Is this because there is no overlap?
Sometimes you hear something that sounds a hell of a lot like something else. I read over breakfast the other day that George Harris*n was taken to court because "My Sweet L*rd" sounded too much like "He's So Fine" -- and that must have sucked for George.
There are any number of known examples of this. You're already thinking of some. Both of those songs were hugely popular and part of the collective consciousness for several generations. That explains why Georgy got in trouble.
Here I am, sitting at my desk listening to a Can CD I got at the library yesterday thinking, "Oh, so this is where Shaun Ryder got his singing style." And then I looked at the name of the song, which was "Halleluwah" and I listened some more. If you put The Happy Mondays "Hallelujah" on top of Can's "Halleluwah" you might not even notice that there were two songs playing, except there would be Shaun Ryder bleating in the far distance.
Now, it's not a cover -- the composer of "Hallelujah" is listed as Happy Mondays in the All Music Guide. In fact, Can isn't mentioned in AMG's review of the Hallelujah EP at all. AMG is supposed to be a good resource, and while I know that it's not perfect, what the fuck? It's also not mentioned on Amazon.com's listing for the Hallelujah EP. There must be someone out there somewhere who has made this connection -- but I can't find it. This is the only time I could find the two songs mentioned in the same sentence. (Thank you, Stylus magazine)
Surely there's someone out there who can prove me wrong, but my point is this -- why are some artists lambasted for aping their predecessors (Pavement, Elastica anyone?) while others get away with wholesale theft? Is it simply a factor of two artists overlapping (or not) in the collective critical brain?
Because, seriously -- this shit is ridiculous. I'm not saying one is better than the other, I'm just wondering why there's hardly reference to their similarity? Is it because it's useless to say that they aped Can because everyone aped Can?
I'm not saying I'm so astute or anything, because I ain't, I just sort of thought that someone at the "all music guide" would have noticed this before I did.
There are any number of known examples of this. You're already thinking of some. Both of those songs were hugely popular and part of the collective consciousness for several generations. That explains why Georgy got in trouble.
Here I am, sitting at my desk listening to a Can CD I got at the library yesterday thinking, "Oh, so this is where Shaun Ryder got his singing style." And then I looked at the name of the song, which was "Halleluwah" and I listened some more. If you put The Happy Mondays "Hallelujah" on top of Can's "Halleluwah" you might not even notice that there were two songs playing, except there would be Shaun Ryder bleating in the far distance.
Now, it's not a cover -- the composer of "Hallelujah" is listed as Happy Mondays in the All Music Guide. In fact, Can isn't mentioned in AMG's review of the Hallelujah EP at all. AMG is supposed to be a good resource, and while I know that it's not perfect, what the fuck? It's also not mentioned on Amazon.com's listing for the Hallelujah EP. There must be someone out there somewhere who has made this connection -- but I can't find it. This is the only time I could find the two songs mentioned in the same sentence. (Thank you, Stylus magazine)
Surely there's someone out there who can prove me wrong, but my point is this -- why are some artists lambasted for aping their predecessors (Pavement, Elastica anyone?) while others get away with wholesale theft? Is it simply a factor of two artists overlapping (or not) in the collective critical brain?
Because, seriously -- this shit is ridiculous. I'm not saying one is better than the other, I'm just wondering why there's hardly reference to their similarity? Is it because it's useless to say that they aped Can because everyone aped Can?
I'm not saying I'm so astute or anything, because I ain't, I just sort of thought that someone at the "all music guide" would have noticed this before I did.
posted by Amandalucia at 1:53 PM
1 Comments:
...And in this same vein, as much as I love U2, I swear to my Dulli-signed Whigs picture that Bono totally aped A-HA's "The Sun Always Shines On TV" on "Beautiful Day" - and I'm the only person in the history of the world to hear it. I feel your pain.
Hallayluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuyuh, halayluyah, halayluyah...
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