Here Today... Gone To Hell!

According to a recent Drowned In Sound report, a US radio presenter has accused the Red Hot Chili Peppers of plagiarism, claiming that the band's "Dani California" single is near identical to Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance".

Dan Gaffney, of Delaware-based WGMD, told his listeners of the similarities. Subsequently, the show's producer Jared Morris told reporters:


"The chord progression, the melody, the tempo, the key, the lyrical theme... they're identical."

To prove the point, Morris has posted an MP3 on his personal blog. Check it out at this location.

Holy Shit. This link compares both.
http://www.jared-morris.com/blog/petty.mp3

The Song Are Identical in every way!
Chords, Melody, Lyrics... Wow. Just Wow.

this is old news....please...such utter crap....when hasn't an artist taken ideas from another artist? thinking, 'hey, I dig the sound of that and turn it into something similar and/or better....in this case I am sure it is purely coincidence and nothing contrived by the band....personally, I used to listen to alot of Tom Petty back about 10 years ago abd quite familiar with that song in particular....they are nothing alike to me  in feel or tune.
jebus, what people won't complain about :rofl:

Are you kidding.
The Lyrics are even about the same thing.

It's flat-out stolen.

I am embarrassed for you...sorry my friend but in this instant you are wrong, entitled to your opinon as I am mine, but very very wrong. :-\
any real musician will tell you it has a comletely different feel, a completely different flow.........to each their own I suppose..

Get over it already!

Ha, any real musician.
I've been playing guitar for 6 years, In a touring band and about to put out a record.
 
Plus I'm only 17.

It doesn't take musical knowladge to hear that these 2 songs are identical.

also does not take an idiot to be wrong.....17 eh? you still have alot to learn, when you get to be my age you accept things for what they are, there is no black or white but many, many varying shandes of gray....you are stil wrong my friend, imo.
btw, I have been playing guitar for 24 years and still profess to know nothing..

Stop listening to bland radio rock and appreciate heavy metal. Radio rock all sounds the same anyway. Hail metal. Hail elitism.  :peace:

Good bands do cover songs and make them their own. Judas Priest's version of Diamonds and Rust is the biggest example.

Dani California isn't cover though... They take credit for it.

This is still a blantant example of stealing music. It's worse than Vanilla Ice stealing Queen bass lines. It's almost as bad as Nickelback copying their own songs.  ;)

Exactly. They should have made a cover instead of just stealing a song and calling it their own.

It's not stolen. I can hear a subtle difference between the two. Besides, the Chili Peppers would never rip another artist off like that.

You can hear similarities in many songs by different bands. It happens. People can't go through every single song on the market to make sure they're not sounding like someone else. That's virtually impossible.

Here's a thread from a while back discussing this kind of thing: http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php?topic=19494.0

Thats a rip off to my ears - but we already knew RHCP couldn't write decent stuff on their own so its no real surprise

yeah, you're the one to talk : ok:

get over it people, they sound nothing like the same to me.
bands making similar songs are bound to happen, even if they have never heard of each other.

i dont think its stolen from petty...lets face it, the chord progression is not exactly a difficult one is it? and besides , the peppers song sounds like it has a minor chord in it the petty one sounds like all major chords

and what about the chorus? no mention of it...does it sound similar?

i always thought the intro sounded just like blur's country house

As far as I know Frusciante stole the riff from Hendrix. BTW that's te only good thing in this song.

Even Hendrix would steal old blues songs. Almost all mainstream bands are thieves who steal ideas from the underground.

blah..blah...blah... we've heard this from you enough times to last a life time. :puke:

no, the first 3 notes on the solo is taken from Purple Haze. as sort of a tribute to Jimi.

you forgot to say your biggest characteristic... you are the biggest asshole ever

How is he an asshole for pointing out obvious theft? RHCP are the assholes. I'd stop buying their albums because of this, but luckily I've never bought one in the first place.  : ok:

well my friend who is a big fan even came to me saying that song is a rip off of a petty song.

Yeah, they sound alike to me....but who cares, i like em both

That mp3 is pretty compelling....they def sound A LOT alike.

Ha!

It is identical.  :rofl:

Has anyone listened to BOTH WHOLE TOTAL SONGS?

The MP3 just shows the verse(which is, even though similar, both are a little different).  But the chorus and the solo are totally different.  So you never know...maybe they made the verse similar in homage to Petty?  And trust me, its NOT totally the same.

So because they have the same simple chord progression (that about 10 million other songs have) and they mention a state they're the same?? This is retarded.

In Petty's book he mentions that he doesn't really know what Mary Jane's Last Dance is about, he said he wrote it in mind about an ending to something, anything really.? Oh yeah and denied there was any drug reference to the title.
Dani California is a collective take on all the girls Anthony Keidis has known in his life.?

