History Main / WhatSongWasThisAgain

** For ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', when Music/UtadaHikaru's (Japanese) song "Hikari" received an English language counterpart ("Simple and Clean") the song was decidedly not a literal translation of its Japanese predecessor. While the two songs feature the same tune, "Hikari" and "Simple and Clean" have radically different meaning lyrics.[[note]]Furthermore, the chorus is sung differently in the two versions. The game's score references the Japanese version.[[/note]]
** Same thing for ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' as the Japanese version used Utada's song "Passion" and an English version called "Sanctuary". Both were written and sung by Utada. In an interesting twist, "Sanctuary" was the one written first, while "Passion" was the other-language adaptation, as Utada had the melody planned before the lyrics, and they had to come up with an alternate melody to fit the Japanese lyrics.

* "Those Were the Days", the FolkMusic standard that became a big international hit for Mary Hopkin in 1968 (an Apple Records release produced by Music/PaulMcCartney) was essentially a fresh set of English lyrics by Columbia University professor Gene Raskin for "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" (''Дорогой длинною'', "the long road"), a 1924 Russian song. Raskin's lyrics are completely different from the original content-wise, but still keep close to the original's tone of regret and longing for the past (which was often taken to be a veiled critique of life after the 1917 Soviet revolution).

** Udo Lindenberg translated several English songs into German, not only keeping their general meaning, but also often staying as close to the original lyrics as possible while at the same time ditching the then-usual Schlager lyrics kitsch. "Ich sitz den ganzen Tag bei den Docks" ("Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay" by Music/OtisRedding) is only one example. "Sympathie für den Teufel" translates the title of "Sympathy For The Devil" (Music/TheRollingStones) literally. On the other hand, he also rewrote Music/TheBeatles' "Penny Lane" into "Reeperbahn" which is about the demise of Hamburg's amusement quarter during TheSeventies.

Not be confused with a ''character'' knowing a song but not its title or all of the lyrics; see SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein or RefrainFromAssuming. If ''you're'' looking for a song you can't remember the name of, please visit [[YouKnowThatShow You Know, that Song]].

[[{{Woolseyism}} Dubbing is tricky business.]] And if dubbing the ''spoken'' dialogue weren't tough enough, dubbing ''songs'' can be downright hellish. To get good lyrics in another language, dubbers have to account for the general meaning of the song, the intent of the song-writer, the grammar of the song's original language, the song's rhythm and meter, how slang and idiom are used in the dubbed language, where the stresses fall in the song due to rhythm/melody, the new language's rhyming schemes compared to the original language and how ''that'' will be perceived in the language, and so on and so forth.[[note]][[UsefulNotes/ChineseDialectsAndAccents Chinese varieties]] have a particularly critical issue in that they have various tonal systems, e.g. Mandarin has 4 tones while Cantonese has 6 tones. Each tone is effectively a "pitch pattern" that can be applied to any sound. That's to say, the same sound can have completely different and even unrelated meanings depending on pitch. In a song, this significantly constrains what words you can use for specific notes in the melody. This means Chinese song dubs usually deviates ''heavily'' from English or other languages out of necessity.[[/note]]

This trope should not be confused with a character knowing a song but not knowing its ''title'' or all of the lyrics -- we aren't sure what trope ''that'' is, but we'll think of something. If ''you're'' looking for a song you can't remember the name of, please visit [[YouKnowThatShow You Know, that Song]].

[[{{Woolseyism}} Dubbing is tricky business.]] And if dubbing the ''spoken'' dialogue weren't tough enough, dubbing ''songs'' can be downright hellish. To get good lyrics in another language, dubbers have to account for the general meaning of the song, the intent of the song-writer, the grammar of the song's original language, the song's rhythm and meter, how slang and idiom are used in the dubbed language, where the stresses fall in the song due to rhythm/melody, the new language's rhyming schemes compared to the original language and how ''that'' will be perceived in the language, and so on and so forth.

* The English versions of "Lunar (Fighting Through the Darkness)", "Wind's Nocturne", and "Wings" in ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'' and its remake had new, completely different lyrics made up for them rather than being direct translations. Despite the lyrics for "Wings" being made up and not based on the original, it still manages to keep the overall meaning of the song. The meaning of the boat song is quite different in the English version, the Japanese version is a love song about Luna's budding feelings for Alex, while the English version is about Luna being unsure about her place in the world and what she wants to do with her life. One of the [[VideoGameRemake remakes]] rerecorded the English versions of the songs with more faithful lyrics, but many people [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks weren't fond of the change]] due to them sounding awkward, or just nostalgia.

* The English versions of "Lunar (Fighting Through the Darkness)", "Wind's Nocturne", and "Wings" in ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'' and its remake had new, completely different lyrics made up for them rather than being direct translations. Despite the lyrics being made up and not based on the original, they still manage to keep the overall meaning of the song. One of the [[VideoGameRemake remakes]] rerecorded the English versions of the songs with more faithful lyrics, but many people [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks weren't fond of the change]] due to them sounding awkward, or just nostalgia.

** The song became in Brazil "Não Vou Desistir de Nenhum" ("I Won't Give Up On Anyone"), with basically the same gist, but removing [[SweetPollyOliver the ironic "be a man" parts]].

