answer song

{{Short description|Song made in response to another song}}

An answer song, response song or answer record is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer songs were also popular in country music in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, sometimes as female responses to an original hit by a male artist or male responses to a hit by a female artist.

The original "Hound Dog" song sung by Big Mama Thornton reached number 1 in 1953, and there were six answer songs in response; the most successful of these was "Bear Cat", by Rufus Thomas which reached number 3. That led to a successful copyright lawsuit for $35,000, which is said to have led Sam Phillips of Sun Records to sell Elvis Presley's recording contract to RCA.{{cite book|title=The late, great Johnny Ace and the transition from R & B to rock 'n' roll'|first=James M.|last=Salem|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2001

|isbn=0-252-06969-2}}{{cite web|url=http://whatconsumesme.com/2009/posts-ive-written/sam-phillips-and-the-remix/ |title=Sam Phillips and the remix |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313032744/http://whatconsumesme.com/2009/posts-ive-written/sam-phillips-and-the-remix/ |archive-date=2012-03-13 }}

In Rock Eras: Interpretations of Music and Society, Jim Curtis says that "the series of answer songs which were hits in 1960 ... indicates the dissociation of the singer from the song ... Answer songs rode on the coattails, as it were, of the popularity of the first song, and resembled parodies in that their success depended on a knowledge of the original ... Answer songs were usually one-hit flukes by unknown singers whose lack of identity did not detract from the success of the record since only the song, and not the performer, mattered."{{cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=James M. |title=Rock Eras: Interpretations of Music and Society, 1954-1984 |date=1987 |publisher=Bowling Green State University Popular Press |isbn=9780879723699 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0xAUXaBYqoC&dq=%22answer+song%22&pg=PA88 |access-date=10 March 2020}} Alternate {{ISBN|0-87972-368-8}}.

Today, this practice is most common in hip hop music and filk, especially as the continuation of a feud between performers; the Roxanne Wars was a notable example that resulted in over a hundred answer songs.{{cite book|title=Hip Hop in America: A Regional Guide: Volume 1: East Coast and West Coast|first=Mickey|last=Hess|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2009|isbn=978-0-313-34323-0|page=xx}} Answer songs also played a part in the battle over turf in The Bridge Wars. Sometimes, an answer record imitated the original very closely and occasionally, a hit song would be followed up by the same artist.

Examples

=Pre-1950s=

  • Sir Walter Raleigh and Christopher Marlowe traded life philosophies on the battlefield of poetry, namely, "The Passionate Shepherd To His Love" (1599) and "The Nymph's Reply To The Shepherd" (1600).{{cite web |last1=Magee |first1=Bruce R. |title=The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (and the Nymph's Reply) |url=http://www2.latech.edu/~bmagee/201/marlowe/shepherd_&_notes.htm |website=www2.latech.edu |access-date=28 October 2022}}
  • The sentimental Irish ballad, "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" (1875) by Thomas Westendorf was written as a reply to the earlier "Barney, Take Me Home Again" by George W. Persley.{{cite book |last1=Shalk |first1=El McMeen and Sandy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOJhEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA198 |title=The Glory of CGDGAD Guitar Tuning: From Music to Method |date=24 February 2022 |publisher=Mel Bay Publications |isbn=978-1-5134-5910-3 |pages=198 |language=en}}
  • "I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home" was written by William Jerome and recorded by Arthur Collins in 1902{{cite web|date=16 November 2005|title=I Wonder Why Bill Bailey Don't Come Home|url=http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder2948|website=Library.ucsb.edu}} as an answer to "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home", published by Hughie Cannon and recorded by Collins earlier the same year.
  • "I Used to Be Afraid to Come Home in the Dark"{{cite web|url = http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder3584|title = I Used to Be Afraid to Come Home in the Dark|date = 16 November 2005|website=Library.ucsb.edu }} was recorded by Billy Murray in 1909 as a response to his own 1908 hit, "I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark"{{cite web|url = http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder3295|title = I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark|website=Library.ucsb.edu | date=16 November 2005 }}
  • The popularity of the 1923 song "Yes! We Have No Bananas" was answered that same year by "I've Got The Yes! We Have No Banana Blues" with lyrics by Lew Brown, composed by Robert King and James F. Hanley. The song referred to the ubiquity and nonsense lyrics of the original.{{cite web |url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2838&context=mmb-vp |title=Archived copy |access-date=2019-01-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041534/https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2838&context=mmb-vp |archive-date=2019-01-24 |url-status=dead }} Eddie Cantor, Eva Taylor, Isabelle Patricola, and Belle Baker all sang on releases of this song.
  • Patsy Montana's "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" (written 1934, recorded 1935), the first million seller hit by a female country artist, was an answer to Stuart Hamblen's "Texas Plains".
  • Woody Guthrie's anthem "This Land Is Your Land" was written in 1940 as an answer to "God Bless America", written by Irving Berlin in 1918 (and revised in 1938). Guthrie originally called his response "God Blessed America for Me".[https://web.archive.org/web/20010428165056/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/RADIO/woody/introframe.html Woody Guthrie: this man is your myth, this man is my myth], section American Hero