So basically any song with the same chord progression and mentioning of a state in the first verse of the title is plagarism?? Remind me never to use the Am, G or D chords again!?

Chord progressions are different
Dani California Chords
Am G Dm Am
F C Dm

Mary Jane's Last Dance Chords
Am G D Am
D A

They are similar, but I would'nt think Peppers would be purposely ripping anyone. I'm sure if you asked them, they'd say something along the lines of Tom Petty huh? Cool, that's a compliment. - But other than that, you can't think this was done purposely, similar vibe definitely, but identical song, you've gotta be kidding me



Check out Pearl Jams " Given to fly " and Led Zep " Going to California "   -  Metallica " Fade to Black " and Floyd " Goodbye Blue Sky " -   Those seem like obvious rips - but who really knows?


Anyone notice the intro to Oh My God vs the intro to Zeps " Boogie with Stu " ? - Check it out -

The similarities are there, but they aren't identical.

The verse melody is similar...big deal.  The chorus is completely different, the structure (as far as I can remember) is different.  Ever hear "Used To Love Her" and "Dead Flowers?"  Songs are similar sometimes. 

the chords are d a g c

Or Rage's "Wake Up" and Zeppelin's "Kashmir"...

I hate this audio clip of the songs played together because Mary Jane's Last Dance is sped up so that it fits the same timing as Dani California. ?Like someone pointed out, if you listen to the songs seperately and the whole way through they are nothing alike.

Don't try to argue with Da Poop.  He's 17 and he knows everything about music that ever has been or will be.  They both mention Indiana so he must be right?  All hail Da Poop!

The tempo in the verses are VERY similar. The choruses are somewhat similar, similar melody.

Then again you have almost every song in the 1950's going by G, Em, C, D.  And most of them released around the same time.  Last Kiss, Stand By Me, Dream Lover etc. 

this is old news, and it's been a subject of debate between my gf and I since its release.  I like to tease her because she's a huge RHCP fan, while she teases me for being a huge GNR fan.

Anyway, I think that RHCP did it more as a tribute to Tom Petty.  The concept of the songs are similar, but if you look at the video, they're paying homage to all of the people who've influenced their music over the years.  And as was mentioned, the solo is a tribute to Hendrix.  There's no doubt that Tom Petty's music has influenced the Chili Peppers.  I mean, Kiedis's writing style is pretty similar to Pettys.  Long story short?  Let's not let Petty similarities ( : ok:  :hihi:) ruin two great songs.

I might have to kill you for that.

Oh, come on Commie, you loved it!  :hihi:

That's brilliant.  :hihi:

They talk about the writing of the songs on their dvd, which is in the boxset. Maybe this was mentioned on there.

Yeah they do sound the same (and anyone denying that is just fooling themselves, take off the blinders), but I don't see what the big deal is....If Petty doesn't care then why should any of you???  Must be a slow news day or something.

We should care because we should strive for original, interesting music, not recycled songs.

the rest of the song sounds nothing like dani california
I'm not even a huge RHCP fan but I mean, i feel the need to defend them because the thing about music is that it's really just a series of combinations of notes(and rhythms, etc). and there are really only so many combinations, and sometimes they overlap, but that doesn't make it a rip off...

i knew they're a bunch of theives.  i just knew it.   they steal their songs from tom petty,  they steal their clothes from walmart, they steal their guitars from the backs of vans of hard working indie-bands-  i hate them now more then ever now.   

i've given more thought to this subject, 
im wondering if this band has stolen any other great songs,  i mean who knows if 'under the bridge' or 'love rollercoaster' is'nt based off some other song too?   i cant believe people drone on and on about how 'great' the guitarist guy is- how goddamn amazing he is?   i'd be great too if i just ripped off other songs-   hell, i'd even be smart about it and ripoff a song thats not as popular.     

well...Love Rollercoaster is a cover song so.. :hihi:

I'm not sure if "dani california" is a rip-off or not....but it sure is a lame song.

I finally heard it today on the way to work....and as usual, the red hot chili peppers continue to baffle me with the success of their mediocre music.

this damn song sounds just like every other lame RHCP song...nothing great from the guitars, and the singer just talks in rhythm to the music in his stupid "rap-talk" style.

I guess if you do a show with a sock hanging from your genitals, people will think you're cool no matter what.

They definitely have some similarities but it's not 100 percent, exactly the same.

Although I'm not impressed that the peppers have copied somebody.  :-[

I love the Peppers, but I do admit that a few weeks ago I heard Last dance with Mary Jane on the radio and it hit me. There is absolutely NO WAY this can be a coincidence.

Theres no way songs can have similar chord arrangements?

