singing the same song

i was going to write about avril lavigne's problems with writing a song that turns out to have already been written. however, i need to think about this a little longer, since a blogger i very much admire has already written on the same subject.

http://culturalsnow.blogspot.com/

no matter. a few hours of cogitating and i'll be back.

and here i am.

so this is what i think. we listen to LOTS and LOTS of songs over our lifetime. I know this is true because an obscure song from the 60's can come on the radio, a song i didn't even like, and i will start singing along, and know every word. if i were a song writer, how would i know what came from my own creativity and what came from the vast well of songs i have heard? some might be obvious, but others could be so obscure that, if pointed out to the songwriter, she or he might be completely surprised. and of course defiant. or defensive.

i don't know. i think these cases need to find an actual conscious attempt by one songwriter to steal the work of another songwriter. if the chord progressions are the same (duh, how hard is that?) and the lyrics have similarities, that doesn't prove intent. okay, that's the word i want - intent. did George Harrison intend to steal and did Avril intend to steal? did they sit in a little room, the door closed tight against the world and said, "oh i love this riff/chord progression/lyric and i will use it my song and no one will ever know." if they did, sue them. if they just used the forces of deep and rich memory, then thank them for bringing some old song to the fore, and go on your way.

one last point - when Dani California came out (RHCP) everyone pointed out how very much like Tom Petty's Mary Jane's Last Dance it was. do you know what happened? tons of people downloaded the Petty song (as did i) and so Tom made a few bucks off the renewed interest in an old song. and, as far as i know, he hasn't sued anybody.