Musical Dopplegangers

[DanOregon]

Heard an interesting story on NPR on the Marving Gaye estate lawsuits against Robin Thicke and Ed Sheeran regarding the "use" of "Got to Give It Up" and "Let's Get It On."

https://www.okayplayer.com/music/marvin-gaye-family-win-appeal-blurred-lines-plagiarism-case.html

Obviously the songs involved ARE similar - at least stylistically. And one of the main points was if a "vibe" could be copyrighted. It made me think of other similar songs - are they rip-offs? homages? It's not like Marvin Gaye invented music any more than Shakespeare invented plays or various plots.

In any event, I was thinking of the similarity between "Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot and "Why Not Me?" by the Judds. And of course Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" and Kelly Clarkson's "Underneath the Tree" - both I contend have the same "vibe" as Darlene Love's "Please Come Home for Christmas."

I'm not really talking about Vanilla Ice ripping off Under Pressure (Ice, Ice Baby), or Ray Parker (Ghostbusters) ripping off I Want a New Drug - cases that were won. (Probably helped that Huey Lewis was asked by the producers to submit a song for the Ghostbusters soundtrack). But other songs that share a same vibe

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

Trying to avoid the ones that have been documented in lawsuits...

Excel's Tapping Into the Emotional Void and Enter Sandman (no link required).

In metal circles, Metallica's The Four Horsemen and Megadeth's Mechanix are the same song. So are S.O.D.'s Aren't You Hungry and Anthrax's Imitation of Life. Both are due to songwriters crossing from one band to the other.

You all know Boston's Foreplay, but Green Lung's The Harrowing is the same vibe.

 

[Regan MacNeil]

The Sheeran one isn't from Gaye's estate. It's from one of the song's co-writers.

 

[TowelWaver]

"I Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum is pretty darned similar to The Alan Parsons Project's "Eye In The Sky". Same tempo, more or less the same chord progression in the chorus. I think only the key is different.

 

[justgladtobehere]

Isn't the famous one a George Harrison song?

 

[TowelWaver]

Isn't the famous one a George Harrison song?

You mean his "My Sweet Lord" compared with the Chiffons' "He's So Fine"? I think he ended up having to settle over that one.

 

[User 4332]

There's tons of these out there. I used to have a big pile of 'em at the ready when I taught copyright law. This was always a favorite of mine to use in class, though:

 

[garrow]

Stairway to Heaven and Taurus

 

[MisterCreosote]

A few guitar riffs off the top of my head:

— Bush’s “Everything Zen” has a riff directly from “Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World.”
— Green Day’s “When I Come Around” has the riff from Matthew Sweet’s “Evangeline.”
— The Wallflowers’ “Three Marlenas” and “Sweet Jane.”

 

[ChrisLong]

Stairway to Heaven and Taurus

That is my go-to on this topic. Randy California (nee Wolfe), who was a year ahead of me in high school, wrote the opening. He was touring with Jimi and LZep, and there were many rehearsals in which LZep could have heard him practicing that opening. Taurus was published a year before Stairway.

 

[DanielSimpsonDay]

There's tons of these out there. I used to have a big pile of 'em at the ready when I taught copyright law. This was always a favorite of mine to use in class, though:

genius

 

[da man]

You mean his "My Sweet Lord" compared with the Chiffons' "He's So Fine"? I think he ended up having to settle over that one.

Chuck Berry's publisher sued John Lennon over "Come Together," which was a slowed-down, psychedelic version of Berry's "Can't Catch Me". Lennon settled that one.

 

[da man]

The Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA" is a direct ripoff of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen". When Berry's people threatened to sue, Brian Wilson gave Berry a writing credit and publishing rights.

 

[maumann]

"Werewolves of London" has the same chords as "Sweet Home Alabama" which somehow begat "All Summer Long."

Kid Rock couldn't come up with another word that rhymes with "things?" That's Steve Miller bad, although nothing beats "Take The Money and Run" for egregious lyric fail.

 

[DanOregon]

I guess I just don't know where "inspiration" ends and theivery begins. Music has always been an evolutionary medium, segueing from style to style. I have to think with only limited notes and chords, every song shares characteristics with another - but if we are talking lyrics - with a more unlimited vocabulary - I totally appreciate. Studied music theory in college and learned tonally - there are only so many places you can go musically. I hate to side with the big money music industry, but I do see their point about opening a door to a lot more lawsuits.

 

[Azrael]

From what I've seen, Azrael has surged past Neutral in being the SJ d_b king. Azrael also posts the same thing on multiple threads, which is also irritating. Pick a thread, dude.

What?

 

[Slacker]

Kid Rock couldn't come up with another word that rhymes with "things?" That's Steve Miller bad, although nothing beats "Take The Money and Run" for egregious lyric fail.

“No, I cannot forget from where it is that I come from” – Mellencamp

“Only time will tell if we stand the test of time” – Van Halen

 

[maumann]

Even Sir Paul grates my editing chops with this one:

"But if this ever changing world
IN which we live IN
Makes you give in and cry
Say live and let die!"

 

[swingline]

In which we're living

And that's Van Hagar, not Van Halen

 

[Slacker]

And that's Van Hagar, not Van Halen

Yeah, I almost did make that change, but I left it alone, sitting firmly on the tee ...