The Definitive List Of White Music Stolen By Black People

by Cord Jefferson, Aminatou Sow and Shani HIlton

Last week, Onion A.V. Club writer Noel Murray complained about the trend of people rejecting things — food, films, music — as being “for white people.” “The ‘white people are square and bland’ gag is an old one, and for the most part, it’s both harmless and healthy,” Murray wrote. “But increasingly, people aren’t sniping about ‘whiteness’ to be funny, or even defiant — at least not entirely. They’re using the term as a form of criticism, meant to be dismissive. … ‘That sounds like music for white people,’ is another way of saying, ‘That can’t be any good.’ And I do have a problem with that.”

To some degree, we trio of black people agrees with Murray — white people aren’t always lame. In fact, studies show that only about 35 percent of the white population is hopelessly uncool, compared to 27 percent of the black population.

To promote a more perfect harmony between blacks and whites, we’ve put together a list of music taken by black musicians from white musicians. While we’re confident this list won’t eliminate all the racial tension currently dividing America, we hope it lends some credence to Murray’s protestations about white stuff being written off as boring. As you can tell from looking below, that’s simply not the case. White people: Frequently not as dull as you might think.

TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS
Bing Crosby To Otis Redding

ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER
Bob Dylan To Jimi Hendrix

STILLNESS IS THE MOVE
Dirty Projectors To Solange

BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE
Michael “Mick” Jackson To Michael Jackson

WE CAN WORK IT OUT
The Beatles To Stevie Wonder

WILD NIGHT
Van Morrison To Me’Shell Ndegeocello/John Mellencamp

THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE
Peggy Seeger To Roberta Flack

BLUEBERRY HILL
Gene Autry To Fats Domino

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU
Dolly Parton To Whitney Houston

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRPVcWKrqy0

I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
Peggy Lee To The Flamingos

PROUD MARY
Creedence Clearwater Revival To Tina & Ike Turner

BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
Simon & Garfunkel To Roberta Flack

JEALOUS GUY
John Lennon To Donny Hathaway

SUMMER BREEZE
Seals & Crofts To The Isley Brothers

I SHALL BE RELEASED
Bob Dylan To Nina Simone

WE GOTTA GET YOU A WOMAN
Todd Rundgren To The Four Tops

BREAKFAST IN BED
Dusty Springfield To Alton & Hortense Ellis

MEMORIES CAN’T WAIT
Talking Heads To Living Colour

NE ME QUITTE PAS
Jacques Brel To Nina Simone

MY FAVORITE THINGS
Sound Of Music To John Coltrane

WALK THIS WAY
Aerosmith To RUN-DMC

LIGHT MY FIRE
The Doors To Al Green And Shirley Bassey

FIRE
Bruce Springsteen To The Pointer Sisters

WALK AWAY RENEE
The Left Banke To The Four Tops

THE WEIGHT
The Band To Aretha Franklin

GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE
The Beatles To Earth, Wind & Fire

SUGAR, SUGAR
The Archies To Wilson Pickett

SLIPPERY PEOPLE
The Talking Heads To The Staple Singers

96 TEARS
 ? And The Mysterians To Garland Jeffreys

SHE’S ABOUT A MOVER
Sir Douglas Quintet To Otis Clay

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY
Bob Dylan To Howard Tate

MR. BOJANGLES
Jerry Jeff Walker To Sammy Davis Jr.

Cord Jefferson, Aminatou Sow and Shani Hilton are friends with a lot of white people in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, where they live and work.