10 Rock Songs Ripped Off From Other Songs
7. It's A Hard Life - Queen
Queen has never been a band to undersell anything. Hell, if these rock royals were going to release a bluegrass record, chances are it was going to be one of the most inspirational looks at the country life that there could possibly be. When you're talking about the operatic side of rock though, it's only natural that Queen would take something from classical music sooner or later.
Ironically not from their album A Night at the Opera, It's a Hard Life off of the Works bears a striking resemblance to a classical aria from the opera Pagliacci. It makes sense though, right? It's not like Freddie Mercury doesn't have the chops to pull off something like this, so why not pay a tribute to one of the most bombast styles of music? The beauty of this one is they can actually get away with it though.
Since most of these pieces are centuries old at this point, Queen are free to use these songs at will and make their own tributes without having to pay the composer their due royalties. Now we have two completely different songs that both manage to have the same amount of power even with the same structure. Artists working together to make a better song...you love to see it.