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From rock anthems to pop hits, some of music's biggest songs share suspicious similarities with earlier tracks. Join us as we explore cases where legal battles and controversies actually helped revive interest in the original songs, leading to unexpected comebacks and renewed appreciation.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at more songs whose suspicious similarities
00:10to another renewed interest in the original hit.
00:18Number 10. Creep by Radiohead, the air that I breathe by the Hollies. Even if it's not
00:25immediately recognizable, Radiohead were surely influenced by British rock legends like the
00:30Hollies. Well, this was recognized by the publishers of the air that I breathe.
00:40Legal action forced Radiohead to admit that their breakout hit Creep
00:44lifted its chord progression from the Hollies' classic ballad.
00:55Pop rock songwriters Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood were thus given credits on this
01:01morose grunge anthem, though the air that I breathe has always been a radio staple.
01:07The copyright incident gave it its second wind with listeners in the 90s.
01:19Meanwhile, Radiohead emerged from their humiliating confession
01:23to become one of the most original rock bands of the modern era.
01:30Number 9. Dark Horse by Katy Perry, Joyful Noise by Flame.
01:36It turns out edgy pop icon Katy Perry didn't completely leave Christian music behind after
01:42her debut album. It was within that scene that rapper Flame scored a niche hit with Joyful Noise.
01:55Your boy's been a Christian quite a few years. Victory in faith, but I failed in my fears.
02:02Five years later, he sued Perry with claims that her platinum single Dark Horse plagiarized his
02:07melody. The witchcraft themes and sexual undertones further insulted Flame's Christian artistry.
02:13With this scandal, Joyful Noise wound up being a Dark Horse among mainstream listeners.
02:17The jury ruled that Perry's song was a copy in 2019, but the verdict was overturned by two
02:30appeal cases. Still, Dark Horse is forever cursed to remind both Christian music fans and pop audiences
02:38of Joyful Noise.
02:46Number 8. My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, He's So Fine by The Chiffons.
02:52There was a time when everyone was humming along to the chiffon's chart topper, He's So Fine.
03:04It was evidently still stuck in George Harrison's head seven years later. He claimed that My Sweet
03:09Lord, an also infectious tribute to Krishna and greater religious reconciliation, was inspired by
03:16the gospel hymn, O Happy Day. But a copyright suit found that the Chiffons had enough unconscious
03:29influence to be entitled to damages. It was a landmark moment in music law that elevated He's So Fine
03:35from a golden oldie favorite to a timeless gem. That said, the Chiffons covering My Sweet Lord for
03:48more profit kind of validated Harrison's copyright satire, this song.
03:57Number 7. Photograph by Ed Sheeran. Amazing by Matt Cardle. The hype for X Factor winner Matt
04:04Cardle's debut album had died down by the time Amazing was released as a single.
04:08I had to look inside this fragile heart of mine. Ed Sheeran's photograph got a lot more attention,
04:16but not just for its success. You know it can get hard sometimes. Amazing songwriters Martin
04:24Harrington and Tom Leonard accused Sheeran with claims that he extensively plagiarized their somber
04:29love ballad. How did you find me? One can indeed hear a strong case in the song's tempo and theme,
04:39but Cardle distanced himself from the legal drama, expressing his fandom of Sheeran without directly
04:44addressing their song's similarities. The case was quietly settled out of court, with the real victory
04:50being renewed interest in Amazing. It turns out that Sheeran was the would-be hit's unlikely savior.
04:56I won't ever let you go. Wait for me to come home.
05:04Number 6. Viva La Vida by Coldplay, Barrius. Life was imitating art when Coldplay ruled the
05:10music world with a powerhouse art rock anthem. I used to rule the world, the seas would rise when I
05:18gave the wood. Unfortunately, they also faced the harder parts of power described in Viva La Vida,
05:25the band Creaky Boards accused Chris Martin of plagiarizing the songs they didn't write
05:30after hearing it performed live. They ultimately admitted that both songs were likely inspired by
05:42the legend of Zelda. Guitarist Joe Satriani, on the other hand, took legal action with regard to
05:48If I Could Fly. Before this case was dismissed, Yusuf slash Kat Stevens compared Viva La Vida,
06:02the foreigner suite. Martin brushed off these many supposed coincidences because they kept Coldplay's
06:11Grammy-winning opus in the spotlight. Certainly, the controversies lifted the stature of similar songs.