=1950s=

  • "Where's-a Your House", written and recorded by Robert Q. Lewis in 1951, was a response to Rosemary Clooney's "Come on-a My House" of the same year.{{cite book |last1=Leszczak |first1=Bob |title=From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to Television Stars Who Made Records, 1950-2000 |date=25 June 2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4274-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpucCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA192 |language=en}}
  • "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", written by J. D. "Jay" Miller in 1952 and originally sung by Kitty Wells, was a response to "The Wild Side of Life", made famous that same year by Hank Thompson.{{cite web|url=http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/wells_kitty/bio.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040215215129/http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/wells_kitty/bio.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 15, 2004|title=Country Music – Music News, New Songs, Videos, Music Shows and Playlists|website=Cmt.com|access-date=31 May 2018}}
  • "Mannish Boy" (1955) by Muddy Waters was a response to Bo Diddley's "I'm a Man", which also happened to be a response to "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man", an earlier song by Muddy Waters in 1954.
  • "Hot Rod Lincoln" (1955) is Charlie Ryan's a response to "Hot Rod Race", (1950) Arkie Shibley and His Mountain Dew Boys and is arguably the more well known of the two songs.
  • "Can't Do Sixty No More", written and performed by The Dominoes, was a response to their own hit song from four years earlier (1951), "Sixty Minute Man".
  • One of the longest answer record cycles was started by Hank Ballard and The Midnighters' (1954) R&B hit "Work with Me, Annie", and its sequel song "Annie Had a Baby" (1954). Answer songs include "Annie's Answer" (1954) by The El Dorados, "Annie Pulled a Humbug" (1954) by the Midnights, "Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)" (1955) by Etta James, and "I'm the Father of Annie's Baby" (1955), by Danny Taylor. The Midnighters also recorded an "answer to the answer": "Henry's Got Flat Feet (Can't Dance No More)" (1955).
  • "Nothing Can Replace A Man" (1955) from the musical Ankles Aweigh bills itself in its verse as an answer to Rodgers and Hammerstein's "There Is Nothin' Like A Dame" (1949).
  • "I Shot Mr. Lee" (1958) was The Bobbettes' response to their own 1957 hit, "Mr. Lee".
  • "That Makes It" was Jayne Mansfield's response to The Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" (1958),[http://www.hotshotdigital.com/tribute/TheBigBopper.html The Big Bopper] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112205037/http://www.hotshotdigital.com/tribute/TheBigBopper.html |date=January 12, 2012 }} Hotshotdigital.com suggesting what the girl may have been saying at the other end of the line.
  • "Oh Neil!" was Carole King's response to Neil Sedaka's "Oh! Carol" (1959); Sedaka and King were both co-workers and friends since high school.
  • "Short Mort" (1959) by Carole King was a response to Annette Funicello's "Tall Paul" (1959), referencing "Tall Paul" in the line, "You can keep Tall Paul, I'll take Short Mort."
  • "Return of the All-American Boy" (1959) by Billy Adams was a response to the 1958 smash "The All American Boy" by Bill Parsons (aka Bobby Bare).
  • "I Got a Job" (1957) by The Miracles, "I Found a Job" by The Heartbeats (1958), "I Got A Job" by The Tempos, and "I Got Fired" by The Mistakes, were all responses to The Silhouettes's self-penned chart-topper Get a Job (1957).
  • "Answer To The Pub With No Beer" (1958) by Slim Dusty, was a direct response to Dusty's hit A Pub With No Beer (1957).

