Can you get to that?

With a seemingly infinite combination of notes, chord progressions, and melodies, it's surprising how often music is duplicated. But when you think of all the beautiful songs that have already been thought up, it's not surprising that someone would want to take that beautiful song or lyric or melody and make it their own--by covering it, sampling it, or pulling from it in a more subtle way.

Funkadelic and Sleigh Bells: A 1970s funk band's guitar riff gets reused three decades later in a low-key track from a high-energy rock/pop group.

Tom Tom Club and Mariah Carey: Mariah straight up took the "I'm in heaven/with my boyfriend" verse from the only good song the Talking Heads spinoff group ever released.

Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot and Las Liminanas: From the hazy bass line, to the softly spoken French lyrics, to the more obvious "woo woos" throughout the song, it's clear that Las Liminanas are majorly channeling Serge and Brigitte.

Lou Reed and A Tribe Called Quest: Some obvious musical borrowing is ethically questionable, but others are done tastefully and with respect, like "Can I Kick It." Both songs are, in my book, equally epic.