06:24Number 5. Lucid Dreams by Juice WRLD. Shape of My Heart by Sting. The initial commercial
06:31disappointment of Shape of My Heart held nothing for its praise from Sting fans. Though it has since
06:42been sampled on many tracks, it was the interpolation in Juice WRLD's lucid dreams that brought it back to
06:48the spotlight. The emo rap track was so melodically similar that Sting was given a substantial percentage
07:00of the rights to it. He also expressed in an interview that it was his favorite interpretation
07:05of Shape of My Heart. This bolstered both songs' popularity, as did tragedy. Juice WRLD died at age 21,
07:18the year after his breakout hits release. But he leaves behind his own classic to sustain another
07:24for generations to come. Number 4. Stay With Me by Sam Smith. I Won't Back Down by Tom
07:35Petty. There must be great power in Tom Petty's reserved multi-platinum hit, I Won't Back Down.
07:48A similar melody in Sam Smith's Stay With Me sure struck audiences in 2014.
07:58But just before it won the top Grammys, Petty and Jeff Lynne were granted songwriting credits.
08:03The legal settlement sparked widespread scrutiny of Smith's track and a resurgence in Petty's.
08:15Petty said this was a move by his publishers, as he didn't believe Stay With Me
08:20was deliberate plagiarism. Smith, who was just one of three writers of the song,
08:25claimed to not have been aware of I Won't Back Down before this episode. That defense may no longer
08:30stand now that Petty's classic rock staple is here to stay with modern audiences.
08:41Number 3. Flowers by Miley Cyrus. When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars.
08:46As far as typical breakup ballad themes, When I Was Your Man and Flowers represent two sides
08:52of the same coin. Miley Cyrus' empowering number came to heartbreak after all in 2024,
09:06when she was sued by Tempo Music Investments for copyright infringement. The company owns a portion
09:11of Bruno Mars' one-time hit, When I Was Your Man, whose melodic and lyrical hooks are admittedly very
09:17flowers. Same there but it feels just a little bit bigger now. Those are just the two most prominent
09:26parallels that have brought Mars' song back into public discussion. But Mars and his co-songwriters
09:31are not part of the legal discussion. Whether the popular resurgence
09:42is sufficient compensation for Tempo Music, it's entirely possible that Cyrus leaned on one man
09:48for flowers. Number 2. Born This Way by Lady Gaga. Express Yourself by Madonna. Countless were inspired
10:03by Madonna's gold-certified Express Yourself going into the 1990s. Ironically,
10:14she may have inspired Lady Gaga a bit too much when she delivered the definitive anthem of
10:20self-expression for the 2010s. Aside from the similarly empowering lyrics, Born This Way has many
10:34melodic similarities with Express Yourself. Madonna and Lady Gaga,
10:44have both acknowledged this, but true to their theme, they've extended only mutual support.
10:50It doesn't hurt that the massive success of Gaga's single renewed interest in the original
10:54Queen of Pop. Born This Way may not completely live up to its message about being a true original,
11:00but it will definitely inspire fans to recognize the trailblazers before.
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11:221. Roar by Katy Perry
11:27Brave by Sara Bareilles
11:29The catchy and empowering Brave was instantly another solid hit for Sara Bareilles,
11:40but its ascension from there was largely on the controversy surrounding Katy Perry's Roar.
11:45Released just four months later, the single was accused of blatantly ripping off Bareilles' melody
11:51and message. This prompted co-producer Dr. Luke to report that Roar was in fact recorded before
12:00Brave came out. In any case, Bareilles' song was boosted to mainstream radio and became her signature
12:06song. In a further show of good faith, she once joined Perry and other pop
12:15stars in performing Roar live. Bareilles ultimately believes in promoting positive art,
12:20no matter what. It was just a bonus when NetArt suspiciously promoted her own.
12:31What are some other songs that put you in a strange mood to hear someone else's?
12:35Name those tunes in the comments.
12:39You held me down, but I got up.
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