I was reminded the other day that back in the mid 1990s Oasis were successfully sued for half a million dollars by The New Seekers, because the track Shakermaker nicked the melody from I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing. This was a pretty arbitary ruling - after all, they might just as well have been sued by the Beatles too, since Shakermaker put the melody of I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing over the instrumentation of the track Flying.
It was arbitrary also because, consciously or otherwise, musicians constantly copy each other. I'm thinking of become a musical plagiarism lawyer because I notice this all the time; perhaps you do too.
For example, to take a couple of random ones I have noted recently from listening to the radio, the Keane song Somewhere Only We Know...
...sounds just like Brompton Oratory by Nick Cave...
...and The Lightning Seeds' track All I Want...
...is basically a soft version of Get Off of My Cloud.
Come to think of it, I rather wish I could stop noticing these things; they get in the way of just getting on with one's business in a sensible manner.
30 comments:
I'm with you there!!
I blogged recently of a similar matter :)
Joby is clearly too shy to admit that he has a gift with this sort of thing. I've tried to spot some similarities -- God, how I've tried -- but I just can't. And this despite my knowing the Cave song so well.
Clearly I have unwittingly plagiarised Joby's bloggery. It's everywhere.
Willard - it's the verses. Keane and Cave both go:
dum dum dadum,
dum dum da duuuuuum
dumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdadummm
Obviously.
Now.. I've had chance to listen to your examples...
Whereas on mine if you listen to the "Teenage kicks on a....." part by Mika and the "Free love on a free love freeway..." part by Ricky Gervais - one is blatanly ripped from the other - Gervais coming first...
Yours... They are just odd... You need to get out more ;)
Oh well.
LOL Brit - thats plagiarism for you ;)
Check out the Lemon Jelly song Nice Weather For Ducks - just after the Top Gear tune rip, about 40 seconds in...
Thats plagiarism of De La Souls - Eye Know... Took me 48 hours to work it out with VERY little sleep inbetween...
This OCD of ours drives my bloody insane.
But trust me - I am SOOOO happy that someone else out there exists.
We should start a club.
NA.
Nutters Anonymous.
But at least we're not alone. I suspect there's a rich blog seam to be mined/dead blog horse to be flogged here.
Eye Know is the high point of hip hop. I posted a ukulele version of it once.
Oh god, I can hear it. I played them both at the same time and it's the rhythm. Cave just slightly slower but it's there. They both go
dum dum dadum,
dum dum da duuuuuum
dumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdumdadum
Definately.
Brit - that is awesome - can't wait to get my little uns Ukelele out when I get home now and have a bash at playing that.
Result!
It's the verses in the Lightning Seeds/Stone one too.
I now have to agree with you and Willard having listened to Nick Cave - bloody good spot!
My rudimentary knowledge of music leads me to guess they share a very strong third beat in the bar?
Sounds plausible, Willard.
They both go:
Da dada da da da deda,
da daadeedaadeedaa da daaa da-ah.
I twigged that one immediately, whereas the Keane one tortured me for ages.
The Keane / Cave have the strong third beat.
You're absolute right about the other pair. I think it has something to do with the line around 30 seconds. 'Take it .... yesterday' sounds like a Rolling Stone's lyric. There's something about the way the words come fast then slow. Can't quite put my finger on it or describe it well but I can't fail to see it now.
I wonder if it's something to do with 'timbre'...ie. the soundiness of the sound, which enables you to identify a song even if you only hear 1 second of it (so not enough time to hear melody or rhythm).
And now your plagiarising Name That Tune :p
Incidentally - and totally off topic but to do with music - I have an argument with a woman at work all the time (she claims to have a major qualification in music...) that people can name a note by hearing it.
She thinks its impossible.
I don't.
My argument is that within 3 notes, I am able to pick up a tune and start playing it on a piano.
Her argument - she's got some major qualification in music.
The only reason I brought it up in here is that I think its a similar trait to being able to hear something in the background that no-one else would (ie: picking one song from another).
Weird? Gifted?
Dunno, but it makes for some odd blog posts :)
Travis are the worst plagarizers, but they're lucky the song they copied over and over and over again is one of their own, so won't get sued. Oftentimes I would find myself singing "It's driftwood, flowers in the window, if I turn turn turn turn turn turn turn."
Ha ha ha!
Your so right Mr Shabadoo.
Definitely people can identify notes, Joby, your friend's qualification is clearly worthless, worthless as dust and ashes. Pitch perfect people include Mozart and Mick Hucknall, to name but two.
V good, JJJ Jnr. However, few realise that pre tedious self-plagiarism Travis released a pretty decent indie record called Good Feeling. I still play it on the odd blue moon.
I remember a case involving George Michael - and my memory isn't sharp enough to recall whether he was claimant or defendant - but the upshot was that lawyers found mroe than 100 songs with the same chord sequence as the song in question. That's why suits are so rare, I guess, given the number of similar songs. It's even quite hard to prove in writing and that's there in black and white. But joby, maybe you should get a job as an expert witness for the prosecution... you'd be great...
I remember George Michael having a lawsuit against him for the song Outside - but think that was more slander than copyright theft.
AS for expert witness - ha ha!
Am compiling a list at the moment of blatant copyright theft that people may or may not have missed :)
I've had a folder on my desktop for months with samples and snippits of songs... Some obvious, some not...
There is one that is bugging me though, and I even asked the band on twitter but they never responded.... GUILTY!!
Brit - perhaps you can help...
http://www.biking2work.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/TDCC-v-James-TDCC.wav
Thats the end of a song by Two Door Cinema Club.
I'm adamant that that trumpet has been stolen from a James song but they wouldn't answer me... Ideas?
Also, completely on topic - here are two songs completely similar:
http://www.biking2work.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Ladyhawke-v-Killers-Ladyhawke.wav
and
http://www.biking2work.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Ladyhawke-v-Killers-Killers.wav
;)
I have no sound at the moment, Joby, but will investigate later on.
Please do - its been driving me mad for about 4 weeks :)
The LadyHawke guitar line is a definite rip of the verse hook from Somebody Told Me - I twigged that before the comparison.
Can't identify the James but I only know their singles. Which song do you think it is? (or is that your question?)
Thats my question - I've got 120 odd bloody James songs to listen to :)
Born of Frustration?
I listened to that - but was probably not in the right frame of mind - will have a listen again - its full of trumpets.
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