Songs that rip off other songs

[abcdefz]

...sampling aside?


"Finest Worksong" - REM rips off "Good Times Bad Times" by Led Zeppelin

"Racing in the Street" by Springsteen rips off "Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals

The Microsoft Windows theme rips off "Desire" by U2

"The One I Love" by REM rips off "Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)" by Neil Young

[MC Moot]

"Given to Fly" Pearl Jam aka "Going to California" Led Zep

[saz]

whole lotta love-led zep, blatantly ripped off: you need loving-small faces
the last time-stones, blatantly ripped off: the last time-the staples singers (the only original aspect of this song was jones' lead riff)
anybody seen my baby?-stones, ripped off: constant craving-k.d. lang
(gave her a co-writing credit rather than face a plagiarism lawsuit)

[abcdefz]

anybody seen my baby?-stones, ripped off: constant craving-k.d. lang
(gave her a co-writing credit rather than face a plagiarism lawsuit)




...I did not know this.

[Auton]

+bowie's "diamond dogs" is an obvious rip off of "brown sugar" by the stones
+"hold me now" by thompson twins is a rip off of "dance away" by roxy music
+"black sails in the sunset" by elvis costello rips off "air" by talking heads
+Jet's entire catalog is a rip off of older, better rock songs, namely that one that rips off "lust for life" and the one that rips off "let it be" and "sexy sadie"
+the bridge off Radiohead's "creep" is stolen from "the air that i breathe" by the Hollies

[Guy Incognito]

[QUOTE=abcdefz]...sampling aside?



"Desire" by U2

Which sounds like Not Fade Away (Stones version)!

Oasis - loads really - Cigarettes and Alcohol rips off Get It on by T Rex and Dont look Back in Anger rips off Imagine by John Lennon

Didnt nirvana get sued by Boston for the "Teen Spirit" riff soundin like "More Than A feelin"?

[MC Moot]

"Dani Kalifornia" R.H.C.Peppers aka "Last Dance With Mary Jane" Tom Petty

"Press reports in the US suggested that Tom Petty had consulted lawyers and was considering suing the band.

However, Petty told the Rolling Stone: “The truth is, I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock & roll songs sound alike.”

“Ask Chuck Berry. The Strokes took ‘American Girl’ (for their song’“Last Nite’), and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, ‘OK, good for you.’ It doesn’t bother me.”

Asked whether or not he would sue another artist over plagiarism Petty responded: “If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe.”

“But I don’t believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs.”

[abcdefz]

"Dani Kalifornia" R.H.C.Peppers aka "Last Dance With Mary Jane" Tom Petty

"Press reports in the US suggested that Tom Petty had consulted lawyers and was considering suing the band.

However, Petty told the Rolling Stone: “The truth is, I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock & roll songs sound alike.”

“Ask Chuck Berry. The Strokes took ‘American Girl’ (for their song’“Last Nite’), and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, ‘OK, good for you.’ It doesn’t bother me.”

Asked whether or not he would sue another artist over plagiarism Petty responded: “If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe.”

“But I don’t believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs.”





Ray Parker, Jr. got "Ghostbusters" from Huey Lewis' "I Want a New Drug." That was a suit Lewis won.

George Harrison nabbed the Chiffons' "He's So Fine" for "My Sweet Lord" and had to pay for it, too.

[TAL]

Ray Parker, Jr. got "Ghostbusters" from Huey Lewis' "I Want a New Drug." That was a suit Lewis won.
Well, it was settled out of court.

[MC Moot]

George Harrison nabbed the Chiffons' "He's So Fine" for "My Sweet Lord" and had to pay for it, too.

Now I can really HEAR that...interesting

[Bob]

+Jet's entire catalog is a rip off of older, better rock songs, namely that one that rips off "lust for life"

i was gonna say that. didn't know about the rest though (but only because i don't listen to jet)

[abcdefz]

Well, it was settled out of court.



Yeah? Fair enough. I thought Lewis flat-out won that.

[saz]

George Harrison nabbed the Chiffons' "He's So Fine" for "My Sweet Lord" and had to pay for it, too.

it wasn't a rip-off, it was purely coincidental and harrison was right pissed about it.

[Planetary]

vanilla ice completely ripped under pressure (correct song title?) by david bowie.

