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Another song that I consider very inspired by The Beatles would be Rock n' roll with me by David Bowie, using progressions and ornaments on the guitar and the voice very similar to the melodies of Let it be
A rock critic in my hometown said that when he was young, he yelled "Skynyrd rules!" as Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronny Van Zant was walking past him. Van Zant stopped and said, "Son, the Beatles rule. Never forget that."
they really don’t sound like The Beatles as much as people say they do. they sound more like bands such as T. Rex, Slade, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses, Sex Pistols, The Jam, and XTC, who were themselves influenced by The Beatles (I would say even more so than Oasis).
As a 71 years old Beatles Freak, I say this. All artists are influenced by other artists, including the Beatles. How can you listen to any music and not be influenced by it? All songwriters have "lifted" words or melodies from other artists, including the Beatles. This has been going on forever. I see it more as a salute to the original artists than plagiarism. Just enjoy the music, that is why it is made.
George Harrison himself got into legal hot water because “My Sweet Lord” sounded so similar to the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine.” But my favorite is Neil Young’s “Borrowed Tune,” which admits in the lyrics that the melody was ripped off from the Rolling Stones’ “Lady Jane.”
The end of Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” always felt to me like a lift from various Beatle’s tunes, so it made sense when I learned it was recorded at at George Martin's AIR Studios.
A couple more: The Jam's "Start!" clearly uses the bass line from "Taxman", and King Crimson's "Walking On Air" has a very strong influence from "Sun King" (the outro of their song "People", off the same album, also has a very similar feel to the coda of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"). Jackie Mittoo's "Wishbone" is largely "Carry That Weight" to the rhythm of "Obla-di-obla-da".
i would nominate Sowing the Seeds of Love by Tears for Fears which proudly captures that Magical Mystery Tour era Beatles sound. The verse is very I am the Walrus, the chorus has echoes of Hello, Goodbye, and there’s even a cornet solo as a deliberate nod to Penny Lane.
Midnight in a perfect world by dj shadow has the exact same chord progression as sowing the seeds of love. I believe the DJ shadow tune is a sample from an older track. I reckon T4F stole it from this track
Start! by the Jam always comes to mind when talking about 'Beatles-influenced' tracks - the bass and guitar riffs are pretty much exact copies of those found in Taxman
@@lofi-guy I think Harrison was so bruised by his own copyright case that he said he didn't hear any similarities to Start, or something similar. As he thought the whole thing was toxic.
I always thought “Mr. Blue Sky” was really, really similar to the second part of “A day in the life”. They even copied the heavy breathing after the line “and looking up I noticed I was late”
ELO loved the Beatles and is probably one of the most directly Beatles-inspired groups of all time. Jeff Lynne was friends with George and produced Anthology in the 90s. The Diary of Horace Wimp sounds so much like a Beatles song it's hard to believe it's not. The recurring chorus bit "Horace Wimp, this is your life, Go out and find yourself a wife (come on, Horace), Make a stand and be a man" sounds a lot like end of Dear Prudence "The wind is low, the birds will sing, That you are part of everything" in a similar rhythm. But apart from that the storytelling and whimsy of the song sounds so much like a 1967/68 era Beatles song. Most of ELO's stuff you can see Beatles influence tho, just in their use of strings combined with their high energy rock. But they make it their own for sure
Yes. Also the chords are incredibly similar to the ones used for Yesterday and the sentiment is identical to Here Comes the Sun. It does irk me slightly that he didn't give any of the Beatles any songwriting credit for that song, given that the combination of influences from different Beatles songs have to be deliberate
It's not uncommon. Pretty much any era you'll find a lot of groups converging on similar ideas, similar progressions, similar styles, and similar studio techniques. It's often nothing more than a combination of cross-fertilisation from listening to each other, shared producers, shared engineers, shared studios, and the same new technology becoming available to everyone at much the same time.
The Offspring song also works if you alternate lyrics between songs: 'Desmond has a barrow in the market place/he tells me every day/Desmond says to Molly girl I like your face/in the worst kind of way' 'She sits on her ass he works his hands to the bone/buys a 20 carot golden ring/but she wants more deniro just stay at home/and when he gives it to her she begins to sing'
imo the end of 'She's Electric' to me sounds more like a deliberate callback/reference than attempt at plagarism. The song wouldn't sound that different without it but it makes you go notice
I'm surprised you didn't mention "What I Got" by Sublime (same melody as "Lady Madonna"). Also, I'm not that familiar with ELO's catalog, but they have some really obvious ones. For example, "Telephone Line" has a chorus extremely similar to "Hello Goodbye", and it also seems to contain similarities to a few other 60's/Beatles songs I can't always put my finger on.
Yeah, "What I Got" was the first one I thought of. Not only does it have the same melody, but it uses the same I-IV chord progression (though "Lady Madonna" has a couple other chords at the end of the progression).
The Tears for Fears song "Sowing the Seeds of Love" was stylistically an homage to The Beatles, but the chorus bass notes are identical to the chorus bass notes of Hello Goodbye. Love this idea by the way. Good work!
The long outro from The Killing of Georgie by Rod Stewart is basically the chorus from Don't Let Me Down, Lennon himself acknowledged it but refrained from suing.
She's electric by Oasis also barrows a bit of melody from The Kinks Wonderboy. (For reference) The 1 minute and 20 second mark of She's Electric And The 1 minute mark of Wonderboy
Fascinating how so many artists were influenced by the Beatles! And they often include little easter eggs in their songs for acute listeners to find. Nice video, David!
Look What You’ve Done by Jet is a strong nod to Sexy Sadie as well. Also, Someone to Love by Fountains of Wayne is structured line for line and message-wise exactly like Eleanor Rigby. Both are worth a listen!
Roll It Over by Oasis literally plays the final Come Together's riff in the middle of the song. It even harmonizes the voices in a pretty Beatlesque way...
Oasis usually have a tradition of including at least one joke/piss take song on each album during the 90's. That includes Digsy's Dinner, Bonehead's Bank Holiday, She's Electric and The Girl in the Dirty Shirt. So yes, they did that intentionally. Let's be honest, Oasis sounds nothing like the Beatles, but they are unashamedly inspired by them. Oasis is Oasis and The Beatles are the Beatles.
But with Oasis it isnt just Beatles songs that sound a lot like theirs. They even admitted in a 1997 interview that they stole from other artists and were also famously sued by Coca-Cola for one.
@@NmpK24 Yes, I know. You're missing my point. My point is Oasis always sounds like Oasis even when they lift someone else's parts. 😄For example, you immediately know it's Oasis just by hearing their trademark sound. The Beatles too. Even when Oasis sounds Beatlesque, they still sound like Oasis and vice versa.
These are my favourite videos you do. I think a great example you’ve missed so far is Coldplay’s ‘Adventure of a lifetime’, in the ending part that goes ‘If we’ve only got this life, An adventure oh then I’ It is the exact same melody and chord progression as the chorus of ‘It’s Only Love’ from the Help! album. I’d love to see it featured because it’s such a recent song and so massive as well.
It seems he did take them to task, in that he got a co-write credit and royalties, which is what he would have gotten with a successful lawsuit. And the Chiffons thing was really egregious.