=1960s=

=1970s=

=1980s=

=1990s=

=2000s=

|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/music/dean-friedman-tells-jade-wright-3366435 |newspaper=Liverpool Echo |date=September 29, 2011 |title=Dean Friedman tells Jade Wright why he's planning revenge on Half Man Half Biscuit |first=Jade |last=Wright |access-date=September 12, 2015 }}

  • Russian pop band Vintage (Винтаж) composed their song "Eva" (Ева) from their SEX album as an answer to "Run from me" (Беги от меня) by Guests from the Future (Гости из будущего). In the original song, singer Eva Polna warns her significant other to run from her. In "Eva", singer Anna Pletnyova becomes a fan of Eva Polna writing her a love letter. Eva Polna agreed to re-record part of the original song to be included in Eva.{{cite news |last1=Гришин |first1=Михаил |title=Солистка группы "Винтаж" рассказала, что Польна восприняла песню "Ева" как "посмертную оду" - Газета.Ru {{!}} Новости |url=https://www.gazeta.ru/culture/news/2022/10/22/18856729.shtml |work=Газета.Ru |date=22 October 2022 |language=ru}}

=2010s=

  • "The Devil Comes Back to Georgia" by Johnny Cash, Charlie Daniels, Mark O'Connor, and Travis Tritt in 2010 responds to the Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (1979).
  • Everybody Was in the French Resistance...Now! released an album titled Fixin' The Charts, Vol. 1. As its title suggests, the album contains nothing but answer songs to pop hits. "G.I.R.L.F.R.E.N. (You Know I've Got A)", an answer song to Avril Lavigne's hit "Girlfriend", is one example.
  • "California Gurls" (2010) by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg was a response to "Empire State of Mind" (2009) by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys. It was the first time both the original song and the answer song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • Taylor Swift's "Better than Revenge" (2010) is an answer to The Jonas Brothers' "Much Better" (2009) which may have been an answer to Swift's "Forever & Always" (2008).
  • Marina and the Diamonds' cover of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" (2012) is an answer song to the original tune, the lyrics adapted to give it a female perspective.{{cite web |url=http://www.metrolyrics.com/blog/2012/04/24/marina-and-the-diamonds-get-sassy-re-arrange-boyfriend-lyrics/ |title=Marina and the Diamonds Covers Justin Bieber's 'Boyfriend', Re-Arranges Lyrics « Videos « MetroLyrics Loves |access-date=2012-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120621080109/http://www.metrolyrics.com/blog/2012/04/24/marina-and-the-diamonds-get-sassy-re-arrange-boyfriend-lyrics/ |archive-date=2012-06-21 |url-status=unfit }}
  • Lecrae made the song "No Regrets" (2012) in response to "The Motto" (2011) by Drake.{{cite web|url=http://www.dasouth.com/reviews/9266-lecrae-church-clothes |title=Lecrae - Church Clothes |last=Hill |first=Kellus |date=14 May 2012 |publisher=Da South |access-date=30 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524093801/http://www.dasouth.com/reviews/9266-lecrae-church-clothes |archive-date=24 May 2013 }} Which itself is a response to "If Today Was Your Last Day" (2008) by Nickelback.
  • Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) released "Niggas in Poorest", (2012) in response to "Niggas in Paris" (2011) by Jay-Z and Kanye West, chastising them for parading their wealth while so many are suffering with poverty, violence, crime, and exploitation.
  • Mary Lambert's "She Keeps Me Warm" (2013) is an extension of the chorus she sang on Macklemore's "Same Love" (2012). Where "Same Love" has a message of gay acceptance, "She Keeps Me Warm" is about a woman who falls in love with another woman and grows to accept her own sexuality.
  • Ewert and the Two Dragons wrote their song "Jolene" on the album Good Man Down in response to Dolly Parton's 1973 single "Jolene" from the male perspective. Additionally, the 2017 song "Diane" performed by Cam sings from the perspective of Jolene.
  • "Big Girls Cry" on Sia's 2014 album 1000 Forms of Fear is an answer song to Fergie's hit "Big Girls Don't Cry" (2007).
  • "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj (2014) is viewed as an answer to Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" (1992), which is heavily sampled in the song. Whereas Sir Mix-a-Lot focuses on a woman's body and the pleasure it gives him, Minaj raps from the perspective of the unnamed woman, and shows how she uses her callipygian physique to profit and empower herself.{{cite journal |last1= Lezama|first1= Nigel|date= March 2019|title= Status, Votive Luxury, and Labour: The Female Rapper's Delight|url= https://www.fashionstudies.ca|journal= Fashion Studies|volume= 2 |issue= 1|pages= 1–23 |doi= 10.38055/FS010202|s2cid= 226869546|access-date= 31 July 2019|doi-access= free}}