[Bob]

vanilla ice completely ripped under pressure (correct song title?) by david bowie.

i think that qualifies as sampling though. like mc hammer ripping off superfreak

[TimDoolan]

Phil Collins "Sussudio" rips off Prince's "1999."

[kleptomaniac]

i think that qualifies as sampling though. like mc hammer ripping off superfreak

and triple trouble, yes? (only one i can think of right now)


but it was funny seeing vanilla ice in an interview being like "we changed this one little beat in the song" or something like that so it's not the same anymore? :rolleyes:

[icy manipulator]

anyone one of the millions of new 'pop' songs that rip off classics like Tainted Love and completely turn them to shit

[Ally Al]

anyone one of the millions of new 'pop' songs that rip off classics like Tainted Love and completely turn them to shit

hold on, you do know soft cell's wasn't the original version don't you ? If not go and find gloria jones's northern soul classic

just re-read and i see what you're getting at now, however that would count as a sample

[Ally Al]

whole lotta love-led zep, blatantly ripped off: you need loving-small faces


nearly right but not quite

The song was a rewrite of the Willie Dixon song "You Need Love", a favorite of the band's as performed by the Small Faces that had also been released by Muddy Waters in 1962. This (and one other recorded by the band) would lead to a lawsuit settled out of court in the favor of Dixon in 1985 over the similarity of the lyrics. The song also included lyrical nods to Dixon's "Back Door Man" and "Shake for Me", the latter as recorded by Howlin' Wolf.

[RaZoRbLaDe KiSs]

vanilla ice completely ripped under pressure (correct song title?) by david bowie.

damnit you took mine! and wasnt it Queen's song and Bowie just sung it with them?

[icy manipulator]

hold on, you do know soft cell's wasn't the original version don't you ? If not go and find gloria jones's northern soul classic

just re-read and i see what you're getting at now, however that would count as a sample
yeah i know. i just mean i hate that stupid bitch who took the beat from it and did her know stuff over it. totally ruins the song for me

[MC Moot]

it wasn't a rip-off, it was purely coincidental and harrison was right pissed about it.


I disagree,I think it's almost blatant.

http://www.dancingaboutarc.com/lists/plagiarismlist.html

[saz]

"a lot of people sue people like us because it's aggravation for us; they think we'll settle. the guy who wrote 'he's so fine' actually died in 1967 or 1968 - he never even heard 'my sweet lord'. and i'm sure if he was a musician he wouldn't have flinched. but the guy who was his accountant...he saw this as money pouring out of the sky. there are different mentalities. people who go out of their way to do something like that, to copy something, and then there are musicians who realize that all music is in some way related to something else."
"when you first wrote 'my sweet lord' or played it back did you think the two songs sounded alike?"
"no, i went through all this in court. see, in 1968 the big song was 'oh happy day'. i thought it was great to be able to do something both spiritual and commercial. what's the point of doing something no-one's going to hear? i wanted to come up with something like that. incidentally, the chord changes on 'my sweet lord' and 'oh happy lord' are the same. the entire lawsuit was hinging on the first three notes of the song, as well as the four notes of the chorus, but the sheet music for that song was just what happened to come out on that recording date. for all i know some of those notes could have been arranged differently on another take. i guess i finally realized that the songs sounded similar when the song came out on the radio in 1970 and a few disc jockeys got off on the idea. but you can listen to a number of records and hear other songs in them. i don't consider it a lift because in my mind i was trying to do 'oh happy day'. it was a heavy emotional thing to go to court and play the guitar. all the secretaries from the other court came along. it was like, 'oh, let's go see george harrison doin' a concert in court.' personally, i don't think it damaged me. if it was the only song i'd ever written i'd feel bad, you know? but i just feel annoyed, because of the motives behind.....it has put me through a real bad period of paranoia though....every time i pick up the guitar to play something i think, 'uh-oh, this sounds like...'. i can't help it, i do it all the time now."

-nme, dec. 11 '76

[zorra_chiflada]

come as you are - nirvana seemed to rip off its main riff from 80s by killing joke. wasn't there a courtcase?

