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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