10 MORE Rip Off Songs You Forgot Were AWESOME

Top 10 MORE Rip-Off Songs You Forgot Were Awesome

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for another top-10 rip-off songs that you forgot were totally awesome.

#10: Its Now Or Never (1960)

Elvis Presley

Plagiarism was far more common in the 1950s and 1960s than it is now - not only because the lack of internet made it way harder to spot. Songs would borrow melodies from others, and crafty writers would pen versions of foreign hits to reproduce for their own countrys airwaves. Elvis Presleys legendary 1960 hit Its Now Or Never didnt try to hide the fact that it was influenced heavily by the Neapolitan song O Sole mio. Despite the attention that Elvis version received, its arguable that the original is far more historically relevant. Pretty much every tenor worth his salt in the last 130 years has probably covered this one - including Luciano Pavarotti, Enrico Caruso, Andrea Bocelli, and many more.

#9: Feels Like We Only Go Backwards (2012)

Tame Impala

The similarities between Tame Impalas 2012 indie hit Feels Like We Only Go Backwards and Pablo Ruizs Oceano are unquestionable. But did Kevin Parker really plagiarise a sugary-sweet teen-pop song from the late 80s? Who knows what the Tame Impala creative listens to in his spare time? Well, well let you be the judge of that. Either way, theres no denying that they sound almost identical in spots. A Chilean website noted the similarities, though the editors later claimed it wasnt serious. However, Ruiz reportedly considered taking legal action, which he never did. To this day, Parker remains the only artist with a songwriting credit on this one.

#8: M.O.R (1997)

Blur

Blur didnt just rip off David Bowies Boys Keep Swinging with their song M.O.R; they basically took the whole foundation and vibe of the tune and changed the words. Was it merely a tribute to an artist that Damon Albarn and co. admired and were actually friendly with? Maybe. But it took legal intervention from Bowie and co-writer Brian Eno in order to get their songwriting credit on this one. These days, the song has Bowie and Eno fully credited, and is largely viewed as a celebration of the 70s music that they each perfected. But even still, its most certainly a rip-off according to our criteria at least.

#7: Girlfriend (2007)

Avril Lavigne

This one is either a major coincidence or Avril Lavigne is lying through her teeth. When she put out the song Girlfriend in 2007, it was an instant hit. But 70s power pop band The Rubinoos felt that Lavignes song borrowed excessively from their own 1979 single. And heres the funny part. Their song was titled I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend. Avril countered by saying that she had never heard the tune before, and that she believed they were both influenced by The Rolling Stones hit Get Off Of My Cloud. Still, it wouldnt explain the whole boyfriend-girlfriend connection. Though they eventually settled, the jury is still definitely out on this one.

#6: Given to Fly (1998)

Pearl Jam

The 90s grunge movement and rock revival felt a little bit closer to the 60s and 70s than anything that came in the decade before. So naturally, there was always going to be some crossover. And for Pearl Jam, theres no denying just how similar their track Given To Fly sounds to Led Zeppelins classic, Going To California. Thankfully, the similarities were so obvious that Pearl Jam never really tried to hide the fact that they were influenced by Zeppelin. In fact, they even played it live on stage with Robert Plant and segued into Going To California. It was a nice gesture, and lets be real, its not like Plant and Jimmy Page havent ripped off a song or two or several dozen, in their career.

#5: Are You Gonna Be My Girl? (2003)

Jet

This next one boils down to a drum beat and bassline that have quite the storied history. When Jet released their smash hit Are You Gonna Be My Girl? in 2003, it pretty clearly took major influence from Iggy Pop's tune Lust For Life - co-written by David Bowie. But before any Iggy fans could get up in arms about the whole thing, it became clear that both songs were at fault. Because in reality, they had each been directly preceded by The Supremes song You Cant Hurry Love - later covered by Phil Collins. The best part? All of these songs are amazing. So were not complaining in the slightest.

#4: Da Ya Think Im Sexy (1978)

Rod Stewart

Rod Stewart has been around the music business for long enough to know when he made a mistake. He certainly has a catalogue of totally original music that proves his compositional skills. But when he dropped Da Ya Think Im Sexy in 1978 and was accused of plagiarism by Brazilian music legend Jorge Ben Jor, he didnt put up much of a fight. The similarities between Stewarts song and Ben Jors Taj Mahal when it hits its refrain are beyond any doubt. Stewart even revealed that he was in Brazil that year at a festival and unconsciously ripped off the whole thing. Ben Jor donated all royalties he received in the settlement to UNICEF, and the pair held no ill will about the whole thing.

#3: Come As You Are (1991)

Nirvana

Nirvana truly struck gold when they released Nevermind in 1991 - achieving mainstream success in the most unlikely fashion. But for as much as Kurt Cobain admitted that he was basically trying to write a Pixies song with Smells Like Teen Spirit, he wasnt quite as transparent about the second single. Supposedly, Kurt was anxious about releasing Come As You Are once he realised he had unconsciously ripped off Eighties by Killing Joke pretty blatantly. No official lawsuit came out of it, but Killing Joke themselves were reportedly annoyed by the move. To his credit, Cobain never tried to deny it, and both songs are excellent. But Nirvana made a boatload of cash off a hook that was clearly not theirs.

#2: I Saw Her Standing There (1963)

The Beatles

The culture was a little different back in the day when it came to stealing other peoples songs. Genres like blues and folk are built on the idea of the same songs evolving in different forms. But when Paul McCartney and The Beatles covered Chuck Berrys Im Talking About You and decided to directly recycle the bassline, it was a little suspicious. Sure, Macca has turned his hand to a number of iconic bass runs in the past, but here, he basically just copy-and-pasted it into I Saw Her Standing There. Sure, the two songs rock equally hard - but once you hear this instance of melodic theft, you wont be able to unhear it.

#1: Dazed and Confused (1969)

Led Zeppelin

There are quite a few tunes in the Led Zeppelin catalogue that have been borrowed - take Whole Lotta Love, which is a pretty blatant rip on Willie Dixon's You Need Love (xref). But for our money, its gotta be the debut album classic Dazed and Confused that takes the cake. For one thing, its a very clear example of melody and lyrical theft without proper accreditation. In fact, Zeppelin were so shameless in their plagiarism that they took key elements of Jake Holmes song, also titled Dazed and Confused, and didnt even change the name. Zeppelins song is basically a tribute to the original, but Holmes didnt see a nickel. Jimmy Page basically ignored him for decades until Holmes brought the band to court in 2010, with a settlement resulting in inspired by Jake Holmes being added to subsequent reissues.

Did we miss any suspiciously derivative songs on our list? Let us know in the comments below.