still be sending me a Valentine...)

We should mention Oasis here, who seem to have made a small career in
dropping Beatles and Beatles-related references: off the top of my head
I can only recall "Wonderwall" (obivous enough) but I think there are
others.

The World Wide Wade...

What references do you have in mind in Wonderall? By the way,
anyone hear Ryan Adams's version of Wonderwall? I didn't like the
original, but the cover by Adams is great.

Not really a quote but a reference is in Johnny Rivers "All Summer Long"
"...while the jukebox kept on playing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band".

Chris Jepson...

Just a minor correction -- the song is "Summer Rain." (This sort of

Dale Houstman...

See? I told you I keep getting titled f@#!*ed up! Thanks. I thought that
was wrong, but couldn't (at the time) come up with the corrct title.

correction always reminds me of the White Knight in "Through the
Looking-Glass"... the name of the song is called "All Summer Long", but
the name actually *is* "Dancin' In the Sand"... but the *song* is called
"She's Here By Me"... but the song actually *is* "Summer Rain.")

Chris Jepson

Dale Houstman...

I remember when the Rivers song came out. A good-sized hit for him, but
my friends and I thought he was just doing a bit of coat-tail riding
with the Beatles' reference.

The name of my name is "Track lighting," but my name actually is "Retro
mindscape"...

Elvis Costello done a bit of this, both musically and lyrically; he
makes a snide (but smart) reference to John's "Imagine" lyrics in "The
Other Side of Summer" and Beatles' riffs are scattered here and there
throughout his work, but he borrows from a very wide range of sources.
Nothing specific springs to mind at the moment.

Daave...

Elvis closes Side 1 of Blood and Chocolate with a song entitled I Want
You (cf The Beatles' Abbey Road).

Dale Houstman...

Yep. Although its a distinctly different song, it does have much of the
same obsessional character, so I assume it's a reference. There's a song

BlackMonk...

He said as much at the time. There's also a song on Imperial Bedroom that
mentions "PS I Love you."

on Costello's "Goodbye Cruel World" that begins with a Beatles guitar
line, then sidles off elsewhere, but I'm too lazy right now to find
outwhich track or which riff it cops. Hell, I'm ALWAYS too lazy! Also,
Costello's "Sweet Pear" (I think) musically references the Boys.

I Want to Hold Your Yellow Submarine, My Flying Strawberry Truffle...

And that's all I've got right now, but I am certain beyond certain there
are plenty more...

Dimitrios Paskoudniakis...

"I Dig Rock and Roll Music" by Peter, Paul, and Mary:

And when the Beatles tell you
They've got a word "love" to sell you
They mean exactly what they say

gofab.com...

Neil Young quotes the Beatles on his "Greendale" album, even singing "John
Lennon said that."