marvin Posted March 3, 2002 Share Posted March 3, 2002 Ok Eric answered my question and said that the similarities between the chorus of the 'berries' "Tonight" and that of the Easybeats' "Friday On My Mind" were purely coincidental. Ok I can accept that, but lyrics aside, those two choruses sure sound a lot alike to these ears. Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted March 3, 2002 Share Posted March 3, 2002 Oh, skeptical one...I haven't heard the other song but now I'll have to, just to see if they sound that much the same. If Eric says the choruses of the two songs don't sound similar, then they certainly don't sound similar to him. Each of us hears differently, focuses primarily on different elements, etc. There are only so many notes and so many different orders they can be put into, so it's not unlikely that MANY songs sound alike to some people. Also, certain tones just naturally go to some, and don't go to others very well, so it's understandable that there are just certain patterns that crop up more regularly than others.I've just begun writing songs, and I am always trying to make sure that what I write doesn't sound like anything else, but that's nigh onto impossible, given the limited amount of tones to draw from, and the natural affinity between some of them. As for titles and words, there are many more similarities in the general body of pop music than there are differences. I surely believe George Harrison never heard "He's so Fine" when he wrote "My Sweet Lord." And I believe some songs will just be written, and they may "visit" several people if it is their "destiny" to emerge. Do you write songs? If so, you know how difficult it sometimes is to write something radically "different." Because Eric does every time and so beautifully, touching universal emotions every single time, he is a rare and gifted individual in a world of an almost infinite number of songwriters. That's what puts him "over the moon" above the common herd... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted March 4, 2002 Author Share Posted March 4, 2002 Hi Darlene. First of all re "He's So Fine", there's no way in the world that George Harrison did not hear the song before because EVERYBODY has heard that song. It was a huge #1 hit. I do believe that George's plagiarism was totally unconscious though. Speaking of which, I've been writing songs for years and I'll never forget this personal experience. About 15 years ago I wrote a song, put it on tape, etc., and then about a year later, ELO came out with their album "Discovery" and on it was a song titled "Confusion." The melody was almost note for note the same as the song that I had written. Now there's no way that Jeff Lynne could've heard my song just as I had never heard "Confusion" prior to the release of "Discovery. For all I know Jeff could've written his song years before I wrote mine, but this goes to show that just because you are writing what you believe is an "original" song doesn't mean that somewhere else in the world someone else has not come up with the same tune. In the case of "Tonight" vs "Friday On My Mind", "FOMM" was also a huge hit so Eric definitely had heard it before. Was it in his head when he wrote "Tonight"? If he says it wasn't and that any similarities are purely coincidental, that's good enough for me. Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darlene Posted March 4, 2002 Share Posted March 4, 2002 Hi, Marvin. Your experience and the song "Confusion" is a great story! It does go toshow that can happen! It must have been a really spooky experience to hear your song note for note!Wow! Great minds run on the same frequency...I had read somewhere that George said he had never heard "He's So Fine." That does kind of sound incredible, doesn't it? Oh well, I just felt I had to believe him if he said it. Then again, the interviewer may have misunderstood, or just put it in. So you've been writing 15 years. I just started. Sometimes it's a very frustrating activity. Have you ever tried to make something better and totally loused it up? THAT's frustrating! That's when I just put it away, and eventually something good comes out, but never when I am "trying!" Take care. --DarlenePS -- I hope my answer to you didn't sound defensive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted March 4, 2002 Author Share Posted March 4, 2002 Darelene your answer was not defensive at all. By the way, I've got some of my dates messed up. I've been writing songs for about 25 years, and the ELO "Discovery" album came out in 1979.Regards, Marvin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlesteve Posted March 4, 2002 Share Posted March 4, 2002 This may be what you mean, but to clarify, it's not the single "Tonight" that sounds like "Friday on my mind" nearly so much as does the unreleased "Oh Tonight". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted March 4, 2002 Share Posted March 4, 2002 Actually, if you re-read Eric's comments he does acknowledge the similarities: "...it's not the song "Tonight" but "Oh Tonight," the Raspberries demo that really had bits and pieces of "Friday On My Mind" in it. I suppose some of that may have leaked over to "Tonight" as well." --Bernie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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