Is There A RIGHT Way To Rip Off A Song?

Let's explore musical elements used in compositions by The Police, John Lennon, The Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel and more to try to figure out how much is TOO much to take from another artist.

Much thanks to Chris for editing this video!

Video recorded using
Earthworks PM40 piano mic
Earthworks SV33 vocal condenser mic
Hallet and Davis Baby grand piano

[AimeeNolte]

I want to apologize that I put the wrong clip of Truckin in the video by The Dead. It’s the verses. Should’ve been a clip of one of the verses. “Truckin' - Got My Chips Cashed In
Keep Truckin' - Like The Doodah Man”

[ulrichminky]

I am 70 I have been a musician since I was 10. I do not believe that I have ever heard a song that did not remind me of another. We only have so many notes and we have to share. Cheers from Canada. ~ulrich

[DarkForcesStudio]

I still remember "The Flipper Case" to this day. Sends shivers down my spine. Turns out the tune was dolphin free in the end.

[bobsteiner]

Back when I was in college I wrote a solo flute piece for a composition class. I got an "A" and the piece was then performed in a student recital. Years later I heard the opening theme of my piece performed on a local radio station! I suddenly realized that what I was hearing was by Claude Debussy. Musicians store thousands of tunes in the back of their minds, and it's easy to unconsciously replicate the work of others....

By the way, I like your singing!

[Andyvan]

Ringo had his fellow Beatles in stitches, as he several times played them something he thought he had composed, only for them to tell him he had re-created an existing song.

[BatMite]

"Creep (Radiohead)" and "The Air that I Breathe (the Hollies)" was a no-brainer. Regardless, I love them both!

[johnkochen]

Conversely, when McCartney wrote Yesterday and Let It Be, he was convinced he had heard them before and that they were not originally his. He said he asked around if the sounded familiar but everybody said they were his so he put them out.

[rickyguitarman]

i love your voice so much, it doesn't matter if you're singing or just talking. You should make a sort of story telling kind of thing or sing, sing, sing!

[MarkDopita]

Knowing that both Fagen and Becker were huge jazz fans, and no doubt had heard Horace Silver's 1965 "Song for My Father" album years before they wrote "Ricky" (in '74), I prefer to think it's a tribute to Silver.

[AGhostintheHouse]

Your channel came up in my algorithms today and I clicked it. I play rhythm and lead guitar, bass and drums and I love free styling to songs and I love the knowledge that you have which I am influenced by. I just subscribed to your channel and you and David Bennett Piano are my favorite subs!

[Jeffertoya]

Once I wrote a song that I absolutely loved. I love the chord progression. I love the melody. I was thrilled with the lyrics, so I recorded it quickly and then headed out to meet friends.

Later, in my car, a song by Tonic was playing. That song was mountain, and that song was exactly the song that I had written, just listen to that.

I scrapped everything but the lyrics but I totally see how accidental Sons theft happens

[cvanunen]

Things I liked about this video was listening to all these great songs, and hearing Aimee sing.👌🏼

[ChuckEWeiss-fkvr]

Great video! and check out Hotel California up against Jethro Tull’s “We used to know”. The Eagles used to open for JT, so it certainly is curious.

[StephenMarkTurner]

"My Sweet Lord" also had the "I really want to show you" melody which was also in the other song.

[netterstyl]

Should do a full-blown studio-quality cover of "We've Got Tonight". The informal snippet that she did was very nice with its quiet, reflective delivery.

[PedroRodriguez-jioh]

What a beautyfull voice you have, everybody needs to hear you singing, you are amazing. God bless your talent

[keithklassen]

You could easily interpret Jacob's song as a deliberate inversion of Seger's song; Seger mentions ity being late, Jacob says its early; Seger's line is descending, Jacob's is ascending. Actually seems like a reference to me.

[jeteye]

So at a bluegrass jam noodling around on songs in the key of D.
I flipped the chord progression backwards, started cross picking the chord triads, and “came up with” The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness. Too bad John Prine already had it covered. But I was feeling pretty good there for a couple of hours.

[chrisdher]

The Dead played “Rain” “blackbird” “day tripper” “dear prudence” “LSDiamonds” “revolution” “that would be something” “tomorrow never knows” in the live shows. Not very many times but they were fans. They were fans of Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, J Cash, George Jones, Merle Haggard and a ton of other great artists.

[youropionmattersnot]

You have a beautiful voice. Your pitch is amazing.