- 11 months ago
Ever hear a hit song and think it sounds familiar? Join us as we count down our picks for the most notorious musical borrowings that flew under the radar! From classic rock legends to modern pop stars, these chart-toppers share suspicious similarities with lesser-known predecessors that landed them in legal hot water.
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00:00So maybe you know Lana Del Rey, who remarkably was sued by Radiohead for plagiarizing Creep in her 2017 song, Get Free.
00:09Iterations.
00:10Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 songs with little-known accusations of plagiarism.
00:16But I'm a creep.
00:20Number 10. Fight Test. The Flaming Lips.
00:24I thought I was smart. I thought I was right. I thought it better not to fight.
00:30The Flaming Lips' 2002 album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, marked a turning point in their vibes.
00:36They went from more traditional psychedelic rock to a more experimental and electronic sound.
00:45It's interesting, then, that the band was sued for plagiarism by folk rock singer Cat Stevens after they changed their sound.
00:52When the Flaming Lips' 2003 single, Fight Test, came out, Stevens, now going by the name Yusuf, noticed a similarity to his 1970s song, Father and Son.
01:01I think of everything you've got, but you will still be here tomorrow.
01:08Wayne Coyne, frontman for the Flaming Lips, later admitted to being inspired by Stevens.
01:13The issue was brought to court, with Stevens now getting 75% royalties from Fight Test.
01:17Number 9. Stay With Me. Sam Smith.
01:26Guess it's true, I'm not good at all, I understand.
01:32But I still need love, cause I'm just a man.
01:35British soul singer Sam Smith's debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, ran into some trouble with the lead single.
01:42Stay With Me is their most successful single to date, but there are undoubtedly some melodic similarities to another artist's single from 1989.
01:48Won't you stay with me, cause you're all I need.
01:59Tom Petty recognized that the melody of Stay With Me was suspiciously similar to his own song, I Won't Back Down.
02:05And I'll keep this world from dragging me down, gonna stand my ground.
02:13Although the songwriters of I Won't Back Down pursued legal action against Smith, Petty says he doesn't believe the plagiarism was intentional.
02:19Even so, he gets 12.5% songwriting credit for it.
02:23I'll stand my ground, and I won't back down.
02:30Number 8. Whole Lotta Love. Led Zeppelin.
02:33Lay down inside, now honey you need it, I'm gonna give you my love.
02:41English rock band Led Zeppelin is no stranger to accusations and copyright infringement.
02:45Many people have heard about the many years long court battles regarding Led Zeppelin's song Stairway to Heaven, and the band's spirit song Taurus.
02:53But there was another lawsuit from 1985 about another Zeppelin song.
03:02The first track from their second album was Whole Lotta Love.
03:05Way, way down inside, I'm gonna give you my love.
03:10I'm gonna give you every inch of my love.
03:13And it shares a lot with the 1962 blues song, You Need Love.
03:17Make me feel so good, you'll make me feel alright.
03:21More than just similarities with the melody, Whole Lotta Love seems to take lyrics from You Need Love as well.
03:30The case was settled out of court, but Jimmy Page and Robert Plant still get pretty defensive about the whole thing.
03:34I keep it coolin' baby, I keep it coolin' baby.
03:41Number 7. Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash.
03:44I hear the train a comin', it's rollin' round the bend, and I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.
03:53Country music icon Johnny Cash wrote more than 1,000 songs.
03:56Hello, I'm Johnny Cash.
03:58One of his most famous numbers, however, wasn't actually his at all.
04:02And I ain't been kissed, Lord, since I don't know when.
04:09First released in 1955, Folsom Prison Blues has become known as one of the greatest country songs ever.
04:14But two years earlier, popular composer Gordon Jenkins released the song Crescent City Blues,
04:19a Torch song about a woman longing to leave town.
04:34Cash sped up the tempo and made some minor changes to the lyrics.
04:37Now, the song told of a man longing to leave prison.
04:40After Folsom Prison Blues really took off in the early 70s, Jenkins wanted credit for his work.
04:44They're probably drinkin' coffee and smokin' big cigars, well, I know I had it comin'.
04:50Cash paid a settlement of approximately $75,000 for drawing so heavily from another artist's efforts.
04:56And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.
05:02Number 6. Midnight Memories, One Direction.
05:06One, two, three.
05:09Straight up the plane to a new hotel.
05:14The title track from pop boy band One Direction's third album, Midnight Memories,
05:19leaned heavily on a very different band's single.
05:22Hard Rocker's Def Leppard released the song Pour Some Sugar On Me in 1987,
05:26and when Midnight Memories came out in 2013, some critics were quick to spot the similarities.
05:30One writer from Billboard pointed out the particularly noticeable rock influence on the 1D song.
05:36Midnight Memories.
05:39He even singled out the guitar riff for sounding an awful lot like Pour Some Sugar On Me.
05:44A rumor circulated that Def Leppard was pursuing legal action, but two members soon denied the claim.
06:00Number 5. We Can't Stop.
06:02Miley Cyrus.