Actually he got his revenge by buying the publishing, so he got the royalties for 'My sweet lord' back and the royalties for 'He's so fine' and the rest of the catalogue
Oasis also directly ripped off the lyrics from the theme tune to a kid's UK TV Show in the 80's called You and Me. Lyrics from the show - You and me, me and you Lots and lots for you to do Lots and lots for you to see Me and you, you and me
One of my favorite Beatles reference in a song is from "Volcano Girls" by Veruca Salt. The bridge towards the end is a direct reference to the Beatles "Glass Onion."
Deep Purple's first hit, Hush, is based on a melody lifted verbatim from A Day in the Life (the transition from McCartney's part to the last verse, but sped up).
@@whycantiremainanonymous8091 Fot years i thought it was a DP original. Jokes on me. Then again, it wasn't unusual for the early Brit bands to cut their teeth on American music .Beatles. Who, Stones. Yardbirds,Animals Searchers and so nany more covered rock, r&b, blues Motown, country etc. during their nascent years.
When I first read the title the song that jumped into my head was Start by the Jam. Go on, have a listen and tell me what Beatles song jumps out at you. Different melody line, different lyrics but undeniably the same song. Even the tone of the guitar in the guitar solo.
@@alesildan Totally -- though George would have had cajones to call that out given that he clearly took the Taxman chorus from the TV Batman Theme, which premiered a month before George wrote the song.
I have to mention a song by The New Kids On The Block called "Tonight", has a lot of references to Beatles tunes. I really like the song and I am also a Beatles fan. "In the deep" by Adele has similarities to "Lady Madonna", every time I listen to Adele's song I begin to sing "Lady Madonna" lyrics.
The piano at the start of "Mr Blue Sky" is very similar to the piano at the start of Paul's bit in "A Day In The Life" and there's even the same rhythmic panting after the line "Running down the avenue" as there is after the line "And looking up, I noticed I was late".
From the little I know about ELO, Jeff Lyne loved the sonority and style of late Beatles albums, and wanted to continue exploring what the Beatles contributed to music.
Yes. Every Rutles song has multiple references to Beatle songs, which makes them a joy to listen to. IIRC, Get Up and Go was the one that George (who was involved with the project from the start) warned them about being careful with because it was a little too close and might have the corporates go after them.
@@sourisvoleur4854 Yeah, it could have been John. Paul was the only one that didn't care for it at first, but came around because Linda liked it and he found out Eric Idle grew up across the river from Liverpool in Wallasey.
Slightly off topic, but I couldn't help but notice in the Pianote ad, that they used the bit of Baroque-like keyboard bridge from In My Life as an example, speeding it up or slowing it down as one might want. As David well knows, George Martin himself had a bit of a problem playing that part fast enough and ended up using a sped up version of it on the recording. I couldn't help but think how he would have loved this kind of instant feature back then. Considering what he did back then with four and eight track technology, I can't imagine what he might have been able to do if today's tech had been available then.
Talking about similar lyrics, I always liked the part "It's time to spread our wings and fly, don't let another day go by, my love" from Just Like (Starting Over) of John Lennon ❤❤ I dunno if the wings/another day/my love was deliberate but I would find it hard to believe he didn't notice it.
Totally original and never before mentioned similarity, but Mr. Blue Sky by ELO quotes the Beatles a couple times. 1. The opening with the quick upbeat piano stabs and the narrator joyfully recalling how he woke up in the morning is straight out of the McCartney Bridge from a Day in the Life 2. The fire hydrant percussion is very reminiscent of Penny Lane 3. And the orchestral outro is very reminiscent of George Martins orchestral arrangement on Good Night from the end of the White Album 4. This one is kind of a stretch but the whole idea of the sun finally coming after days of pouring rain is very reminiscent of Here Comes the Sun. Although this is definetly just a coincidence, and probably happened because Jeff Lynne and George Harrison both live in England, the country where the sky being clear is a special occasion.
One song that comes to mind when referencing the Beatles I always hear the song eternal flame by the bangles as a great reference to the Beatles especially when you get to the bridge of the song where she sings say my name sunshine through the rain my whole life which sounds exactly like the Beatles classic here there and everywhere from revolver especially during George Harrison‘s guitar part. The whole song eternal flame sounds exactly like the Beatles here there and everywhere.
You probably know this and maybe mentioned it in a video already but Shakermaker directly lifts the chords and structure of Flying by the Beatles. Supposedly, anyway. I mean it kinda does but it’s also just a standard 12 bar blues. It’s also funny because Noel only said that after people pointed out it rips off I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing, and he says INSTEAD it’s Flying. So I guess it’s both 😂😂
@@PlanetoftheDeaf it is suspiciously Beatle-esque! Sting nearly sued himself! someone from his label heard him singing on the Dire Straits track where he quotes his own melody from Don't stand so close to me, and not realising it was in fact Sting on the track, started legal proceedings until someone clued him in.
@@MobiusBandwidth John Fogarty is the only artist I'm aware of that was sued for sounding too much like himself. (Old man down the road vs Run Through the Jungle).
Both are obviously Paul songs, but the guitar riff in Paperback Writer is a sped up version of the beginning of Got To Get You Into My Life. Also, John's Mr. Kite melody lifts heavily from his other song It's Only Love.
6:40 Bad Religion has done this as least one more time, in the song Anesthesia. In the end of the chorus they sing “1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 all good children goes to heaven” just like in the Beatles song “You never give me your money”. Maybe that’s a classic phrase or something, but since they have already quoted The Beatles on the record that came out only one year earlier I thought that it might be another Beatles quote. I haven’t seen anyone else mentioning this online so maybe I’m just reading too much in to this haha.
Hi - I've just discovered you while trying to look for something on the intros to Jungle Boogie and Brooklyn 99 - I've had a scroll through but don't know the technical term for it - what would you recommend? Also, my son is v into Bad Sounds - they have a song called Couldn't Give It Away which uses a beat of completely blank space - are there other pieces that use this?
Jet uses Sexy Sadie's lyrics in the chorus of Look What You've Done. The bass riffs are McCartneyesque, and even the drum fills are right out of Ringo's playbook. It is careful not to be a direct rip-off, so the melody might be safe, but the influences are worn right on the sleeve of Jet's homage.
Yes, that Jet's song is a completely rip off of Sexy Sadie.... They also did a rip off from Lust for Love of Iggy Pop.. i don't recall the Jet's song but a totally ripoff
I would go for the intro piano chords of "Size of a cow" by The Wonder stuff. Exact copy of the ones used frequently during Octopus's garden on Abbey Road. The brief parts leading into each chorus
This is going to sound strange, but your US followers may have noticed that the theme song to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered news program is identical to the “say it loud so I can hear you” bit from “I Will”.
Wait... are you saying "All Things Considered" might have pulled from I Will? I've listened to NPR, but this was mostly for Car Talk. Never remember hearing the ATC theme before! Edit: before it changes into its own thing, it's so obvious!