  • Ellie Goulding's song "On My Mind" is seen as answer to Ed Sheeran's "Don't" by many critics,{{cite news|last=Corner|first=Lewis|title=6 ways Ellie Goulding's new single takes a swing at Ed Sheeran: A lyrical breakdown|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/music/a669000/6-ways-ellie-gouldings-new-single-takes-a-swing-at-ed-sheeran-a-lyrical-breakdown/|work=Digital Spy|date=17 September 2015|access-date=14 December 2018}}{{cite news|last=Hodgson|first=Claire|title=Is Ellie Goulding's new song On My Mind about Ed Sheeran?|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/news/a38610/ellie-gouldings-ed-sheeran-on-my-mind/|work=Cosmopolitan|date=18 September 2015|access-date=14 December 2018}} although Goulding herself has denied it.
  • Christine and the Queens rewrote Beyoncé's "Sorry" from a male perspective.{{cite tweet|user=QueensChristine|author=Christine🌹theQueens|number=776533177229770756|date=15 September 2016|title=@AFNoli Beyoncé est indépassable ds l'original car c'est une femme bafouée qui se révolte - dans la mienne, je suis le cheater}}
  • Esmé Patterson published Woman to Woman (2014), an album of seven answer songs from the perspective of famous women in pop songs, including "Eleanor Rigby", "Billie Jean" and The Kinks' "Lola".{{Cite news |last=Patterson |first=Esmé |date=2015-01-30 |title=My happiness depends on you: giving voice to the unsung women of pop |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/jan/30/my-happiness-depends-on-you-giving-voice-to-the-unsung-women-of-pop |access-date=2023-02-18 |issn=0261-3077}}
  • "The Quantum Enigma (Kingdom of Heaven Part II)" popularized by Epica is a response to "Kingdom of Heaven"
  • Eels' 2018 single "Bone Dry" is an answer to their 2010 single "Fresh Blood".{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/eels-bone-dry-video-animation-the-deconstruction-album-listen-premiere-a8291401.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/eels-bone-dry-video-animation-the-deconstruction-album-listen-premiere-a8291401.html |archive-date=2022-05-07 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Eels unveil an incredible animated video for 'Bone Dry' - premiere|date=April 6, 2018|newspaper=The Independent}}{{cbignore}} Fresh Blood was itself a sequel to their song "I Want to Protect You".{{cite web |url=http://www.spinner.com/2009/03/31/eels-fresh-blood-song-premiere/ |title='Fresh Blood' on AOL Music |publisher=AOL Music |date=2009-03-31 |access-date=2009-03-31 |archive-date=2011-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524070402/http://www.spinner.com/2009/03/31/eels-fresh-blood-song-premiere/ |url-status=dead }}
  • "Paper Doll" (2013) by John Mayer is viewed as a response to Taylor Swift's "Dear John" (2010), and also mentions her song "22".{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/06/taylor-swift-paper-doll-photos|title=Photos: Five Reasons to Think Taylor Swift Is John Mayer's "Paper Doll"|magazine=Vanity Fair|language=en|access-date=2019-10-25}}
  • In 2013, Kay One released his diss track "Nichts als die Wahrheit" against his former label mates Bushido and Shindy, as a response to Shindy's song "Alkoholisierte Pädophile", making fun of Kay One and his stepfather Olliwood. Bushido in return released the 11 minute storytelling diss track "Leben und Tod des Kenneth Glöckler", chronicling the rise and career of Kay One from his perspective, depicting him as an opportunist who only makes friends that get him further in the music business just to drop them when he finds someone more prestigious. One year later, Kay One released the 25 minute response song "Tag des jüngsten Gerichts", depicting his career from his own point of view, including attacks against many of his former friends on the way who turned their back on him, most prominently Bushido who he claims to have abused his power as a label boss and his ties to the Abou-Chaker clan to make Kay work lots for little money, as well as being a greedy man who rips off his fellow collaborators as well as his own fans. Many of the rappers mentioned in the song released their own diss tracks against Kay One as a response, however they received less media coverage and attention than those of Kay One and Bushido.
  • 3Think made "Shizuka (First Love)" (2014) in response to Leo Ku's "Nobita" (2004).

