"Dani California" plagiarized?

[D'z Nutz]

http://www.wgmd.com/newspost/fullnews.php?id=1142

Is it a last dance for popular rock group The Red Hot Chili Peppers or a petty coincidence?

Callers to WGMD Radio’s Dan Gaffney Morning Show expressed surprise and outrage when Gaffney Show producer Jared Morris uncovered an apparent case of plagiarism in the Chili Peppers’ new hit song “Dani California.”

Morris and Gaffney allege that there are startling similarities between “California” and Rocker Tom Petty’s early 1990’s hit “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.”

“The chord progression, the melody, the tempo, the key, the lyrical theme… they’re identical,” Morris said.

The callers agreed. “I play music myself. Those are the exact chords, the exact pitch, almost the same harmony,” WGMD listener Apostle Ivory Hopkins said. “Good God, Man.”

Morris and Gaffney urge you to decide for yourself.

http://www.wgmd.com/SOUNDS/FEATURES/051706-petty.mp3

Just the track comparisons, minus the jibber jabber:
http://www.jared-morris.com/blog/petty.mp3

[1995_GTI_VR6]

wow thats unreal

[kaput]

.

[asuth077]

Probably incidental but non the less someone had to notice along the production way?

[l8braker]

Gimme a break, this guy's got too much time on his hands. The station must be tanking for him to come up with that bullshit. RHCP would never cop anyone. They're one of the last original groups out there.

[1995_GTI_VR6]

so what do you call this?

[IncredibleToad]

WHY CHILI PEPPERS WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[three.eighteen.]

haha, that's hilarous, i was thinking the same thing the other day..."the chords are the exact same..." but seriously with "popular music" there are only a handful of chord changes/tempos which really make a hit that will play well...after a given amount of time, they're bound to plagiarize each other

[nonsane]

*Shrug* there are lots of songs like that.

Offspring - Why don't you get a job
Beatles - Ob la di ob la da

Insanely similar song structure/notes.

[TurboMedic]

It sounds like the tom petty song is sped up a little from original, to make them match up.....I'm too lazy to find out for sure, but I don't remember it being that fast....

[three.eighteen.]

Originally posted by TurboMedic
It sounds like the tom petty song is sped up a little from original, to make them match up.....I'm too lazy to find out for sure, but I don't remember it being that fast....

actually mary jane's last dance was recorded at a slightly faster pace than the radio single you hear...it was slowed down in the studio, if you try tuning a guitar to standard tuning and playing along, you'll notice that the pitches in the tom petty song are not "standard notes"

[3g4me]

There are no original chord variations anymore, i can think of a million different songs that use the same chords. What makes this song so different? Some people have way too much time on their hands.

[shakalaka]

O well, I still like the song. Infact I am listening to it right now! lool

[sputnik]

Wow. They even copied the lyrical structure too in addition to the musical composition.

Brutal. I have listened to their new double CD. The second disc is TERRIBLE.

[01RedDX]

.

[Rockski]

..... that just destroyed my whole faith in the chilli peppers.

[Ramdawg]

Some Dj on these forms create a battle track of these two songs, it would be tight.

[gorilla*goggles]

They're one of the last original groups out there.

This is the one of the truest statements ive heard. There's no
way john frusciante would stoop that low being one of the
most highly regarded players out there. Yeah it has some of
the same key elements, but with enough time on your
hands you could find tons of songs that sound the same

[Turboboost]

Thats insane

[habsfan]

wow that's an embarassment for the peppers...sure there are only so many chord progressions that can be played, but exact same tempo, same structure, even very very similar lyrical patterns...