It should be noted that the Beatles made their start by “ripping off” all the songs they heard growing up being sung in pubs and bars they frequented. They then went to the USA and did the same for their rock ‘n roll. Not trying to knock them, but highly relevant points for a post like this.
@Topher714 I'm amazed that the song ever left the studio. If I'd been in on the sessions I would've said "Hey guys, you realise that you're basically imitating a Beatles song."
Seriously. The other ones require some musical analysis of scales and contours and chord progressions... This one is the equivalent of copying someone else's homework and just rearranging a few of the sentences.
Morrissey's song 'How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel' uses both the chord sequence of 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' and a snippet of the melody from 'Here Comes The Sun'.
Only saw one other commenter mention Volcano Girls by Veruca Salt, so I'll second that. Very clear nod to Glass Onion. I'll also mention that the melody of the Silvio Rodriguez classic Quién Fuera is similar (but shifted down a few notes) to the opening melody of Please, Please Me ("Last night I said these words to my girl").
Motley Crue, of all bands, used the same exact harmonies as She's So Heavy for a track on Dr. Feelgood. Also they sing it for several minutes as well. To their credit, they harmonized well.
Sufjan Stevens has a song called "Dear Mr. Super Computer" where he's clearly referencing the Beatles when he says "1 2 3 4 5 6 7, all computers go to heaven"
I don't think it "rips off the song" more than naturally they were probably inspired by these tunes. I like the differences in the use of harmony and melody for these songs. I think of it as you're giving a thanks to the Beatles as well.
Incredibly late here but there’s a South Korean band I really like, Jannabi, who are inspired by the Beatles, and one of the songs from their latest album (titled The Ballad of Non Le John) literally shouts out the Beatles by name, includes an old John Lennon interview quote, and has a stacked vocal build-up and vocal line that directly quotes at least two Beatles songs. They’ve also covered multiple Beatles songs in concert, and, in a long-form interview on the process behind that particular track, the frontman said he deliberately made it as Beatles-esque as he could. It’s pretty cool.
Don't forget the intro to Don't Look Back in Anger, which is Imagine before it diverts into an actual song. That's an homage that I can respect. Radiohead gets a pass because it's subtle. Even if they directly took the chord progression, I don't see any problem with that because they made it very different. The Offspring song is so obviously ripped off. That was a song from my childhood so I heard it before the original, but when I eventually heard the original it was obvious. I bet that several lawyers tried to raise the issue with Paul and Yoko hoping to make some money, but they clearly refused.
I've detected quite a Beatles influence in Robbie Williams' I've been expecting you album, particularly in Strong and She's the one, but I haven't decided from which Beatles songs in specific, I will give them a listen at some point and be back!
Of course Oasis takes the title of "Most Beetlesque Big Name Act," but my favorite Beetlesque band is Semisonic. "Feeling Strangely Fine" is such a great album, I think it would be a good idea for Mr. Bennett to go through some of the songs on that album and identify what makes them Beetlesque. Although I realize I'm rather on the fringe with that opinion.
Paseando por Roma by the Argentinian band Soda Stereo borrows from Taxman and Got To Get You Into My Life and openly acknowledged it. There are YT videos from Tehran, Tashkent, Tokyo touting Beatles covers. You can't escape the Beatles. They got us into their life and have graciously agreed to never leave.
All of these feel very much like what I'd call "quoting" the earlier works in question. It's also very surprising to me to see they're almost all exactly thirty years apart.
So, the first day I heard Karma Police in 97, it immediately reminded me of Sexy Sadie. I remember mentioning it to my brother as we were watching the RH video, and he agreed. I am surprised it wasn't obvious to you, my friend. Anyway, great video as usual.
Not rip-off's, but definitely heavily influenced by The Beatles - Bourgeois Tagg's "I Don't Mind at All" and Billy Joel's "Laura". Both fantastic songs.
Quotations are fun but more interesting to pick out basic sounds, introduced by The Beatles & now taken for granted. Example, "Axis chords" first had an enduring smash hit (after 2-3 minor forgotten hits) with _Let It Be_ . Or, _Hey Jude_ "piano-feel" is everywhere, recognizable even when chords are far different, as in Coldplay _The Scientist_ . Or any song saying "Yeah Yeah Yeah" - there's a gazillion.
Thought of more. _Tomorrow Never Knows_ - first use of sampling, in pop music. And maybe first I -VII - I chord loop? _Rain_ - first pop use of backwards tapes. _Paperback Writer_ - first "psychedelic" vocal manipulation. _Yesterday_ - first use of string quartet & neo-classical in pop, or was there something earlier? _Revolver_ album - first use of ADT. _Helter Skelter_ - first Heavy Metal track.
I dont think anything on this list is outright plagiarism, but the piano on Karma Police was always immediately identifiable as nearly identical to Sexy Sadie to me, so you not noticing it until it was later pointed out just doesnt seem right. It doesn't sound like something you would accidentally miss.
😂 I can confirm that what I said in the video is true, I never noticed a similarity between Karma Police and Sexy Sadie prior to RUclips commenters pointing it out
There's a moment in the bridge of "Mother Superior" (by Coheed & Cambria) where Claudio sings "frightened of leaving" that always evokes "I Me Mine", where George sings the same phrase in a very similar cadence.
Don't forget that Paul McCartney's "New" song from 2013 is basically the sequel to "Penny Lane". And "Tonight" by New Kids On The Block is very Beatlesque, with a "Lady Madonna" riff in the middle.
@@vickielawson3114 Also, "Sowing the Seeds of Love" by Tears for Fears combines elements of "Penny Lane" (trumpet solo), "I am the Walrus" and "Hello Goodbye."
She's electric is a completely different song to while my guitar gently weeps. Totally different tempo and style. In fact I would consider it a touch of genius by NG to turn a slow downbeat beatles song into an upbeat happy tune.
Noel (quote from 1995): "You see, what you do is find your favourite record, put it on, work out what the chords are, move it up two keys, switch all the chords around, knick somebody else's lyrics, if they're preferably dead then they can't sue you, throw a few of your own in, put written by Noel Gallagher and sit back and just hope that nobody sues you... It's worked so far!"
The pre-chorus of the Pointer Sisters song "Neutron Dance" sounds very similar to the bridge section ("well, my heart went boom") of "I Saw Her Standing There."
I don't think that obvious "ripping off" is a real problem in today's music. It is more the "composing in the style of ..." Classic composers did that openly declared, so there can't be any objections about it. But today, it is possible to get such compositions by Artificial Intelligence - and I suspect that this is done quite often in the soundtrack of commercials (without declaration, of course). At least, it happens quite frequently that I am thinking: "That reminds me strongly of the song ..." - but it isn't that song: Different melody, different chord sequences, but still a striking similarity. No judge would ever confirm a plagiarism! So it is a clever, but nasty means of avoiding the payment of royalties. Luckily, there are also commercials that use classic pop or rock songs openly declared - let's hope that the future is theirs!