[Ally Al]

i'll add

start by the jam and taxman by the beatles, and town called malice was built around you can't hurry love by the supremes, but then again this was weller paying homage not ripping off i think

discotechque by U2 always sounded like begging you by the stone roses to me, probably not a rip off but defo sounds similiar

i am the resurrection by the stone roses lends from the end by the beatles, at least the instrumental bit at the end does

[abcdefz]

The Police's "Every Breath You Take" seems like a pretty identical chord progression as Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." Doesn't it?

[Otis Driftwood]

Isn't that, like, totally illegal? :eek:

[abcdefz]

Isn't that, like, totally illegal? :eek:



Right, right.

But I'd feel weird about not crediting it in some way.

[Planetary]

i think that qualifies as sampling though. like mc hammer ripping off superfreak

possibly. did it not go to court? i dunno havn't and won't read into it.

[ggirlballa]

The Police's "Every Breath You Take" seems like a pretty identical chord progression as Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." Doesn't it?

then i think P Diddy ripped off that police song for "I'll be missing you" its a great tribute to BIG but its just SOOOOO similar to the police's "every breathe you take" (i'll be watching you).

i still like both though

[Ally Al]

then i think P Diddy ripped off that police song for "I'll be missing you" its a great tribute to BIG but its just SOOOOO similar to the police's "every breathe you take" (i'll be watching you).

i still like both though


again thats sampling though not ripping off, faith interpolated the lyrics to fit the message of the song

(plus sting sang with them at the mtv awards that year so he must've agreed it)

[Kid Presentable]

Sublimes 'what I got' is the same as Lady Madonna.

Vanilla Ice ripped off Stop that Train if anything.

[Kid Presentable]

Oh Crawlspace ripped off Phenomenon. Not EPMD. Sadly.

[abcdefz]

Mott the Hoople's "I'm a Cadillac" grabs the riff from Dylan's "Sooner or Later."

[DroppinScience]

I don't know if it's a rip-off, but the arrangement of Beck's "Paper Tiger" is very, very similar to Serge Gainsbourg's "Melody"

It's practically the same orchestration, I can't believe it!

[mikizee]

i was going to mention jet too!

the let it be/sexy sadie mash is called 'look what youve done' (i think). put the music of let it be to the lyrics of sexy sadie, and whammo, u got a hit!

i find it funny that in the jet song 'rollover dj' he sings 'cos uve been playing other ppl's songs all night'!

ahhh... the ironing's delicious

[Mr. Boomin'Granny]

I got a couple of coldplay ones.


"Speed of sound" rips off from Kate Bush' "Running up that hill"

The beginning of "clocks" sounds very similar to the Manic Street Preachers "Fear of Motion".

The beginning of "God put a smile upon your face" is also similar to Roxy music's "Out of the Blue"

[DroppinScience]

I got a couple of coldplay ones.


"Speed of sound" rips off from Kate Bush' "Running up that hill"

The beginning of "clocks" sounds very similar to the Manic Street Preachers "Fear of Motion".

The beginning of "God put a smile upon your face" is also similar to Roxy music's "Out of the Blue"

Also, the guitar riff from "Talk" takes a lot from a Kraftwerk song. I forget which one, but it was played side by side, and I was all: "Whoaaa!"

The Kraftwerk one is like a synthesizer riff of the guitar.

[Audio.]

Black Eye Peas rip off almost everybody........I hate that band.

[DroppinScience]

When you think about it, the opening drum beat of "Just Like Honey" by The Jesus & Mary Chain is quite similar to the opening drum beat of "Be My Baby"by The Ronettes.

Uncanny, I'd say!

[Helvete]

I never can spot the likenesses in song, even if they've been pointed out to me. I'm rubbish.

[TurdBerglar]

wolfmother - everysong

[dave790]

[QUOTE=abcdefz]

Oasis - Dont look Back in Anger rips off Imagine by John Lennon




With that one it's more a reference in the intro than anything else.

[abcdefz]

With that one it's more a reference in the intro than anything else.


That wasn't my quote, for what it's worth.

[kleptomaniac]

^haha and that isn't guy incognito's post either!

[abcdefz]

^haha and that isn't guy incognito's post either!


Yeah -- the "quote" function has been a little off.

[d_bob76]

Mark Lanegan's song Head has the same riff as Camper Van Beethoven's Pictures of Matchstick Men

[dave790]

Yeah -- the "quote" function has been a little off.

don't know what the fuck happened there!