You're right.? With as much success as RHCP has have, why would they knowingly copy an already popular song?? I just chalk this up as coincidence, nothing more.

This happenned a few years ago with Mick Jagger.  He wrote a song that sounded similar to some song by KD Lang that he had nver heard before.  I think that some of you without good taste and sophistication are just looking for ways to bash the Chilis. 

Have the chilli's released a statement about this subject? Dani California sounding similar to a song by mr. Perry.

Ahhh!!! The album is good.

It's not a masterpiece... but it's good. I like it alright and all, but come on, this album is overrated.

its just a pity that petty actually stole the riff from the jayhawks waiting for the sun

http://www.mp3.com/the-jayhawks/artists/3927/songs.html  click the sample mp3 half way down

 :hihi:

i've given more thought to this subject,?
im wondering if this band has stolen any other great songs,? i mean who knows if 'under the bridge' or 'love rollercoaster' is'nt based off some other song too??

            That makes sense because who knows how many people have listened to the song and it is regarded as one of the best riffs of all time   and with all this no one noticed the riff was taken from someone     

       just shut up and let your balls drop

you are out of line!

Just listened to the Tom Petty / Chilis comparison and yeah, they're definitely similar aren't they! :o

But who knows, maybe it is just by chance that they sound similar.
I really doubt the Chilis would need to steal songs from other people to make their own.

i agree,  your balls have nothing to due with these theiving thieves,  no ones brought this up-  but i noticed while watching the video that they stole their clothes from other bands too-  how tasteless. 

You are either really good at sarcasm, or really good at missing the point.   :D

Woah, even the general themes and imagirary are the same. They basically just changed the towns.

All you haters will go on to marry hater wives and then have hater kids.

How many hours did those take to download on your dial up?  :P  :hihi:

Great, now today i heard some kids around my school saying "Yeah, RHCP is okay, but they just steal things from everyone else.  Some of the guitar licks are the same as Hendrix licks" and i guess the kid doesn't really know what licks are because the only Hendrix part of any song guitarist John Frusciante stole was the first four notes of the riff of "Purple Haze" in the solo, and he did it purposely.

And if anyone really knows John Frusciante's guitar playing, he is a very original guitarist in his solo work and with RHCP.

Not long at all, that mp3 was only 700k

The NY Post had this article about the song today:

http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm


I remember a case in my business law class in college about one of the Beatles (Harrison maybe?) and a song called "my sweet lord" which was very similar to another song.  The original songwriters sued and won monetary damages from the beatle.  IF petty decides to take action I'm sure he wouldn't make them pull the album, just get some extra cash.   : ok:  haha.  I bet nothing comes of this at all.  It does sound ripped off though.

I think this proves that they are different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7HkRemMNJI

I think this whole issue will eventually blow over.

RHCP are a great band with many hits.  They have no reason to knowingly "steal" a song.

well its 100% sounds the same and it is borrowed, maybe they did it unknowingly, sometimes u write songs that u think u made but u actually heard it somwhere and it got stuck in ur head.

Even after seeing the videos, the songs are still extremely similar. The solo was different only in that Petty's was better, but that's the only huge difference.

The solo at the end of Wet Sand also sounds borrowed.  Kinda sounds like the melody in " Cat's in the cradle & the silverspoon."

I haven't taken time to read this entire thread, but I will say this.  After hearing the first link comparing the two, I was intrigued.  So I listened to Last Dance with Mary Jane in it's entirety.  At one point, my oldest daughter (who is a fan of the song Dani California) walked in and said "Oh my god, are they making fun of Dani California?  That sounds just like it."

The two songs are nearly identical.

To say that there are subtle differences, well, all I can say is "Ice Ice Baby."

GN'R "Stole" the main riff from Zero The Hero by Black Sabbath for Paradise City.

I think the chords sound the same but not the way he sings the lyrics.

This is pure paranoia right here  :hihi:

I'm still milking this pun.  : ok:

As a musician I think it is a very similar track...

However, this doesn't mean it was "stolen" it could be co-incidental...i mean theres only so many notes out there, and theres chord patterns and shapes that are logical to leap to next when messing around and writing, so they may have coincidently both written a song that sounds substantially the same as something else.

That sounds dumb but i have done it myself. I recently wrote a song, then heard another song out some place that i SWEAR i'd never heard before and it had substantially the same riff. Maybe it just makes my songs generic ;)

Anyway...theres also "unconcious influence" like someone else said, maybe they heard it someplace and forgot, but the tune stayed in the mind and they think they wrote it know. Hell, It happened to george harrson once so say the court documents! LOL

Anyway...bottom line is, RHCP have been out there as a band for a long time, so they're clearly a talented outfit whatever the case.