I've got one. It will never qualify as plagiarism. But, it annoys me. As a '70s teenager, I was listening to the Beatles (if not on record, then in my head) non-stop. And whenever I was listening to "Old Brown Shoe", I always heard the lyric as "blah blah blah blah, some day, Lady, you'll accomp'ny me". I later learned that the line was "Someday, maybe, you will comfort me.". Then, some time later, I heard Bob Seager singing "Someday, Lady, you'll accomp'ny me." Immediately I knew exactly what'd happened. Bob Seager, that rat bastard, stole my misheard lyric!!! That is no joke. Bob Seager totally stole that mis-heard line. (I know he did because that's exactly what I would have done.)
-What I Got by Sublime - Lady Madonna, damn near same melody over the I-IV progression. -Plastic Jim by Sly and the Family Stone has kind of a quote of Eleanor Rigby -Shape of You - Ed Sheeran the main hook is the same lick as The Beatles From Me To You, totally different songs and progressions, not saying its plagiarism but that lick is the same. -Oops I Did It Again by Britney Spears, melody to the chorus is quite similar to Bungalow Bill of all things, not the same but similar contour.
Girl Don't Tell Me by the Beach Boys is very similar to Ticket to Ride, especially its guitar breaks and drum fills, as well as the chorus being "Girl don't tell me you'll wri-i-ite", which is the same as "she's got a ticket to ri-i-ide", but with different lyrics. Of course, both bands were taking from each other around this time and Wilson openly admitted it in this song.
Sure. But there's a world of difference between a band who are genuinely novel and talented in their own right (exhibit A: God Only Knows) paying an occasional moment of homage vs a pair of brothers from Manchester whose *entire back catalogue* lifts from the fab four in one way or another.
Baby Britain by Elliott Smith is absolutely packed with Beatles references, deliberately of course. Most notably the middle section with "You've got a look in your eye..."
@DavidBennettPiano Have you heard the DR DOG song “Nellie”? Very strong “Don’t Let Me Down” influence. You can hear the Beatles all over that band. In a good way.
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Saturday... in the park... I think it was the 4th of July - Chicago
When I call... you up... your line's engaged - The Beatles
Please check out Rod Stewart's rip of Don't Let Me Down
Another song that I consider very inspired by The Beatles would be Rock n' roll with me by David Bowie, using progressions and ornaments on the guitar and the voice very similar to the melodies of Let it be
champagne supernova tiene cosas de los beatles
A rock critic in my hometown said that when he was young, he yelled "Skynyrd rules!" as Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronny Van Zant was walking past him. Van Zant stopped and said, "Son, the Beatles rule. Never forget that."
Nobody "rules" in music - not even The Beatles. Nor does Bach, or Mozart, or Beethoven ...
@@maxblatter You've obviously never heard of Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band
And then the Free bird started playing?
And then everybody clapped
Is that true? If so it's cool and the Beatles did rule along with Dylan and the stones
thought it’d be 6 oasis songs
Oasis sound nothing like the beatles. They sound more like the rolling stones or slade or t-rex.
@@owenstunes5804 “Nothing like The Beatles”
@@Nerkin610beatles use a wide range of chords, styles and tempos in their songs, oasis do not. They are more like the rolling stones in that regard.
they really don’t sound like The Beatles as much as people say they do. they sound more like bands such as T. Rex, Slade, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses, Sex Pistols, The Jam, and XTC, who were themselves influenced by The Beatles (I would say even more so than Oasis).
@@owenstunes5804they were heavily inspired by them tho
As a 71 years old Beatles Freak, I say this. All artists are influenced by other artists, including the Beatles. How can you listen to any music and not be influenced by it? All songwriters have "lifted" words or melodies from other artists, including the Beatles. This has been going on forever. I see it more as a salute to the original artists than plagiarism. Just enjoy the music, that is why it is made.
Wise Words.
But sometimes it's undeniable that a song is just Plagiarism.
Completely agree!
George Harrison himself got into legal hot water because “My Sweet Lord” sounded so similar to the Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine.” But my favorite is Neil Young’s “Borrowed Tune,” which admits in the lyrics that the melody was ripped off from the Rolling Stones’ “Lady Jane.”
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun
You're confusing influence and straight-out stealing, which that segment from "She's Electric" clearly represents.
The end of Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” always felt to me like a lift from various Beatle’s tunes, so it made sense when I learned it was recorded at at George Martin's AIR Studios.
Also their song "Believe Me" has a suspiciously similar verse to that of "Oh! Darling".
It reminds me of the conclusion to the Abbey Road Medley
they were also at the beatles apple label and Paul wrote a song for them
And published under Apple Corps
And George Harrison partially produced the album
A couple more: The Jam's "Start!" clearly uses the bass line from "Taxman", and King Crimson's "Walking On Air" has a very strong influence from "Sun King" (the outro of their song "People", off the same album, also has a very similar feel to the coda of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"). Jackie Mittoo's "Wishbone" is largely "Carry That Weight" to the rhythm of "Obla-di-obla-da".
In turn, Sun King was clearly influenced by Fleetwood Mac's Albatross!
I agree about the Jam song very similar to Taxman
"Wishbone" is transparent. If Lennon/McCartney are not credited, that's absolute robbery 😅
I was thinking that too!
Well, the Beatles ripped off Fleetwood Mac's Albatross with Sun King. The Beatles ripped off "Daydream" with "Good day Sunshine".
i would nominate Sowing the Seeds of Love by Tears for Fears which proudly captures that Magical Mystery Tour era Beatles sound.
The verse is very I am the Walrus, the chorus has echoes of Hello, Goodbye, and there’s even a cornet solo as a deliberate nod to Penny Lane.
What's more shocking is that you can tell the difference of Trumpet and cornet by ear... and I play cornet and I can't!!
I think Skylarking by XTC is one of the most Beatlesque albums of the 80s.
Midnight in a perfect world by dj shadow has the exact same chord progression as sowing the seeds of love. I believe the DJ shadow tune is a sample from an older track. I reckon T4F stole it from this track
The drums intro is tottaly I Am The Walrus.
I always say sowing the seeds of love is the best Beatles song not written by The Beatles.
Start! by the Jam always comes to mind when talking about 'Beatles-influenced' tracks - the bass and guitar riffs are pretty much exact copies of those found in Taxman
Think the Jam had to pay royalties for that, if I remember correctly.
@@lofi-guy I think Harrison was so bruised by his own copyright case that he said he didn't hear any similarities to Start, or something similar. As he thought the whole thing was toxic.
Paul Weller even says so.. On one of their live albums as they start the song he introduces it as "Beatles..."
I always thought “Mr. Blue Sky” was really, really similar to the second part of “A day in the life”. They even copied the heavy breathing after the line “and looking up I noticed I was late”
ELO loved the Beatles and is probably one of the most directly Beatles-inspired groups of all time. Jeff Lynne was friends with George and produced Anthology in the 90s. The Diary of Horace Wimp sounds so much like a Beatles song it's hard to believe it's not. The recurring chorus bit "Horace Wimp, this is your life, Go out and find yourself a wife (come on, Horace), Make a stand and be a man" sounds a lot like end of Dear Prudence "The wind is low, the birds will sing, That you are part of everything" in a similar rhythm. But apart from that the storytelling and whimsy of the song sounds so much like a 1967/68 era Beatles song. Most of ELO's stuff you can see Beatles influence tho, just in their use of strings combined with their high energy rock. But they make it their own for sure
Yes. Also the chords are incredibly similar to the ones used for Yesterday and the sentiment is identical to Here Comes the Sun. It does irk me slightly that he didn't give any of the Beatles any songwriting credit for that song, given that the combination of influences from different Beatles songs have to be deliberate
It's not uncommon. Pretty much any era you'll find a lot of groups converging on similar ideas, similar progressions, similar styles, and similar studio techniques. It's often nothing more than a combination of cross-fertilisation from listening to each other, shared producers, shared engineers, shared studios, and the same new technology becoming available to everyone at much the same time.