06:09Former Disney idol Miley Cyrus is no stranger to controversy, from scandalous photographs to illicit substance use,
06:16but do you remember the plagiarism lawsuit brought against her for $300 million?
06:20Cyrus' song, We Can't Stop, was released in 2013.
06:23Five years later, in 2018, Jamaican dancehall artist Floor Gone sued her for plagiarism of his 1988 song,
06:38We Run Things.
06:39He come person, she comes a cuck-cuck, we run things, things don't run away,
06:44anything we do, we tough it don't properly.
06:46Sharing more than just a chorus and hook,
06:49Floor Gone claimed about 50% of We Can't Stop was stolen.
06:52A settlement was reached in flavor of Floor Gone,
06:54but the exact monetary amount was not disclosed.
07:04Number 4. Call Me Maybe.
07:07Carly Rae Jepsen.
07:08Call Me Maybe took the pop world by storm in 2011 and 2012.
07:19It was the worldwide best-selling single of the year,
07:21and reached number one on the charts in over 19 countries.
07:32Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen soared in popularity,
07:35and this is crazy.
07:36The single is suspiciously similar to a Ukrainian singer's 2010 song,
07:41Hunky Santa.
07:41Call me and here is my number.
07:45I will fit on your lap.
07:48I've been carrying furia.
07:50The Ukrainian singer, Aza, sued Jepsen for an unspecified amount
07:54after hearing the song on the radio.
07:56Allegedly, Aza nearly crashed her car when she first heard Call Me Maybe.
08:00Jepsen and her representatives denied the coincidence,
08:02saying Jepsen doesn't listen to Ukrainian radio.
08:04And yes, you know that.
08:06So call me maybe.
08:08Number 3. Girlfriend.
08:11Avril Lavigne.
08:11Hey, hey, you, you.
08:13I don't like your girlfriends.
08:14No way, no way.
08:16I think you need a new one.
08:17One of the best-selling and most downloaded singles of the 2000s
08:21was pop punk singer Avril Lavigne's song,
08:23Girlfriend.
08:24Released in 2007 with her third album,
08:26the catchy song quickly caught on with listeners,
08:28but not everyone was happy with its success.
08:31You're so fine.
08:32I want you mine.
08:32You're so delicious.
08:33I think I bet you all the time.
08:35You're so addictive.
08:37Within months of the release date,
08:38a lawsuit was filed against Levine.
08:40And that's what everyone's talking about.
08:42Hey, hey, yeah, yeah.
08:44Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer,
08:47members of the 70s power pop band,
08:49the Rubinus,
08:50noticed something oddly familiar in Girlfriend.
08:53The Rubinus' 1979 song,
08:55I Want to Be Your Boyfriend,
08:56does actually seem like a prototype for Levine's song,
08:58especially with the lyrics.
09:00Hey, hey, you.
09:01I Want to Be Your Boyfriend,
09:03and I'm trying to say I want to be your number one.
09:06The Rubinus took serious issue with Girlfriend,
09:08going so far as to hire a musicologist
09:10to investigate the similarities with their song.
09:12I'm gonna make you love me,
09:15oh, I'm good.
09:18Number two,
09:19Surfin' USA,
09:21The Beach Boys.
09:22A bushy bushy bond here,
09:24Surfin' USA.
09:27What song is more associated with the 60s California sound
09:30than Surfin' USA?
09:32When you hear those opening notes,
09:33your mind probably goes straight to The Beach Boys.
09:37If everybody had a notion
09:39across the USA.
09:43But those very same notes
09:44weren't actually written by them.
09:45In 1958,
09:47the father of rock and roll,
09:48Chuck Berry,
09:49released the song Sweet Little Sixteen.
09:58Surfin' USA sounds so much like
10:00Berry's hit
10:01because they're basically the same song,
10:03just with different lyrics.
10:04Beach Boy Brian Wilson
10:05even admitted writing his lyrics
10:07to the tune of Sweet Little Sixteen.
10:08Upon release in 1963,
10:10Berry didn't get credit for the melody,
10:12but with a little pressure from his publisher,
10:14Berry received songwriting credit
10:15for all re-releases.
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10:38Radiohead's debut single
10:53took the alt-rock world by storm.
10:56Since its release in 1992,
10:57Creep has thrived as a grunge anthem,
11:00despite Radiohead's resentment
11:01of the song's popularity.
11:10But the chord progression and melody
11:12weren't newly written or newly popular.
11:14The Air That I Breathed
11:15was first recorded in 1972,
11:17and it rose to fame
11:18when the Hollies covered it in 1974.
11:20Songwriters Albert Hammond
11:33and Mike Hazelwood
11:34said that Radiohead
11:35was honest about using their music,
11:37so they settled for writing credit
11:38and a small part of royalties.
11:40Flash forward to 2018,
11:41and Radiohead actually sued
11:42Alana Del Rey for plagiarizing Creep
11:44with her song, Get Free.
11:46The matter was eventually settled.
11:47Do you know of any songs
11:58that are a little too similar
11:59in composition?
12:00Let us know in the comments.
12:01Over time,
12:04diluting the message,
12:06obscuring the original.
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