ok, there have been discussions about this song similar to that song in musical arrangement, clever word usage, etc.. what is your 2 similar songs and why do you feel these are similar?
gwen

George Harrison's My Sweet Lord

&

He's so Fine by The Shirells
Wasn' there a lawsuit on this one?

titan,
I believe you are right about that, the law suit that is...so, any of Gord's songs that you feel have this type of similarity in two-some-ness?
gwen

Oh,most definetly! Tops on my list:Steel Rail Blues and High & Dry. When I hear one in my head it sometimes ends up being the other. Also sounding very much alike are Sundown and Baby Step Back. The rhythm is the same,the guitar work is pretty similar. Last example,and check your LP's for this. Knotty Pine sounds like a slowed down version of Bitter Green. I'm sure there are a lot more but I guess sound-alikes are just a small part of why we listen to GL,as well as popular music itself. Borderstone,outta here and Fat Albert-a bound. (I know,bad joke!)

"Watchman" and "Carefree Highway" on the "Sundown" album start with the same chords. This is probably something that others noticed long ago, but I only picked up on in this era of skipping from cut to cut on CDs.

Also, didn't Gord sue the composer of that self-empowerment anthem "The Greatest Love of All" (written originally for a movie about Muhammad Ali and later recorded by Whitney Houston)?

The verses are virtually identical to IYCRMM. (Compare: "I decided long ago never to walk in anyone's shadow" with "I never thought I could feel this way and I've got to say that I just don't get it.")

Does anyone know if that one ever got to court?

ALSO, Gord kind of referenced what would seem to be the central image (to him) of IYCRMM in two later songs, "On the High Seas" ("I don't want to own the key / To some ghostly mansion where souls are set free") and "She's Not the Same" ("Like any good gambler / I was tied to a wishing well").

Borderstone beat me to the punch regarding the similarities between Sundown and Baby Step Back. The latter could have been called "Son of Sundown"!

Softly and The Last Time I Saw Her share chords and phrasing tempo. And the two songs can be interpreted as a continuing love story that begins with high hopes and expectations but ends sadly.

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"be calm in the face of all common disgraces...and know what they're doin' it for..."

How about calling it,"Baby Sun,Step Down Back to Carefree Highway?" HA HA HA! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Borderstone

Mary Ellen
you know I don't know a thing about tha lawsuit regarding this at all. I kind of asked around and still didn't find a thing (not that I would know where to look for a case or such like this).
does anyone else know about this?
Gwen

From http://www.corfid.com/gl/biography.htm

In April of 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, alleging that Masser's song "The Greatest Love of All" (recorded by Whitney Houston) stole twenty-four bars from Lightfoot's 1969 hit "If You Could Read My Mind." According to Maclean's, Lightfoot commented, "It really rubbed me the wrong way. I don't want the present-day generation to think that I stole my song from him." Unlikely, though Lightfoot himself has always remained cautious and questioning about the industry. Said Toronto promoter Bernie Fiedler, "I don't think Gordon realizes that he has a tremendous talent. When intelligentsia of the music business courted him, he felt threatened. He's a cautious man who won't take chances."

No word on how this played out - if it went further than filing there probably would have been more about it in the news. Anyone know?

I think that "High and Dry" starts a lot like "Summertime Dream".

on the soundstage show, you can't tell whether it is high and dry or summertime dream when it starts!

How about,"Now and Then"-"All The Lovely Ladies" and "Restless"? They'd make one heck of a medley. Actually,for some reson,"Restless" reminds me of Springsteen's,"I'm On Fire." Must be the mood,I guess. Borderstone,outta here & A.B. ! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

how about the song dream street rose, there's on part in there that sounds like a couple other songs.
Gwen

You know,when an artist records an LP they get into a groove and sometimes the songs can't help but end up sounding the same. Then as their career goes on,they start to borrow from themselves. Steve Miller recorded the,"Fly Like An Eagle" & "Book Of Dreams" LP's at the sme time,so of course their all really one big album. John Fogerty of CCR had solo hits in the 80's that were just like his groups sound. In fact Fantasy records sued him for using that sound on the WB label! He won of course,since he developed it. If artists can copy themselves,it's no wonder they copy each-other. Borderstone,outta here and Alberta Bound! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Once, with the volume turned down kind of low, I was listening to disc#3 from the Songbook set and when track#14 came on I heard what I thought what was Sundown. I said to myself, but Sundown is already on here! It turned out to be Endless Wire. I'd heard the 2nd version of this song on Gords Gold II but I'd never heard the original before that.


