I'm always amused when I hear a song for the first time and it sounds just like another song which I already know, it's like listening to an alternative reality version of the tunes you love.
Although this isn't the first 'sound-a-like' that I came across, it is the one that inspired me to write this page. I spent years listening to Dire Straits but somehow Six Blade Knife passed me by until one day I heard playing on the radio. I immediately knew that I loved it and didn't stop playing it for at least a week. It's one of those songs that sounds just as good today as it did the first time I heard it. Years later I discover JJ Cale and as soon as River Runs Deep starts I'm hearing Cale in my ears and Knopfler in my head. I love both these tracks and often play them back to back.
Six Blade Knife by Dire Straits (1978)
River Runs Deep by JJ Cale (1971)
Having spent much of the late 90's listening to the Offspring I was super familiar with Why Don't You Get a Job, it wasn't my favourite track on Americana by any means but I knew it inside out. Must have been at least a decade later when I listen to the White Album and straight away I hear the similarities between these two tracks.
Why Don't You Get a Job by The Offspring (1998)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by The Beatles (1968)
Been a fan of Greta Van Fleet ever since I heard Highway Tune but I'd not heard any of their recent stuff until I caught up with a mate who played Light my Love for me. I knew it sounded like another song straight away but couldn't quite put my finger on it as I don't listen to much Elton. Once I figured it out and told my mate and he totally agreed. Later he tells me that now he can't 'unhear' Elton and it's kinda ruined the song for him. Sorry, Dave.
Light My Love by Greta Van Fleet (2021)
I Guess That's Why They Call it The Blues by Elton John (1983)