Mr. Blue sky= Martha my dear
The Offspring song also works if you alternate lyrics between songs: 'Desmond has a barrow in the market place/he tells me every day/Desmond says to Molly girl I like your face/in the worst kind of way' 'She sits on her ass he works his hands to the bone/buys a 20 carot golden ring/but she wants more deniro just stay at home/and when he gives it to her she begins to sing'
"more dinero"
My son first heard Why don’t You Get a Job he thought it was a Weird Al parody.
I can see that... sort of.
The beat in Let Forever Be by Chemical Brothers, a straight rip from Tomorrow Never Knows. Incidentally, it also features a certain singer...
Different drum beat; not a rip. Bassline does the hopskip, though.
Yeah, Setting Sun is very similar too. Shows a lack of imagination.
imo the end of 'She's Electric' to me sounds more like a deliberate callback/reference than attempt at plagarism. The song wouldn't sound that different without it but it makes you go notice
Yeah it’s a clever reference that wasn’t in the demo.
I'm surprised you didn't mention "What I Got" by Sublime (same melody as "Lady Madonna"). Also, I'm not that familiar with ELO's catalog, but they have some really obvious ones. For example, "Telephone Line" has a chorus extremely similar to "Hello Goodbye", and it also seems to contain similarities to a few other 60's/Beatles songs I can't always put my finger on.
I think of All the Young Dudes by Mott The Hoople (written by Bowie) everytime I hear Telephone Line
Yeah, "What I Got" was the first one I thought of. Not only does it have the same melody, but it uses the same I-IV chord progression (though "Lady Madonna" has a couple other chords at the end of the progression).
Agreed, that's the strongest likeness to a Beatles song I know of.
Wow I never noticed that
ELO lifted from the Beatles as much as Oasis did. I can't listen to 'Don't Bring Me Down' without hearing 'You can't Do That' by the Beatles.
The Tears for Fears song "Sowing the Seeds of Love" was stylistically an homage to The Beatles, but the chorus bass notes are identical to the chorus bass notes of Hello Goodbye.
Love this idea by the way. Good work!
The long outro from The Killing of Georgie by Rod Stewart is basically the chorus from Don't Let Me Down, Lennon himself acknowledged it but refrained from suing.
Yes it is and I remember hearing that the first time I played it back in 76.
It's not an outro it's part 2 of the song. Wise up kiddo.
She's electric by Oasis also barrows a bit of melody from The Kinks Wonderboy.
(For reference)
The 1 minute and 20 second mark of She's Electric
And
The 1 minute mark of Wonderboy
Wonderboy! what a tune
@@lofi-guy one of my favorites!
@@jorjorbinks8928 Great isn't it. Like many of the Kinks songs, it has a hint of ole music hall whimsy
Fascinating how so many artists were influenced by the Beatles! And they often include little easter eggs in their songs for acute listeners to find. Nice video, David!
Copy and paste
Look What You’ve Done by Jet is a strong nod to Sexy Sadie as well.
Also, Someone to Love by Fountains of Wayne is structured line for line and message-wise exactly like Eleanor Rigby.
Both are worth a listen!
Roll It Over by Oasis literally plays the final Come Together's riff in the middle of the song. It even harmonizes the voices in a pretty Beatlesque way...
Oasis usually have a tradition of including at least one joke/piss take song on each album during the 90's. That includes Digsy's Dinner, Bonehead's Bank Holiday, She's Electric and The Girl in the Dirty Shirt. So yes, they did that intentionally. Let's be honest, Oasis sounds nothing like the Beatles, but they are unashamedly inspired by them. Oasis is Oasis and The Beatles are the Beatles.
But with Oasis it isnt just Beatles songs that sound a lot like theirs. They even admitted in a 1997 interview that they stole from other artists and were also famously sued by Coca-Cola for one.
@@NmpK24 Yes, I know. You're missing my point. My point is Oasis always sounds like Oasis even when they lift someone else's parts. 😄For example, you immediately know it's Oasis just by hearing their trademark sound. The Beatles too. Even when Oasis sounds Beatlesque, they still sound like Oasis and vice versa.
These are my favourite videos you do. I think a great example you’ve missed so far is Coldplay’s ‘Adventure of a lifetime’, in the ending part that goes ‘If we’ve only got this life, An adventure oh then I’ It is the exact same melody and chord progression as the chorus of ‘It’s Only Love’ from the Help! album. I’d love to see it featured because it’s such a recent song and so massive as well.
Good on George for not taking Indus to task on that, given what happened to him with The Chiffons
It seems he did take them to task, in that he got a co-write credit and royalties, which is what he would have gotten with a successful lawsuit. And the Chiffons thing was really egregious.
Actually he got his revenge by buying the publishing, so he got the royalties for 'My sweet lord' back and the royalties for 'He's so fine' and the rest of the catalogue
She's Electric also rips the progression of Lithium by Nirvana, with the exact same rhythm. It really is a Frankenstein song.
Actually it’s ripping off the earlier Oasis song Married With Children, which in turn ripped off Lithium 😏
there is so many songs and so few chord progressions, i'd me more suprised if no one had ever used those chords before
Oasis also directly ripped off the lyrics from the theme tune to a kid's UK TV Show in the 80's called You and Me.
Lyrics from the show -
You and me, me and you
Lots and lots for you to do
Lots and lots for you to see
Me and you, you and me
@@georgewhite1972 I'm pretty sure it was subconscious but yeah
@@georgewhite1972 Liams got a version of that song.
It’s called Me and Me.
One of my favorite Beatles reference in a song is from "Volcano Girls" by Veruca Salt.
The bridge towards the end is a direct reference to the Beatles "Glass Onion."
On an album called Eight Arms to Hold You, no less.
Deep Purple's first hit, Hush, is based on a melody lifted verbatim from A Day in the Life (the transition from McCartney's part to the last verse, but sped up).
Yes, YES, Deep Purple version is a cover though.
@@jeromesnail And the original is still a few months post Sgt. Pepper.
Hush was originally written and recorded by Joe South.
@@lionheartroar3104 And released Sept. 1967. A Day in a Life was released in May 1967.
@@whycantiremainanonymous8091 Fot years i thought it was a DP original. Jokes on me. Then again, it wasn't unusual for the early Brit bands to cut their teeth on American music .Beatles. Who, Stones. Yardbirds,Animals Searchers and so nany more covered rock, r&b, blues Motown, country etc. during their nascent years.