(There are several songs that I'd only heard the 2nd versions of and had never heard the originals). That was then.

DMD3:I'm not making fun of you but I can't imagine (unless you're very new to Gord's music) how anyone could confuse those two. The guitar intro's are completely different. The only time I ever confused 2 of his songs was when I first heard,"Steel Rail Blues". I forgot myself and thought I was hearing,"High and Dry." Which I thought odd because I was listening to Disc 1 of,"Songbook." We've all probobly done that. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Borderstone,outta here and Alberta Bound! (Can anyone tell me if I spelled PROBOBLY correctly?) http://www.corfid.com/ubb/redface.gif Thanks.

nope, it is not spelled correctly.

Compare the number of notes available to the composer (12) to the countless number of tunes that have been written over the past couple of hundred years, is it surprising?

Heard on a radio pop quiz recently,

Question: Which Canadian singer had top 10 hits including, If You Could Read My Mind & Sundown.

Answer given, after some thought: Viola Wills.

how about "i'm not supposed to care" and "talking in your sleep"...I was listening to one last night when I went to sleep and it took a minute to remember which was which at the beginning

While I had a few that sound relatively close, you guys truly impressed me. Thank you for the discussion. It is incredible.
There is a song on Waiting For You that brought this topic to my attention, it resembles On the High Seas. But, never this many. Now we will all be checking the similarities out. I think the reason for these similarities has been mentioned in this topic, also, in many different interpretations. Thanks, again.
GSS

Another song that is similiar to "Endless Wire" is "Broken Dreams", I believe that's the name of the song. I have never confused them but the same electric guitar in Endless Wire is also used in this song I believe. If not, it sure does sound a lot like it.

Summertime Dream, High And Dry, It's Worth Believin sort of favor at the beginning. I sometimes confuse Early Morning Rain for Canadian Railroad Trilogy at the beginning.

Blackberry Wine, Salute, Baby Step Back all sort of sound the same. Also to compare one of Gord's songs to another artist. Gotta Get Away's intro reminds me of Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein." Both use the same intro chords. Also has any other guitar players out there besides myself ever tried to play "Always On The Bright Side" without a capo?

i wouldn't dream of playing a gord sogn without a capo if he douesn't use one - makes it a lot easier to play them too http://www.corfid.com/ubb/smile.gif

'Station Master' and 'Cotton Jenny' have the same tune to me. 'Now And Then' and 'Shadows' sort of resemble each other as well.
'I'll Prove My Love' and 'A Painter Passing Through' also have the same tune, just played on a different note.

Surprisingly,no one ever mentioned that,"Sea Of Tranquility" and "Waiting For You" sound quite alike! I noticed this while recording my GL tape the other night,so I put them back to back. Also,don't forget "Wherefore and Why & Mountains and MaryAnn! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/cool.gif

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Borderstone - "Little 'Ol Message Maker Me!" :)

quote:Originally posted by Borderstone:
Surprisingly,no one ever mentioned that,"Sea Of Tranquility" and "Waiting For You" sound quite alike! I noticed this while recording my GL tape the other night,so I put them back to back. Also,don't forget "Wherefore and Why & Mountains and MaryAnn! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/cool.gif


I said this in the topic where someone(I forgot his name) posted a poem with lyrics and he said sing it as though you were singing 'Sea Of Tranquility' and I said I had a better time singing the tune to 'Waiting For You'. Your right, these 2 do sound alike and the rhythm is almoste exactly the same.

I"n April of 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, alleging that Masser's song "The Greatest Love of All" (recorded by Whitney Houston) stole twenty-four bars from Lightfoot's 1969 hit "If You Could Read My Mind"

I think these things are likely accidents.
That does not mean you could still not sue someone of course but Gord has inadvertantly done it too in my opinion. Listen to the opening bars of "Spanish Moss". and tell me that is not Buddy Holly's "it's raining in my heart". It is the same meloday and chord progression.

Bill Hall

When borrowing from oneself, it obviously doesn't matter. When borrowing from someone else, the issue is "how much". Obviously, one can't copyright one chord. Or a three or four chord progression. Or a sequence of 4 or 6 or 8 notes ... but where does one draw the line? Those 24 bars were pretty far over the line, I think. The borrowing was very likely inadvertant, but those 24 bars could hardly be considered "original". As I understand it, the suit was settled out of court. It sure sounds like IYCRMM to me, and it sure did to Lightfoot when he first heard it over the PA system at his health club.

quote:Originally posted by talbot10:


I"n April of 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, alleging that Masser's song "The Greatest Love of All" (recorded by Whitney Houston) stole twenty-four bars from Lightfoot's 1969 hit "If You Could Read My Mind"

I think these things are likely accidents.
That does not mean you could still not sue someone of course but Gord has inadvertantly done it too in my opinion. Listen to the opening bars of "Spanish Moss". and tell me that is not Buddy Holly's "it's raining in my heart". It is the same meloday and chord progression.

