As someone who's enchanted by internet culture and its ability to make fascinating the nichest of niche subjects, I was naturally delighted when, late one evening, I stumbled upon an entire list of 'answer songs.'
I of course had no idea what an answer song was, but someone had clearly put a lot of time in compiling a list with dates, external links and a comprehensive bibliography to boot. A quick search revealed all, "an answer song is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. It is also known as a response song." Well, I suppose I should have figured that one out.
The more I read the more intrigued I became. These days the answer song is probably most common in hip hop; consider for example the infamous East Coast/West Coast rivalry of the 90s, or the earlier 80s Bridge Wars. However, the notion has been around since the early days of rhythm and blues and the American folk revival, beginning with Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land", written in 1940 as an answer to "God Bless America" by Irving Berlin in 1918. I struggled to find an earlier example, but I'm positive there must be one out there.
The list goes on, but here are a few of the most interesting. For instance, the original Hound Dog (later covered by Elvis Presley) has a total of 6 answer songs. Rufus Thomas' Bear Cat is probably the most bizarre, the record has strange cat noises (presumably provided by Rufus himself) and a genuine feeling of annoyance for Big Momma Thorton's original song. Incidentally, a copyright-infringement suit shortly followed its release (the melody is almost identical) leaving his record company close to bankruptcy.
Dodie Stevens wrote the rather obvious response song to Elvis' "Are You Lonesome Tonight" with, "Yes, I'm Lonesome Tonight" - it's admittedly quite sweet, although seeing as the melody is exactly the same and the lyrics hardly changed, I can't help but think Dodie was being a little bit crafty and trying to cash in on Elvis' success.
Stranger still is Allen Swift's answer to the same song. The beginning of the record is much like the original, but it doesn't take long before Swift starts having an emotional breakdown. Soon a crack in his voice turns into crying and wailing in despair, "I've never had a happy moment all the time we've been together. I can't go on, I can't live, I don't want to live!" A gunshot is then heard before the singer responds, "... missed. I can't do anything right." Evidently it's supposed to be amusing, but I couldn't help but find it slightly unnerving.
Just when you thought things couldn't get any more unusual, I present to you Eamon - an R&B singer-songwriter who, after breaking up with his girlfriend, wrote the song "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)" in which he tells his ex-lover "Fuck what I said, it don't mean shit now. Fuck all those kisses, they didn't mean jack. Fuck you, you hoe, I don't want you back." Sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Rather brilliantly, his ex (a singer-songwriter called Frankee) wasn't having any of this, retaliating with her own fantastically titled answer song, "Fuck You Right Back", with perhaps some of the best opening lines to any answer song ever "I don't know why you crying like a bitch." Before proclaiming "I'm glad I didn't catch your crabs" A classy lady to be sure.
Nowadays the answer song is not as prevalent as it used to be, but they can still be found in one form or another. Seth Putnam from the disturbingly named Anal Cunt reportedly had a spat with Chris Barnes, the vocalist for Six Feet Under. Seth tried to confront Chris during one of his shows, but was greeted with Six Feet Under's roadies whilst Chris ran away to safety. In response to this, Seth Putnam wrote the song "Chris Barnes Is A Pussy." However, seeing as this was a response to something that actually happened, I'm not sure this strictly counts as an answer song.
The most recent answer song that you would have no doubt heard is Katy Perry's "California Gurls", which she claimed was the West Coast's answer to Jay-Z's hit "Empire State of Mind", she specifically stated in Rolling Stone that "It's so great that "Empire State of Mind" is huge and that everybody has the New York song, but what the fuck? What about LA?" Yes, indeed Katy, what the fuck?
So there you have it, a little glimpse at the different varieties of answer songs. There are many more out there and I'm by no means an expert, but I hope I've encouraged you to explore this fascinating area of music.