28 Songs That Are Based On Classical Music

Check out my other two videos on songs based on classical pieces...

Classical music can be a great source of inspiration for songwriters of all styles as, most of the time, even the most famous classical works are in the public domain, and therefore, free for us to use however we please! Countless pop and rock songs have been based on classical pieces, with some of the most influential pieces spawning multiple songs!

NOTE: March 2022, I had to remove the section about Pavane and Little Mix due to copyright issues.

📍This video was originally sponsored by "Primephonic", however, now that "Primephonic" is no longer available I have removed the sponsored materials from the video.

SOURCES:

An extra special thanks goes to Vidad Flowers, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇

[packetman]

Inerestingly, Billy Joel actually credits Beethoven on the original album notes. Great show of respect.

[membear]

That's why The Beatles wrote Get Bach.

[AdJa]

It's hard to believe that this set doesn't include probably the bigest copy of classical music I know: "All by myself" - this whole song (whole!) is based on the leitmotif from the 2nd part of the 2nd piano concerto by Rachmaninov.

[lemvanw]

Also the song "All by myself" by Eric Carmen is based on Rachmaninoff's Piano concerto no. 2 in C minor, opus 18

[alastairdallas]

As a Disney historian, I was reminded of the quote by a Disney composer from the 1950s: "We've been stealing from Tchaikovsky for years."

[miralabualjadail]

Makes sense now why a lot of rock music fans like listening to classical music. A lot of it is influenced from it. I really appreciate such great musicianship. Its really a testament to their craft.

[ZZubZZero]

5:45 "consciously or not, he might've been inspired by Bach" I think that's really important to remember, that people get subconsciously inspiration too.
I feel like many people that often say "oh they just completely stole it from this and that, " especially when 'stealing' from classical music but also in pop songs, don't realize this. It's so easy to get a tune or melody stuck in your head, and to write a song with it. It's very easy to pick this up from anywhere really, even subconsciously.

[calebfuller]

What I've learnt from this is that Gustav Holst is directly responsible for the invention of heavy metal...

[gi]

"These songs aren't protected from copyright"

Youtube: *I'll fix it don't worry*

[ClaudioAraya]

As for Procol Harum the Hammond organ line of “A Whiter Shade of Pale (1967)” was inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's “Sleepers, Wake!” and “Air on the G String” 🙂

[frederickglasser]

I'm sorry, but listening to Tubular Bells, now 50 years after I first heard it, STILL gives me the chills. Same chills I had as a teenager.

[BodaciousWench]

When I was in college, a friend borrowed my STYX music book cz she was a music major and said that she was sick of playing Bach. She gave me the book back and annoyingly said ‘It’s Bach’

[quantosgames]

These are all the songs he mentions in this video:
This Night - Billy Joel (2nd Movement Sonata Pathetique - Ludwig van Beethoven)
Blackbird - The Beatles (Bourrée in e minor - JS Bach)
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin (Bourrée in e minor - JSNBach)
Bourrée - Jethro Toll (Bourrée in e minor - JSNBach)
Friends - Led Zeppelin (Mars - Gustav Holst)
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (Mars - Gustav Holst)
The Last Battle - John Williams (Mars - Gustav Holst)
Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes (Symphony No.5 in Bflat major - Anton Bruckner)
Light My Fire - The Doors (Invention no. 8 - JS Bach)
Penny Lane - The Beatles (Brandenburg Concerto No.2 - JS Bach)
Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield (Toccata and Fugue in D minor - JS Bach)
Plug in Baby - Muse (Toccata and Fugue in D minor - JS Bach)
Jane Seymour - Rick Wakeman (Toccata and Fugue in D minor - JS Bach)
Brainless - Eminem (Toccata and Fugue in D minor - JS Bach)
The Real Thing - 2 Unlimited (Toccata and Fugue in D minor - JS Bach)
Russians - Sting (Romance Theme - Sergei Prokofiev)
Party Like a Russian - Robbie Williams (Dance of the Knights - Sergei Prokofiev)
Somewhere - Leonard Bernstein (Piano Concerto No. 5 mvmt. 2 - Beethoven & Swan Theme - Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky)
Annie's Song - John Denver (5th Symphony in E minor, 2nd mvmt - Pytor Illych Tchaikovsky)
Because - The Beatles (Moonlight Sonata mvmt. 2 - Ludwig van Beethoven)
Better Than Yourself - Lukas Graham (Moonlight Sonata mvmt. 2 - Ludwig van Beethoven)
Neon Gravestones - 21 Pilots (Moonlight Sonata mvmt. 2 - Ludwig van Beethoven)
Could it be Magic - Barry Manilow (Prelude in C minor - Frederic Chopin)
The Globalist - Muse (Nimrod Theme - Edward Elgar)
Tous Les Maux D'Amour - Norma Ray (Pavane in Fsharp minor - Gabriel Fauré)
Natural - S Club 7 (Pavane in Fsharp minor - Gabriel Fauré)
Little Me - Little Mix (Pavane in Fsharp minor - Gabriel Fauré)
A Groovy Kind of Love - Phil Collins (Sonatina No.5 - Musio Clementi)
I Need You to Turn to - Elton John (
The Greatest Discovery - Elton John (
Breathe Me - Cia (Metamorphosis no.1 - Philip Glass)

[danielgreen]

Hats off to you, Master Bennett, for identifying so many borrowed melodies and demonstrating them in both written and audio formats.

[tommyhaynes]

I really like it when modern songwriters / composers borrow form classical pieces . In many case people become curious about the source and start to appreciate classical music more

[mckenzie]

I love it when people say they don't like classical music. I tell them you do, you just don't know it.

[carllangaker]

Another good example is “All By Myself” by Eric Carmen, which is a carbon copy of Rachmaninov’s 2nd piano concerto in C# minor, the second movement!

[johnbastille]

One composer/artist you neglected to mention led me years ago into a much greater understanding of both classical and jazz and that is Frank Zappa who used short clips of excerpts of Holst's "The Planets" woven directly into his compositions. That is only one example among many. He also on the Mothers of Invention's first album listed names of the people who had influenced him, stating "Please don't hold it against them". As I was a fan of his, I followed his advice, and looked them up. I've been grateful to him ever since.

[alisadavies]

The melody in Bach's bourree is almost exactly the melody for Jack's Lament from Nightmare Before Christmas. Can't believe that's a coincidence.

[peterbooth]

George Martin was truly the fifth Beatle. Not only did he translate classical music into Rock music for them. He also played different instruments on some tracts.