Have you ever realised that the song you’ve listened to about a million times is actually by an artist other than the one you thought it was? Come on, don’t lie now, we all do this all the time. Don’t we?

A Horse with No Name – NOT Neil Young

The Songs That You Probably Thought Someone Else Sung

This is probably one of the finest examples of a song sounding like it really should have been by someone other than the real artist. Which is probably why I made it first on the list, I guess. The voice, the melody and even the dopey but interesting lyrics are exactly like the Canadian rock god would do them. It’s not him, though. Seriously, you can look it up on a thing called the internet if you don’t believe me. A group going by the name of Horse made this song and then kind of disappeared.

I’m a Bitch / What If God Was One of Us – NEITHER by Alanis Morissette

The Songs That You Probably Thought Someone Else Sung

This is a two for the price of one, double header type of musical confusion for you. Alanis Morissette has a lot of cracking songs to her credit but she wasn’t responsible for every single melodic female rocker or badass anthem you know. Someone called Meredith Brooks sung I’m a Bitch, while Joan Osborne rather bizarrely asks us to consider what would happen if God were a slob or a user of public transport methods whom we had never been formally introduced to.

Wake Me Up – NOT Tracy Chapman

The Songs That You Probably Thought Someone Else Sung

 If I’m being completely honest this is the song that encouraged me to write this article in the first place. I heard it the other day and said to my friend, “I see Tracy Chapman’s got a new song out then and she’s gone all house or something. Blooming good for her”. “That’s not Tracy Chapman”, was the reply. “Yes it is”. “No it isn’t”. Anyway, this bout of intellectual jousting went for an unseemly period of time, until Mr Google finally confirmed to me that I was horribly wrong. Some dude called Avicii is behind this song in the real world.

Love Changes Everything – NOT Rod Stewart 

The Songs That You Probably Thought Someone Else Sung

Personally, I can’t understand how anyone can mix up this Climie Fisher classic with any of the songs by old sandpaper throat. I just listened to it for the first time in at least a decade and can confirm that it sounds nothing like Rod. However, if you look for this song on YouTube or to download you will probably find that it is frequently credited to Stewart for some reason.

Walking in Memphis – NOT Michael Bolton 

The Songs That You Probably Thought Someone Else Sung

So who exactly was is that put on their blue suede shoes and got on a plane to the land of the Delta Blues? Why, Marc Cohen, of course. There is one easy way to remember that this classic ballad is not by Michael Bolton; it’s not a soppy, horribly strained piece of sop being sung by someone who sounds as though they are urgently in need of a trip to the toilet. Does that help at all?

Don’t Worry Be Happy – Definitely NOT Bob Marley 

The Songs That You Probably Thought Someone Else Sung

How could anyone think that this likeable but ultimately banal piece of drivel was by Sir Bob of Marley? It’s just insane. Bobby McFerrin sung and it holds the record of being the first ever a capella song to get to number 1 in the Billboard charts. The things that sound like instruments are just voice parts.