When I first read the title the song that jumped into my head was Start by the Jam. Go on, have a listen and tell me what Beatles song jumps out at you. Different melody line, different lyrics but undeniably the same song. Even the tone of the guitar in the guitar solo.
Taxman
@@alesildan Totally -- though George would have had cajones to call that out given that he clearly took the Taxman chorus from the TV Batman Theme, which premiered a month before George wrote the song.
Went to listen. ONE BAR and I nailed it. Geeze.
Damn! Even the bloody solo is the same!
I have to mention a song by The New Kids On The Block called "Tonight", has a lot of references to Beatles tunes. I really like the song and I am also a Beatles fan.
"In the deep" by Adele has similarities to "Lady Madonna", every time I listen to Adele's song I begin to sing "Lady Madonna" lyrics.
The piano at the start of "Mr Blue Sky" is very similar to the piano at the start of Paul's bit in "A Day In The Life" and there's even the same rhythmic panting after the line "Running down the avenue" as there is after the line "And looking up, I noticed I was late".
From the little I know about ELO, Jeff Lyne loved the sonority and style of late Beatles albums, and wanted to continue exploring what the Beatles contributed to music.
“She’s Electric” is a banger tho you gotta admit
It's a very fun, very silly song. I wish Oasis had more of those. Reminds me of The Pillows.
@@aldeayeah I’d recommend Bonehead’s Bank Holiday, great joke song
The Rutles were really fantastic! Get up and go is much better than Get back!
Those were certainly not accidental or subconscious, since the Rutles are a parody work.
Yes. Every Rutles song has multiple references to Beatle songs, which makes them a joy to listen to. IIRC, Get Up and Go was the one that George (who was involved with the project from the start) warned them about being careful with because it was a little too close and might have the corporates go after them.
@@vib80 I had heard it was John, but yeah.
@@sourisvoleur4854 Yeah, it could have been John. Paul was the only one that didn't care for it at first, but came around because Linda liked it and he found out Eric Idle grew up across the river from Liverpool in Wallasey.
@@sourisvoleur4854 I thought I recalled that John said that Ouch was the one that was a bit too close for comfort (to Help, of course).
Got another one for you, Oasis's 'whatever' opening violins and the Beatles 'strawberry fields forever' opening.
On #1, it even has the panting too! ("Running down the avenue..." vs "... and looking up, I noticed I was late...")
Slightly off topic, but I couldn't help but notice in the Pianote ad, that they used the bit of Baroque-like keyboard bridge from In My Life as an example, speeding it up or slowing it down as one might want. As David well knows, George Martin himself had a bit of a problem playing that part fast enough and ended up using a sped up version of it on the recording. I couldn't help but think how he would have loved this kind of instant feature back then. Considering what he did back then with four and eight track technology, I can't imagine what he might have been able to do if today's tech had been available then.
FYI, that technology is called Soundslice, and it's available for anybody to use for free (though there's a paid version as well).
Talking about similar lyrics, I always liked the part "It's time to spread our wings and fly, don't let another day go by, my love" from Just Like (Starting Over) of John Lennon ❤❤ I dunno if the wings/another day/my love was deliberate but I would find it hard to believe he didn't notice it.
I think it was deliberate, especially since they're all in the same verse
@@olihhayes I think so too!
Totally original and never before mentioned similarity, but Mr. Blue Sky by ELO quotes the Beatles a couple times.
1. The opening with the quick upbeat piano stabs and the narrator joyfully recalling how he woke up in the morning is straight out of the McCartney Bridge from a Day in the Life
2. The fire hydrant percussion is very reminiscent of Penny Lane
3. And the orchestral outro is very reminiscent of George Martins orchestral arrangement on Good Night from the end of the White Album
4. This one is kind of a stretch but the whole idea of the sun finally coming after days of pouring rain is very reminiscent of Here Comes the Sun. Although this is definetly just a coincidence, and probably happened because Jeff Lynne and George Harrison both live in England, the country where the sky being clear is a special occasion.
Apparently Jeff was in a soggy Switzerland when the sun came out and inspired him
You forgot the Sugarloaf song from 1974 “ don’t call us we’ll call you,“ which uses the chords from “I feel fine.”
Although to be fair that was 100% intentional and they even announced it by saying "Sounds like John Paul and George" right before it.
You missed out Jeff Lynne's entire back catalogue of copying The Beatles.
Kasabian's "Put your life on it" shows striking similarities to John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance".
One song that comes to mind when referencing the Beatles I always hear the song eternal flame by the bangles as a great reference to the Beatles especially when you get to the bridge of the song where she sings say my name sunshine through the rain my whole life which sounds exactly like the Beatles classic here there and everywhere from revolver especially during George Harrison‘s guitar part. The whole song eternal flame sounds exactly like the Beatles here there and everywhere.
Don't forget the "Worldwide Privacy Tour"... South Park paying tribute to Magical Mystery Tour 😆
I actually think that was a really funny parody, they probably didn’t mean to parody that song but in the end they kinda did.
I always thought Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra sounded like the Beatles style.
You probably know this and maybe mentioned it in a video already but Shakermaker directly lifts the chords and structure of Flying by the Beatles. Supposedly, anyway. I mean it kinda does but it’s also just a standard 12 bar blues.
It’s also funny because Noel only said that after people pointed out it rips off I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing, and he says INSTEAD it’s Flying. So I guess it’s both 😂😂
Oasis were brazen robbers of Beatles songs. The worst thing is Liam and Noel's ego became so bloated they actually thought they WERE the Beatles.
Either that or the plentiful amount of drugs they took, lol
Definitely George Harrison's When We Was Fab :) I just love that song ❤
So you're saying a Beatle ripped off The Beatles?
Sounds fun.
@@Vloodzy I hope he sued himself 😁
@@PlanetoftheDeaf it is suspiciously Beatle-esque! Sting nearly sued himself! someone from his label heard him singing on the Dire Straits track where he quotes his own melody from Don't stand so close to me, and not realising it was in fact Sting on the track, started legal proceedings until someone clued him in.
@@MobiusBandwidth John Fogarty is the only artist I'm aware of that was sued for sounding too much like himself. (Old man down the road vs Run Through the Jungle).
Both are obviously Paul songs, but the guitar riff in Paperback Writer is a sped up version of the beginning of Got To Get You Into My Life. Also, John's Mr. Kite melody lifts heavily from his other song It's Only Love.
"Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite" is a Lennon composed song, not Paul.
@@secularZoo I'm aware, I meant "both" as in Paperback Writer and Got To Get You Into My Life. I edited it to avoid any more confusion.
Sowing The Seeds Of Love by Tears For Fears is often referred as a mix between All You Need Is Love and I Am The Walrus.
6:40 Bad Religion has done this as least one more time, in the song Anesthesia.
In the end of the chorus they sing “1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 all good children goes to heaven” just like in the Beatles song “You never give me your money”.
Maybe that’s a classic phrase or something, but since they have already quoted The Beatles on the record that came out only one year earlier I thought that it might be another Beatles quote.
I haven’t seen anyone else mentioning this online so maybe I’m just reading too much in to this haha.
