7 Songs You Didn't Know Were Connected

This is an interesting one, mainly as the you have most certainly heard the Arabian Riff before. The melody in one form or another has been around since the mid 1800s. It was most famously preformed as The Streets of Cairo, or the Poor Little Country Maid by James Thornton. The name Arabian Riff originated as the melody was often paired with an aesthetic that was vaguely Middle Eastern.

The melody has been used many times since, artists such as Mike Snow and Fiona Apple have both used it, with Apple using it in one of her signature songs, Criminal.

Probably the biggest artist to use the song is American popstar Ke$ha, who utilized it in her hit song Take It Off, with the chorus directly following the melody with little variation, well, aside from the lyrics about taking clothes off. That was absent in the original. It is a catchy melody, yes, but seeing it climb to the top of the charts is impressive.