Bill Hall



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Valerie Magee

Visit my GL web site at gordonlightfoot.com and Cathy Cowette's site at cathycowette.com

quote:Originally posted by talbot10:


I"n April of 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, alleging that Masser's song "The Greatest Love of All" (recorded by Whitney Houston) stole twenty-four bars from Lightfoot's 1969 hit "If You Could Read My Mind"

I think these things are likely accidents.
That does not mean you could still not sue someone of course but Gord has inadvertantly done it too in my opinion. Listen to the opening bars of "Spanish Moss". and tell me that is not Buddy Holly's "it's raining in my heart". It is the same meloday and chord progression.

Bill Hall

I may have heard this song at the gym. There was a woman singing and the tune was the same as 'If You Could Read My Mind' only it was a rock song and she was singing it a bit faster. Is this the song? If so, she did go over the line.

I'm sorry. George Harrison accidently delving into He's So Fine is one thing because it barely sounds like it. There's just too much similarity between Gord's IYCRMM and Greatest Love Of All. By the way,George Benson did the song 1st in 1977 for the movie "The Champ"-Starring Ricky Schroeder. He did it as a ballad and badly I might add. If Gord should have sued anyone it should have been the movie makers and George Benson. Later! http://www.corfid.com/ubb/cool.gif

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Borderstone - "Little 'Ol Message Maker Me!" :)

I just noticed this the other day. 'Station Master' and the re-recorded 'Endless Wire' kind of sound the same at the very beginning, just played a note apart from one another.

You probably won't believe this unless you play guitar, but 'Triangle' and 'Alberta Bound' use the exact same chord progression and phrasing...one just happens to be in 3/4 time and the other is in 4/4 time, which makes them sound totally different. Go ahead and throw the words to either song into the other: it works pretty well.

A lot of Gord's songs start off sounding like something other song by somebody else, like Last Time I Saw Her starts off like Sounds of Silence and Never Too Close sounds an awful lot like a Jimmy Buffet song, maybe Margaritaville. On his first version of Early Mornin' Rain, he sounds just like Elvis, which is funny because Elvis later covered it and it sounds just like Gord! Gord didn't seem to find his voice right away, but when he did, it was very distinctive. Oftentimes playing Gord in my head, one song will meld into another and I always find it rather amusing until I can't sing one or the other song properly and then I have to play them on my stereo to set my head right. Example: last time i saw her face it was too late for prayin'. My girlfriend thinks Stone Cold Sober sounds like a lot of his other songs, but I can't figure out what she means and her 3-year old son, who loves Shadows and asks her to play it over and over, thinks its the best song I've ever written because I sing and play the guitar and sound a lot like Gord!

I forgot to mention: Has anyone noticed that Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer starts off exactly like Poor Little Allison?

Hey back again, don't mean to hog the whole topic! But I just noticed that Big Blue and Fitz sound kinda similar. And Fitz sounds just like She's Not The Same and She's Not the Same sounds exactly like Sit Down Young Stranger and that sounds exactly like Cotton Jenny, ergo, Big Blue is Cotton Jenny!

I've noticed what you said about Kiss Me. It is the same chord sequence D, Dmaj7, D7.
they're both great songs.

even approaching lavender usues that same one during the verses

quote:Originally posted by Big Blue:
Hey back again, don't mean to hog the whole topic! But I just noticed that Big Blue and Fitz sound kinda similar. And Fitz sounds just like She's Not The Same and She's Not the Same sounds exactly like Sit Down Young Stranger and that sounds exactly like Cotton Jenny, ergo, Big Blue is Cotton Jenny!

One of us needs a hearing aid.

I don't really think those songs sound anything alike. I purposely chose songs that sound nothing alike to be satirical since this topic has me comparing every song now and that's kind of missing the point of the music. He's one guy and he's got a certain style and only so many stories to tell. But anyway, you probably knew that DMD3. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/wink.gif

On the topic of songs running into each other in your head, All The Lovely Ladies and The Pony Man seem to run together in a funny way: All the lovely ladies in their finery tonight, some are white and some are brown. http://www.corfid.com/ubb/redface.gif

i'd do it again and bend in the water? they sound similar, also knotty pine sounds close to let it ride, at least the instruments do