Hi - I've just discovered you while trying to look for something on the intros to Jungle Boogie and Brooklyn 99 - I've had a scroll through but don't know the technical term for it - what would you recommend? Also, my son is v into Bad Sounds - they have a song called Couldn't Give It Away which uses a beat of completely blank space - are there other pieces that use this?
Jet uses Sexy Sadie's lyrics in the chorus of Look What You've Done. The bass riffs are McCartneyesque, and even the drum fills are right out of Ringo's playbook. It is careful not to be a direct rip-off, so the melody might be safe, but the influences are worn right on the sleeve of Jet's homage.
Came here to mention this song
I mean, it borrows everything from Sexy Sadie. It's practically a direct rip-off lol.
Yes, that Jet's song is a completely rip off of Sexy Sadie.... They also did a rip off from Lust for Love of Iggy Pop.. i don't recall the Jet's song but a totally ripoff
@@EzequielGarcia-fd3bg Are You Gonna Be My Girl? Right?
@@85geoffm exactly ! What a rip-off!
I would go for the intro piano chords of "Size of a cow" by The Wonder stuff. Exact copy of the ones used frequently during Octopus's garden on Abbey Road. The brief parts leading into each chorus
Octopus’s Garden is from Abbey Road.
This is going to sound strange, but your US followers may have noticed that the theme song to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered news program is identical to the “say it loud so I can hear you” bit from “I Will”.
Wait... are you saying "All Things Considered" might have pulled from I Will? I've listened to NPR, but this was mostly for Car Talk. Never remember hearing the ATC theme before!
Edit: before it changes into its own thing, it's so obvious!
It should be noted that the Beatles made their start by “ripping off” all the songs they heard growing up being sung in pubs and bars they frequented. They then went to the USA and did the same for their rock ‘n roll. Not trying to knock them, but highly relevant points for a post like this.
I was waiting for Jet's 'Look What You've Done'. It IS basically 'Sexy Sadie', musically, lyrically and arrangement-wise.
Yeah, this is the first one that came to mind for me. Was surprised when it wasn't mentioned when he talked about Sexy Sadie.
@Topher714 I'm amazed that the song ever left the studio. If I'd been in on the sessions I would've said "Hey guys, you realise that you're basically imitating a Beatles song."
Seriously. The other ones require some musical analysis of scales and contours and chord progressions... This one is the equivalent of copying someone else's homework and just rearranging a few of the sentences.
Morrissey's song 'How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel' uses both the chord sequence of 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' and a snippet of the melody from 'Here Comes The Sun'.
Only saw one other commenter mention Volcano Girls by Veruca Salt, so I'll second that. Very clear nod to Glass Onion.
I'll also mention that the melody of the Silvio Rodriguez classic Quién Fuera is similar (but shifted down a few notes) to the opening melody of Please, Please Me ("Last night I said these words to my girl").
Motley Crue, of all bands, used the same exact harmonies as She's So Heavy for a track on Dr. Feelgood. Also they sing it for several minutes as well. To their credit, they harmonized well.
I want a part 2 already lmao
No mention of “Taxman” and “Start” by The Jam!!!
On the topic of Sexy Sadie, Miracle Musical uses it twice, on Introduction to the Snow and Dream Sweet in Sea Major
Sufjan Stevens has a song called "Dear Mr. Super Computer" where he's clearly referencing the Beatles when he says "1 2 3 4 5 6 7, all computers go to heaven"
West Coast by Lana del Rey has the And I Love Her riff, and it suit it pretty good
I don't think it "rips off the song" more than naturally they were probably inspired by these tunes. I like the differences in the use of harmony and melody for these songs. I think of it as you're giving a thanks to the Beatles as well.
The guitar riff on The Cars song "My Best Friend's Girlfriend" is almost identical to that on "I Will".
Incredibly late here but there’s a South Korean band I really like, Jannabi, who are inspired by the Beatles, and one of the songs from their latest album (titled The Ballad of Non Le John) literally shouts out the Beatles by name, includes an old John Lennon interview quote, and has a stacked vocal build-up and vocal line that directly quotes at least two Beatles songs. They’ve also covered multiple Beatles songs in concert, and, in a long-form interview on the process behind that particular track, the frontman said he deliberately made it as Beatles-esque as he could. It’s pretty cool.
Don't forget the intro to Don't Look Back in Anger, which is Imagine before it diverts into an actual song. That's an homage that I can respect. Radiohead gets a pass because it's subtle. Even if they directly took the chord progression, I don't see any problem with that because they made it very different.
The Offspring song is so obviously ripped off. That was a song from my childhood so I heard it before the original, but when I eventually heard the original it was obvious. I bet that several lawyers tried to raise the issue with Paul and Yoko hoping to make some money, but they clearly refused.
The bass lines of Gorillaz's first album pays homage to Flying from the Magical Mystery Tour.
I never thought my favourite band of all time, Bad Religion, would feature in a David Bennett video!
I've detected quite a Beatles influence in Robbie Williams' I've been expecting you album, particularly in Strong and She's the one, but I haven't decided from which Beatles songs in specific, I will give them a listen at some point and be back!
What I Got by Sublime basically starts as a Lady Madonna cover
Of course Oasis takes the title of "Most Beetlesque Big Name Act," but my favorite Beetlesque band is Semisonic. "Feeling Strangely Fine" is such a great album, I think it would be a good idea for Mr. Bennett to go through some of the songs on that album and identify what makes them Beetlesque. Although I realize I'm rather on the fringe with that opinion.
Another band that often wore its Beatles influence on their sleeves is the sadly neglected but excellent XTC.
Paseando por Roma by the Argentinian band Soda Stereo borrows from Taxman and Got To Get You Into My Life and openly acknowledged it. There are YT videos from Tehran, Tashkent, Tokyo touting Beatles covers. You can't escape the Beatles. They got us into their life and have graciously agreed to never leave.
Start by The Jam and Taxman by The Beatles
All of these feel very much like what I'd call "quoting" the earlier works in question.
It's also very surprising to me to see they're almost all exactly thirty years apart.
So, the first day I heard Karma Police in 97, it immediately reminded me of Sexy Sadie. I remember mentioning it to my brother as we were watching the RH video, and he agreed. I am surprised it wasn't obvious to you, my friend. Anyway, great video as usual.
To top it all off, Julian Lennon covered this same song a couple of years ago
@@prettyshinyspaghetti8332 he stole it back! XD half kidding. it's clearly a loving homage to the Beatles.
XTC’s Earn Enough for Us has a very similar ending to We Can Work It Out.
Just found your comment -- I said the same thing. This is immediately preceded by a trick used at the end of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand".
I have one for you, Radioheads 'wolf at the door' and the Beatles 'because' exact same opening melody.
Not rip-off's, but definitely heavily influenced by The Beatles - Bourgeois Tagg's "I Don't Mind at All" and Billy Joel's "Laura". Both fantastic songs.
'She's Always a Woman' by Billy Joel is the most Paul McCartney song Paul McCartney never wrote. lol Not a rip off though.
The Who - The Kids are Alright has a similar section to The Beatles's All My loving (that borrows a small phrase from Dave Brubeck - Kathy 's Waltz)
Woah, I never knew abt the borrowing from "Kathy's Waltz" that's really neat
Talking of Dave Brubeck lifts, Golden Brown by The Stranglers & Take Five. I still love Golden brown all the same though.
