Same Title, Different Tune
Songs with similar titles, but contrasting messages.
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Chris Brown / Anita Baker - In 1987 Anita Baker won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1987 for her romantic ballad "Sweet Love." Twenty five years later another R&B star, Chris Brown, borrowed the title for the first single off his fifth studio album Fortune. Unlike Baker's song about actual love, Brown's version cuts straight to the chase, as he belts out a request for a woman to strip down so they can make sweet love. (Photos from left: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images, Trish Tokar/Getty Images)
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J. Cole/Lauryn Hill - Song: "Lost Ones"Lauryn Hill sprinkled in a little patois on her version of "Lost Ones," a 1998 song that some have translated as a diss against her former Fugee bandmates. Newbie J. Cole took the "Lost Ones" title in a completely different direction when he explored an issue not often discusses openly in music or otherwise- abortion. Here are a few other examples of songs of the same name with different meanings behind them... (Photos: Paul Abell/PictureGroup; Jesse Lirola/PictureGroup)
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Alicia Keys/Jay-Z - Song: "Fallin"Alicia Keys' 2001's "Fallin'" off her debut album Songs in A Minor is a ballad about falling in love, while Jay-Z's song of the same title is about falling into the clutches of the dope game.(Photos: Vince Bucci/PictureGroup; Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Clear Channel)
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Common/Nas - Song: "Testify"Common's "Testify" a single off his 2005 album BE tells the story of a woman who manipulates the court system to pin a crime she committed on her spouse. However Nas' 2008 "Testify," dedicated to political prisoner George Jackson of The Soledad Brothers and his younger brother Johnathan Jackson, asked fans if they'd stand by him if he took the law into his own hands. (Photos: Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images; Adrian Sidney/ PictureGroup)
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Bobby Brown/Elvis Presley - Song: "Don't Be Cruel"It's all in the delivery. Whereas the "King of R&B" Bobby Brown demands the love that he feels he deserves in his 1988 "Don't Be Cruel," The King pleads with a lover to return his affections despite past transgressions in his 1956 song of the same name. (Photos: Scott Gries/Getty Images; REUTERS/Stringer)
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Dionne Warwick/Beyonce - Song: "Deja Vu" Warwick's 1979 love ballad "Deja Vu," about finding a love so comfortable that it feels familiar, reflects a literal translation of the French term meaning "already seen," Bey's 2006 version is more about visions of a love so powerful that she can't escape it. (Photos: Ian Gavan/Getty Images; Vince Bucci/PictureGroup)
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Ghostface Killah/Justin Bieber - Song: "Baby" In "Baby" Ghostface raps about being in love and having a love child, while Bieber's 2010 bubble gum love ballad of the same name is about getting his beloved "baby" back in his life. (Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images; Mark Davis/PictureGroup)
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Janet Jackson/Jennifer Lopez - Song: "Again"Although similar in message, Janet Jackson's 1993 song "Again" about a long lost love is one of the most notable tracks from the Poetic Justice soundtrack while Lopez's "Again" is about the joy of rekindling an old flame. (Photos: Sean Gardner/Getty Images; Gregg DeGuire/PictureGroup)
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Drake/The-Dream - Song: "Fancy" In March 2009 The-Dream released "Fancy," off his thematic Love vs. Money album. The following year Drake dropped his version of the track as an ode to the fly girls and independent women of the world, a positive spin on Dream's version which lamented the high price of being with a beautiful woman. (Photos: Brad Barket/PictureGroup)
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Beyoncé/Lionel Richie - Song: "Hello" Bey's track "Hello" off her third studio album I AM… Sasha Fierce, about a guy that had her so enamored that she fell in love the moment he first spoke to her, came 24 years after Lionel Richie's "Hello" attempted to catch the attention of an unrequited love. (Photos: Myrna Suarez/PictureGroup; Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
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Beyoncé/De La Soul - Song: "Me, Myself and I" Bey's 2002 hit "Me, Myself and I" was a powerful ballad about getting over a cheating boyfriend, while De La Soul's song of the same name was an attack on wack MCs. (Photos: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images; Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
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Rick Ross/Salt N Pepa - Song: "Push It" Salt N Pepa's didn't use many words to get their point across in their platinum-selling 1986 single "Push It" about pleasing a woman sexually. However, Rick Ross expounded on the Scarface-inspired theme of his debut album Port of Miami (2006) in his version of the song about moving work. (Photos: Jeff Daly/PictureGroup; David Corio/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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Kelly Rowland/Meek Mill - Song: "Work" Kelly Rowland takes the reigns and commands her partner to put in work on her 2008 track, while Philly rapper Meek Mill brags about how much work he's putting in in the streets on his 2011 track. (Photos: Vince Bucci/PictureGroup; Brad Barket/PictureGroup)