Songs That Influenced Classic Pop Hits

An angry George Harrison was found guilty in court for having plagiarised He’s So Fine by the Chiffons for My Sweet Lord, albeit subconsciously. The reason he lost was, once My Sweet Lord is put into the same key as He’s So Fine, the musical structure is identical.

But was this really plagiarism?

I’m with Harrison in that My Sweet Lord with its intro, riff and melody is a very different musical experience to He’s So Fine. The judge disagreed.

Another big musical plagiarism case included Chuck Berry who sued the Beach Boys for the similarity of Surfing USA to Sweet Little Sixteen.

It can be a minefield but it’s how it works: songwriters learn and develop from earlier music.

Songwriting

Songwriters have only twelve notes to play with in Western music and our scales use only seven of these. The notes are simply repeated at different pitches up the keyboard or frets.

It’s therefore impossible to be entirely original although clever songwriters, such as The Beatles, Burt Bacharach and Carole King, often use key or mode changes, unusual structures and rare chords to give a song variety and novelty.

However, all songwriters use ideas from previous artists and develop them into something else.

“Being a songwriter is about picking up the baton, holding it for a while and then passing it on.” — Paul McCartney, Lyrics.

Here are 8 classic hits as examples of how artists developed earlier songwriters’ ideas into new songs.

1. I Feel Fine — The Beatles

I Fell Fine was one of the biggest selling singles of the 1960s. In classic Beatles’ style, Lennon wrote the tune in an unusual mode for rock songs (G Mixolydian if you’re interested). The intro begins with an innovative feedback sound before Harrison kicks off the famous riff. We don’t get the home key of G until the vocal starts so we’re left in anticipation, even after hearing it hundreds of times.

This is an example of how great composers use clever techniques to give a sound and feel that’s different from the pack.

But it's the riff that drives the song and Lennon and McCartney made no secret of the fact they developed the riff from Watch Your Step by Bobby Parker.

Whilst the influence of the riff from Watch Your Step is clear on I Feel Fine, the way The Beatles developed it into something more complex is fascinating and what great songwriters do. Note also Parker's horn intro and how the Beatles morphed this into that innovative feedback sound.

This is a classic case of influence.

2. Albatross — Fleetwood Mac

Albatross is a guitar-based instrumental hit from 1968 by the original incarnation of Fleetwood Mac. The song was written by guitarist, Peter Green.

Green based the bass, beat and slide guitar sound on a 1959 instrumental called Sleep Walk by Santo and Johnny. The 1957 Chuck Berry instrumental, Deep Feeling, also has a similar bassline, beat and harmonic slide guitar sound so it’s likely he used this too.

It didn’t quite end there. The Beatles said they based the Abbey Road track, Sun King, on Albatross although they added a vocal melody building on the concept of developing an influence into something new.

A casebook study of how to earlier music influences songwriting.

3. Oh, Pretty Woman — Roy Orbison

Oh, Pretty Woman was Roy Orbison’s greatest hit, making №1 across Europe, the UK, the USA and Australia. It went gold in 1964 and became a hit all over again when it was used in the movie, Pretty Woman, in 1990.

One of the striking elements of the song is the guitar riff that introduces the song. It starts with a tease before getting into its stride.

Yet, the instantly recognisable Oh, Pretty Woman riff is very similar to that from the classic hit, Lucille by Little Richard from seven years earlier. Similar riff, different sound and brilliant songwriting development.

The songs are very different, it's just the influence from the riff that was used.

4. Last Nite— The Strokes

Last Nite was a major hit for The Strokes in 2001. The song uses the same musical structure and guitar riff as American Girl by Tom Petty from twenty-four years earlier. When interviewed by Rolling Stone in 2006, Petty said he wasn’t bothered.

Petty was so unconcerned, he invited The Strokes to tour with him. He was equally unconcerned with the similarities between Dani California from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and his song Mary Jane’s Last Dance.

“I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there,” Petty said, adding, “I don’t believe in lawsuits much.”

But were Last Nite and Dani California plagiarism or influence? Petty was unconcerned so it is an influence.

5. Don’t Look Back In Anger — Oasis

Oasis probably need an article to themselves regarding the songs that were influenced by earlier ones. The piano intro to Don’t Look Back in Anger is very similar to Imagine by John Lennon. It’s even the same chords, C and F.

The lead guitar break also sounds incredibly similar to the guitar break in Damaged by Primal Scream (2.40 and 4.14 in the video below). But remember, they only have twelve notes to play with, five if you use a pentatonic scale for a guitar break. These things happen. I guess.

Many Oasis fans further claim that Don’t Look Back In Anger was influenced by Sally Cinnamon from the Stone Roses. Noel Gallagher has admitted he loves the track and Sally even gets a mention in the chorus — “So Sally can wait…”

6. Viva La Vida — Coldplay

Viva La Vida reached №1 in both the UK and USA in 2008. It has the same standard musical structure repeated throughout the song. Chris Martin creates interest by simply singing the same melody at a higher octave at times.

Despite this, the song soon spurred accusations of plagiarism.

First out of the blocks were the US band, Creaky Boards. They claimed Coldplay had copied a track of theirs, appropriately called, The Songs I Didn’t Write. There are melodic similarities but Creaky Boards forgot there are only 12 notes to play with, 7 if you stay in one key which this song does. They eventually withdrew the accusation.

Just as Coldplay were breathing a sigh of relief, Joe Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit claiming the band had copied substantial portions of his track, If I Could Fly. The case was dismissed in court although there was apparently an out-of-court settlement.

Just as Coldplay were breathing another sigh of relief, Yusuf Islam formerly Cat Stevens, came forward to claim that everyone had stolen their songs from his Foreigner Suite.

The truth was probably uncovered by US music professor, Dr Lawrence Ferrara. He noted that all the songs are in fact structurally similar to Se Tu M’Ami written in 1736 and now out of copyright.

Everyone except Dr Ferrera forgot there are only so many notes to go around.

7. Can’t Help Falling In Love — Elvis Presley

Can’t Help Falling in Love was recorded for Elvis’s 1961 film, Blue Hawaii. The song reached platinum sales in the US and UK in 1962 and remains one of his most popular songs.

The song was based on the melody of Plaisir D’Amour, written by Jean-Paul Martini.

Although Plaisir D'Amour was made popular by Nana Mouskouri in 1971, it was written in 1784 so it was out of copyright. No plagiarism issues, it’s in the public domain. It's an influence.

8. Never Gonna Fall In Love With You - Eric Carmen

Don’t think because it’s classical music, it’s out of copyright. Also don't think that just because your country has certain copyright laws they are the same around the world.

Eric Carmen released Never Gonna Fall In Love Again in 1976 blatantly using the melody from Sergei Rachmaninov’s Symphony №2 in E minor, Op.27 (Adagio).

Rachmaninov only died in 1943 and his work was still in copyright at that time in many countries outside the USA. Whoops. Carmen was taken to court by the composer’s estate who gained a percentage of the sales royalties.

Musical Influence

Being influenced by another song is different from plagiarism. An artist can take a riff, a segment, an idea or a style and develop it into their own work. It's only when the influence becomes a direct copy of another's work that's still in copyright that the law considers it plagiarism.

An earlier version of this article first appeared on medium.com.