Noel Gallagher made a Drum and bass song with Goldie and even that just uses the drum from Tomorrow Never Knows.
Quotations are fun but more interesting to pick out basic sounds, introduced by The Beatles & now taken for granted. Example, "Axis chords" first had an enduring smash hit (after 2-3 minor forgotten hits) with _Let It Be_ . Or, _Hey Jude_ "piano-feel" is everywhere, recognizable even when chords are far different, as in Coldplay _The Scientist_ . Or any song saying "Yeah Yeah Yeah" - there's a gazillion.
Thought of more. _Tomorrow Never Knows_ - first use of sampling, in pop music. And maybe first I -VII - I chord loop? _Rain_ - first pop use of backwards tapes. _Paperback Writer_ - first "psychedelic" vocal manipulation. _Yesterday_ - first use of string quartet & neo-classical in pop, or was there something earlier? _Revolver_ album - first use of ADT. _Helter Skelter_ - first Heavy Metal track.
I dont think anything on this list is outright plagiarism, but the piano on Karma Police was always immediately identifiable as nearly identical to Sexy Sadie to me, so you not noticing it until it was later pointed out just doesnt seem right. It doesn't sound like something you would accidentally miss.
So David is... lying?
😂 I can confirm that what I said in the video is true, I never noticed a similarity between Karma Police and Sexy Sadie prior to RUclips commenters pointing it out
What a weird thing to say.
I certainly didn’t notice it. And if David says he didn’t notice it, he obviously didn’t notice it. Weird thing to comment on.
@@Zveebo It is blatantly obvious. Radiohead is not above lifting ideas
Oasis’ “The importance of being idle” is a mix between “I’m only sleeping” and “Mr. Kite”
There's a moment in the bridge of "Mother Superior" (by Coheed & Cambria) where Claudio sings "frightened of leaving" that always evokes "I Me Mine", where George sings the same phrase in a very similar cadence.
Don't forget that Paul McCartney's "New" song from 2013 is basically the sequel to "Penny Lane". And "Tonight" by New Kids On The Block is very Beatlesque, with a "Lady Madonna" riff in the middle.
Never realised the former
The New Kids’ “Tonight” is definitely Penny Lane-like. It even has the piccolo trumpet in it.
@@vickielawson3114 Also, "Sowing the Seeds of Love" by Tears for Fears combines elements of "Penny Lane" (trumpet solo), "I am the Walrus" and "Hello Goodbye."
She's electric is a completely different song to while my guitar gently weeps. Totally different tempo and style. In fact I would consider it a touch of genius by NG to turn a slow downbeat beatles song into an upbeat happy tune.
Yeah I don't get people who hate on him for this, he nicks a few riffs and melodies and turns them into new tunes
Noel (quote from 1995): "You see, what you do is find your favourite record, put it on, work out what the chords are, move it up two keys, switch all the chords around, knick somebody else's lyrics, if they're preferably dead then they can't sue you, throw a few of your own in, put written by Noel Gallagher and sit back and just hope that nobody sues you...
It's worked so far!"
@@HearszAM OK if its that easy why don't you do it????
@@HearszAM ‘switch all the chords around’ so write a completely different song you mean? 🤡
@@owenstunes5804 Exactly!
The pre-chorus of the Pointer Sisters song "Neutron Dance" sounds very similar to the bridge section ("well, my heart went boom") of "I Saw Her Standing There."
I don't think that obvious "ripping off" is a real problem in today's music. It is more the "composing in the style of ..." Classic composers did that openly declared, so there can't be any objections about it. But today, it is possible to get such compositions by Artificial Intelligence - and I suspect that this is done quite often in the soundtrack of commercials (without declaration, of course). At least, it happens quite frequently that I am thinking: "That reminds me strongly of the song ..." - but it isn't that song: Different melody, different chord sequences, but still a striking similarity. No judge would ever confirm a plagiarism! So it is a clever, but nasty means of avoiding the payment of royalties.
Luckily, there are also commercials that use classic pop or rock songs openly declared - let's hope that the future is theirs!
I've got one.
It will never qualify as plagiarism. But, it annoys me.
As a '70s teenager, I was listening to the Beatles (if not on record, then in my head) non-stop. And whenever I was listening to "Old Brown Shoe", I always heard the lyric as "blah blah blah blah, some day, Lady, you'll accomp'ny me".
I later learned that the line was "Someday, maybe, you will comfort me.".
Then, some time later, I heard Bob Seager singing "Someday, Lady, you'll accomp'ny me."
Immediately I knew exactly what'd happened. Bob Seager, that rat bastard, stole my misheard lyric!!!
That is no joke. Bob Seager totally stole that mis-heard line. (I know he did because that's exactly what I would have done.)
The Offspring also owes a nod to Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia"
I hear more 'Ceclia' than 'O-Bla-Di...'
How did you not mention Jet’s “Look What You’ve Done”, with similar sound and lyrics as “Sexy Sadie” and similar sound of “Imagine”?
“Champagne Supernova” and “Dear Prudence”
Decades ahead of their time, the greatest composing, song writing and singer group of all time. 4 lads from Liverpool
Technically not the Beatles, but Oasis's "Don't Look Back In Anger" is just John Lennon's "Imagine" with a few extra notes.
It's really not, except for the intro.
-What I Got by Sublime - Lady Madonna, damn near same melody over the I-IV progression.
-Plastic Jim by Sly and the Family Stone has kind of a quote of Eleanor Rigby
-Shape of You - Ed Sheeran the main hook is the same lick as The Beatles From Me To You, totally different songs and progressions, not saying its plagiarism but that lick is the same.
-Oops I Did It Again by Britney Spears, melody to the chorus is quite similar to Bungalow Bill of all things, not the same but similar contour.
Dexter Holland was more worried about it sounding like “Cecilia” than “Life Goes On”
Girl Don't Tell Me by the Beach Boys is very similar to Ticket to Ride, especially its guitar breaks and drum fills, as well as the chorus being "Girl don't tell me you'll wri-i-ite", which is the same as "she's got a ticket to ri-i-ide", but with different lyrics. Of course, both bands were taking from each other around this time and Wilson openly admitted it in this song.
Sure. But there's a world of difference between a band who are genuinely novel and talented in their own right (exhibit A: God Only Knows) paying an occasional moment of homage vs a pair of brothers from Manchester whose *entire back catalogue* lifts from the fab four in one way or another.
@@palpytine Definitely. I lost respect for Noel when he said Brian was overrated and that so was Pet Sounds.
Baby Britain by Elliott Smith is absolutely packed with Beatles references, deliberately of course. Most notably the middle section with "You've got a look in your eye..."
Song has a 'its getting better' vibe to it, love it!
@DavidBennettPiano Have you heard the DR DOG song “Nellie”? Very strong “Don’t Let Me Down” influence. You can hear the Beatles all over that band. In a good way.
Hi David, check out the ending of Coldplay's Adventure of a Lifetime. It's very similar to It's Only Love by the Beatles!