4 Classic Rock Songs That Were Written for Other Artists (And Ended up Getting Rejected Anyway)

Songwriting can be a difficult game. And plenty of rock songs have been penned by talented songwriters for talented musicians, only to be totally rejected in the end. Let’s look at a few songs that were shot down by big names in music.

“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds (1985)

This classic was written by Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff and became a massive pop-rock hit for the band Simple Minds. However, the song was originally written with singer Bryan Ferry in mind.

“It was just bad timing,” said Ferry. “We were finishing off [the solo album] Boys and Girls, which was way behind schedule, and we didn’t want the distraction. The songwriter Keith Forsey sent me a demo of the song and it sounded like a hit to me. Simple Minds did a great version of it.”

“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” was then passed to Billy Idol, who also turned it down (though he would record a cover of it years later.) The song went to Simple Minds instead, and it remains the band’s signature song.

“Hungry Heart” by Bruce Springsteen (1980)

The rock song “Hungry Heart” was originally written by Bruce Springsteen for none other than The Ramones. However, with some push from producer Jon Landau, he decided to keep it for himself. The Ramones didn’t “reject” this one per say, and I imagine Joey Ramone was pretty peeved that he didn’t get the song he asked for. However, Landau definitely did the “rejecting” in this situation.

“The Boys Of Summer” by Don Henley (1984)

The early demo of “The Boys Of Summer” was written by The Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell for Tom Petty and his band to record. However, Petty turned it down, as he believed it didn’t fit Southern Accents well. Campbell then showed it to Eagles’ Don Henley, who added lyrics and recorded the song. “The Boys Of Summer” would end up being a heartland rock hit for Henley. It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

“Because The Night” by Patti Smith (1978)

How about a rare entry on our list of rock songs that was rejected by the very person who wrote it? Bruce Springsteen makes our list again for a song originally penned and recorded for himself during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town sessions. However, “Because The Night” didn’t really fit that album, nor did it suit Springsteen at all. He struggled with the song heavily.

Engineer Jimmy Iovine recommended giving the song to Patti Smith instead. She and Iovine were working on her album Easter. That ended up being the smartest possible choice, as Smith added to the lyrics and turned it into a No. 13 Hot 100 hit.

Photo by Pete Cronin/Redferns