=2020s=

  • Coheed and Cambria's 2020 song "Jessie's Girl 2" is a sequel to Rick Springfield's 1981 song "Jessie's Girl". Featuring Springfield himself on the track, the song imagines what would have happened had Springfield succeeded in winning Jessie's girl.{{Cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/music/exclusive-rick-springfield-jessies-girl-sequel-song-coheed-and-cambria-video/|title=Rick Springfield helps give 'Jessie's Girl' murderous sequel in Coheed and Cambria music video|last=Lenker|first=Maureen Lee|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|language=en|access-date=2020-08-22}}
  • Sabrina Carpenter's 2021 single "Skin" and song "Because I Liked a Boy" from her 2022 album "Emails I Can't Send" are speculated to be responses to Olivia Rodrigo's "Drivers License", although Carpenter denies this.{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Charlotte |title=Sabrina Carpenter Gets Drenched Again While Performing ‘Skin’ |url=https://www.vulture.com/2021/02/sabrina-carpenter-james-corden-skin-performance.html |website=Vulture}}{{cite web |title="because i liked a boy" Lyrics on Genius.com |url=https://genius.com/26295692 |website=Genius.com}} "Skin" mentions a line used in "Drivers License" about Carpenter's appearance, while "Because I Liked a Boy" recalls all the threats she received after Rodrigo's song was released.
  • Roselia's 2022 song "Rozen Horizon" is a sequel to their 2019 song "Fire Bird", according the mini-album's page.{{cite web|title=Roselia ミニAlbum「ROZEN HORIZON」|url=https://bang-dream.com/discographies/3009|access-date=22 May 2022}}
  • Country trio Chapel Hart's 2022 song "You Can Have Him Jolene" answers Dolly Parton's classic "Jolene" almost 50 years later.{{Cite web |last=Houghton |first=Cillea |date=2021-09-02 |title=Chapel Hart Build Sass and Soul into Sophomore LP The Girls Are Back in Town |url=https://www.audiofemme.com/playing-nashville-chapel-hart-the-girls-are-back-in-town/ |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=Audio Femme}}
  • Miley Cyrus's 2023 song "Flowers" paraphrases "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars, in lyrics as well as in chord progression (Cyrus uses a simplified version of Mars' verse chords in her chorus) and even in some melodic patterns. While Mars sings about what "he" could have done better in the now broken relationship, Cyrus sings about how "she" is better now that she is alone. Cyrus also takes some melodic figures from "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor.{{cite news |last1=Eames |first1=Tom |title=Why Miley Cyrus' new song 'Flowers' is a response to Bruno Mars' 'When I Was Your Man' 10 years later |url=https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/bruno-mars/miley-cyrus-flowers-lyrics-meaning/ |work=Smooth |language=en}}

See also

References

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Further reading

  • [http://www.everyhit.com/answer/ "Answer Records / Sequels"], list of Answer Songs from everyhit.com
  • B. Lee Cooper and Wayne S. Haney, Response Recordings: An Answer Song Discography, 1950-1990, Scarecrow Press, 1990, {{ISBN|978-0810823426}} (A comprehensive alphabetized list of over 2500 hit tunes that prompted the production of answer songs or other forms of response recordings)
  • [https://open.spotify.com/user/jann.poppinga/playlist/49JlLZBuaAxIfn7zN32VIy Answer Songs], Spotify playlist of some of the answer songs on this page

{{Musical composition}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Answer Song}}

Category:Song forms

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Category:20th century in music

Category:21st century in music