* David Lee Roth re-recorded his first solo album, ''Eat 'Em and Smile'', in Spanish under the title ''Sonrisa Salvaje''.

** Same thing for ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' as the Japanese version used Utada's song "Passion" and an English version called "Sanctuary". Both were written and sung by Utada. In an interesting twist, "Sanctuary" was the one written first, while "Passion" was the other-language adaptation, as Hikaru had the melody planned before the lyrics, and she had to come up with an alternate melody to fit the Japanese lyrics.

* DA PUMP's "USA" was based on a song by Joe Yellow. While the original was a love song, their version is a salute to the United States.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''

* The Italian version of the theme song for ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder''. Since the title is shortened to ''Wander'' over there, the theme song's lyrics are changed into "Here comes Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''Wander''!"

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': The Italian dub turns "Bacon Pancakes" into a song about how fried things with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancetta pancetta]] are good.

* Creator/WorkingDesigns had a habit of doing this with most of their song dubs. Compare the lyrics of the English dubbed version of "Unyielding Wish" from ''Anime/MagicKnightRayearth'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCJ6omWYmvE used in their localization of the game]] vs [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HWMIsqPNNc the more faithfully translated lyrics]] used in the Mediablasters dub of the anime. Either way, both versions have the exact same overall meaning.

* Perhaps one is of the weirdest examples of this happens in the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Whale of a Birthday" with the song "4 Ply" by Squidward, where in the Latin American Spanish dub the context was changed to how "hysterical" is Squidward's butt and that he only uses soft toilet paper, otherwise he will cry. Yeah.

** The Italian dubs of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' and ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'' use dubbed versions of their Japanese theme songs, with different lyrics that summarize what happen in the two series.

* The Finnish version of the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' opening theme. "I'm going to stroke it/'cause your arms are broken!"
** For some reason, the German version of the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' theme mentions Pluto and Goofy, as if they are characters in the show, when they are not.

** Creator/WorkingDesigns had a habit of doing this with most of their song dubs. Compare the lyrics of the English dubbed version of "Unyielding Wish" from ''Anime/MagicKnightRayearth'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCJ6omWYmvE used in their localization of the game]] vs [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HWMIsqPNNc the more faithfully translated lyrics]] used in the Mediablasters dub of the anime. Either way, both versions have the exact same overall meaning.

** For the first game, they replaced the audio for the opening with a dubbed version of the anime adaptation's first opening theme, ''Tachiagariiyo''. And they took a song about {{Hot Blooded}}ness and completely rewrote the lyrics to be about soccer.

** For the first game, they replaced the audio for the opening with a dubbed version of the anime adaptation's first opening theme, ''Tachiagariiyo''. And they took a song about {{Hot Blooded}}ness and completely rewrote the lyrics to be about soccer, and very cheesy lyrics at that.

*** Frank Farian, being German, was generally fond of translating songs. He wrote German lyrics for "Rasputin" and "Belfast" to be performed by Music/{{Gilla}} (he produced both her and Boney M.). Whereas German "Rasputin" is generally close to the English version, German lyrics of "Belfast" are much more detailed than English ones.

* Nena's "99 Red Balloons", the English version of "99 Luftballons". Both are about a nuclear holocaust triggered by a stray bunch of balloons, but it's nothing like a line-for-line translation. The spanish version of the song even changes the color of the SINGLE balloon in the song, and it's about having fantastic adventures.

* The Japanese translation of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" makes the gist of the song less "I'm from a poor urban background and I thought marrying this guy would allow me to move up to better things but actually he's a good-for-nothing and I'm still just as stuck" and more "I'm an average girl and I thought marrying this guy would bring me excitement and adventure, but actually he works all day and then goes out drinking and I'm stuck at home with the kids." Not the same message at all.
** So basically, they changed "Fast Car" into Music/PaulaCole's "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"
** [[CulturalTranslation Culturally speaking]], it's a pretty close approximation, however.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}''
** "I'll Make a Man Out of You" became in Brazil "Não Vou Desistir de Nenhum" ("I Won't Give Up On Anyone"), with basically the same gist, but removing [[SweetPollyOliver the ironic "be a man" parts]].
*** In Portugal, it also left out the irony, but instead turned the meaning into "Um Terror Frio e Cru" ("A Cold and Raw Fright").

* The European Portuguese dub of ''[[Manga/CaptainTsubasa Captain Tsubasa: Road to 2002]]'' had the opening's lyrics set to the same rhythm as the Japanese original. That's about the only similarity between the two songs, as not only are the the lyrics different[[note]]Not just because they are different languages.[[/note]] but also because the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD8_bgRKvIA instrumentation is absolutely unrecognizable]] to anyone familiar with the [[https://youtu.be/B2SRQ8UzdEQ original theme]]. Had the lyrics been also timed differently, it would count as [[AlternativeForeignThemeSong a whole new song.]]

* The Optimum (Creator/DiC[=/=]Cloverway) dub of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' features a "Moonlight Densetsu" cover with rewritten lyrics, called "(The One Named) Sailor Moon".
** This particular dub features several other rewritten covers as well.

** The german dub also changed the meanings of the songs. Sometimes, this results in the songs not really fitting the scenes or sometimes resulting in the songs making not much sense.