2008-11-03

10 Songs that Resemble Other Songs

From the good people at Jamsbio:

“The Songs I Didn’t Write” by Creaky Boards

“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay

Creaky Boards Coldplay



Coldplay were briefly accused of copying portions of “The Songs I Didn’t Write” by Brooklyn based alternative band Creaky Boards, for the melody of “Viva la Vida”. Creaky Boards’ band member Andrew Hoepfner claimed that Chris Martin had heard the track at one of their shows. Coldplay denied the claims; band spokesman Murray Chambers said “Chris was working in AIR Studios in London” at that time. Creaky Boards later retracted the accusations and now speculate that both songs may have been inspired by the video game The Legend of Zelda.

“Three Girl Rhumba” by Wire

“Connection” by Elastica

Wire Pink Flag Elastica



All you have to do is listen to those first few bars and the theft is strikingly apparent, save for a transposed semitone. Obviously the boys from Wire noticed this too and took Elastica to task. Apparently the judgment resulted in an out-of-court settlement for which Wire received no compensation, except maybe some nice publicity. Considering that one of the neo-post-punk Britpop band’s biggest influences is Wire, it’s only fitting that they would borrow from their idols.

“He’s So Fine” by The Chiffons

“My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison

Chiffons George Harrison



According to Wikipedia, following the song’s release, musical similarities between “My Sweet Lord” and The Chiffons’ hit “He’s So Fine” led to a lengthy legal battle over the rights to the composition. In a U.S. federal court decision, Harrison was found to have unintentionally copied the earlier song. He was ordered to surrender the majority of royalties from “My Sweet Lord.” In a funny twist, The Chiffons would later record “My Sweet Lord” to capitalize on the publicity generated by the lawsuit. Shortly thereafter, Harrison bought the rights to “He’s So Fine,” bringing the saga full circle.

“Father and Son” by Cat Stevens

“Fight Test” by The Flaming Lips

Cat Stevens The Flaming Lips



There are strong similarities between “Fight Test” and Cat Stevens’s 1970 song “Father and Son.” Stevens, now Yusuf Islam, is receiving royalties following a relatively noncontentious settlement. Lips’ frontman, Wayne Coyne, claims that he was unaware of the songs’ similarities until producer Dave Fridmann pointed them out.

“I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” by The Rubinoos

“Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne

The Rubinoos Avril Lavigne



In 2007, The Rubinoos sued Canadian pop-punk singer Avril Lavigne, claiming that her hit song “Girlfriend” has too much in common with their 1979 song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.” Lavigne’s manager, Terry McBride, denied that “Girlfriend” was copied from “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” and pointed out that “Boyfriend” itself is similar to The Rolling Stones’ “Get off of My Cloud”. The two parties reached a confidential settlement in January 2008. Hard to believe that the similarities were purely coincidental, especially given the two songs’ identical subject matter, albeit with swapped gender.

“All Day and All of the Night” by The Kinks

“Hello, I Love You” by The Doors

The Kinks The Doors



The similarities between these two songs were apparent enough that The Doors had to pay royalties from the British single to The Kinks after Ray Davies sued them.

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