2 replies to this topic

[ThePrancingPony]

Hi everyone!
This was making me think really much about what is the source of my observation. Actually I've been wondering and looking for an answer for a year now. Here's what it's all all about.
I'm a fan of John for about three years. Before I got to know his stuff I was enjoying pretty different kinds of music. One of my favourite bands back then was a polish band named "Dzem". In 1995 they released album called "Kilka zdartych płyt" which I would translate like "Some records that were played so many times that they are useless" (sorry for this long translation but one word used in original name is hard to translate). To the point: one of the song on this album has the identical guitar pattern as Away & Anywhere. Here are both songs:

http://oxygene1994.w...ko_wzielo_w_leb

I'm not a musician so I can't tell what are differences but it doesn't take a musician to hear that it's strangely similar. As John's song was released six years later it makes me consider who was first. Or maybe it's just someone's other song. Who is mentioned on credits then? Dzem's website says music was written by their guitarist Jerzy Styczynski. From this I would state that John was inspired by his riff but again - how is it possible that John got to know this music as it's almost unknown outside Poland.
Hope you can help with this one.

Greets.

[Iva]

Good song! But Away and Anywhere is definitely not plagiarising it, they just share chord progression. There are many examples of that, as well as songs sharing a single riff.

Some other examples...

John Frusciante - Invisible Movement (2001) and Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away (2005)
The beginning is almost identical, if you listen to them at the same time, the songs compliment each other perfectly. But Invisible Movement continues in a similar fashion, with its 80s style and Walk Away turns into an alternative rock song.





Shania Twain - Honey, I'm Home (1998) and Red Hot Chili Peppers - Can't Stop (2003)





At 00.40 into Twain's song, it's almost identical.

Yugoslavian/Serbian news programme jingle (1978-1993 and later on again) and Red Hot Chili Peppers - Monarchy Of Roses (2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjTpLWNQgg0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOgFHMEJMeY

The very beginning of Zoran Simjanović score is the same as what Anthony Kiedis scat-sings and the band plays at about 2.37.

And it happens with other arists, too...an example I thought of first.

Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993) and Babylon Zoo - Animal Army (1996)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLhpHjmxNw8



The riff during the verses in Babylon Zoo's song is almost identical to the one Lenny's song is known for.

[Fadeout]

I enjoyed the song as well even though I don't understand the language , thanks for sharing Szymon!

I think Iva hit it dead on, it's just a similar chord progression and similar timing. Although I wouldn't be surprised if John had heard this song prior to recording TROWFTD, I don't think there's deliberate plagiarizing happening here.

I find the topic fascinating and often wonder how our minds work when it comes to creating "original music".

From my own (very amateur & limited) musical experience, I've found that sometimes a riff or chord or rhythmic progression of a song I've heard before will find its way into a song or recording that I've made. It happens with no intention to steal or plagiarize or even a conscious thought about that particular song. Often times it is not until days/months/years later when I go back and listen again and say "hey, that sounds kinda like _____." I think maybe part of the creative subconscious uses bits and pieces of songs and tunes that we've encountered before to piece together something new and what we might think is "original" at the time. I don't know. But its certainly an interesting topic.

Some of these may have been discussed here before but I thought I'd follow Iva's lead and share a couple of songs with similarities that I've enjoyed:


Check out Cirrus Minor by Pink Floyd starting around the 2:30 mark. Very similar to the main progression in '23 Go Into End'.






Chicago's main riff from '25 or 6 to 4' and Led Zeppelin's 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You' around 2:25






The 4 chord progression from Radiohead's 'Idioteque' is a direct ripoff from Paul Lansky's 1970's track written with punch cards on an IBM mainframe called 'Mild Und Leise' (some interesting info on Lansky's site if you are interested)

Listen at about 40 seconds in.


RHCP - Dani California and Tom Petty's Mary Jane's Last Dance (the main verse) have also been accused of vast similarity and John pretty much ripped off of Jimi Hendrix 'Purple Haze' for the first part of the solo.

I guess my point is, that while some emulation may be a form of tribute, I don't think that it is always done deliberately. There are a finite number of chords/notes/time signatures and people are bound to duplicate them unintentionally from time to time.