The Smiley Smile Message Board

Now i really doubt that they stole anything but it's very interesting(coincidence) that these songs all have the same melody..
Listen to the beat and melody of these songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrMaYVnF24U&feature=fvst (The intro to this song and the bridge before the last chorus of TWGMTR sound way too similar.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxlfX3kDKy8 (The whole beat of this song sounds like TWGMTR.)

*Clicks on the second link*

Gosh darn it, the troller has been trolled! i should have known, i should have known.

This is just what i found out through Google but yeah they do all have a similar sound.

The board is, for whatever reason, all stretched to hell for me. I can't see who posts things unless I scroll over. I can, however, always tell when a Newguy thread is a Newguy thread. :)

:lol ok but seriously though...do the songs sound similar to you?

Thanks for mentioning that. I thought it my computer. It's been that way for awhile.

Sometimes, if I so much as click on my mouse anywhere on the screen, it goes back or to a white page. Does this happen to anybody?

It's a fairly common melody. Something similar appears in Robbie Williams' "Millenium", which is sampled from the theme from a James Bond film. So there's two more examples, albeit basically from one source.

It's been this way for several weeks, but a few days ago was suddenly okay again. No idea what's causing it. Fairly annoying.

that's true still the bb's did an amazing job with it at first i thought the song was cheesy as f*** now i really enjoy it :)

Good ear...I do hear similarities. Of course, after a while, there is an finite amount of melodies that can be created, but damn...

It is a coincidence, though. I had a similar thing happen to me. When I was in college, we had to write a song on sheet music without using a piano or any other instrument. I did it, and got my grade. Several years later, I decided to see what the f*cker sounded like.  My collaborator immediately said it was the theme song from some anime that I had never heard of, that he had on DVD. Sure as sh*t, it was almost note for note similar. Only thing was, the thing wasn't available in the US when I had my class!

:) thanx
wow that's amazing do you know the name of the anime cartoon? can you profit at all from that? it's weird how people can think alike and do things the same way without even realizing it.

Anyone knows when TWGMTR was copyrighted. Perhaps earlier than the JLo song.

Yeah but the james bond theme is also John Barry, writer of Midnight Cowboy theme, or maybe you knew that? I think for Midnight Cowboy he basically just recycled his own melody from You Only Live Twice.

I would argue John Barry wrote this melody, however simple it might be, and that Lopez, Beach Boys et al are kind of ripping him off, much that I love TWGMTR.

It says that the Jlo song came out in 2004.

They had to steal a good melody then!

The weird thing is that the bridge on the jlo song is exactly the same as TWGMTR...it's soft and slow then builds up..(almost identical)

Yeah it suprises me...I have to give my girlfriend credit for this because when she heard me playing the song she said "wow that sounds like jlo" I was like wtf is she talking about and after deep research(google/wikipedia) lol I came across two songs that sounded so much like TWGMTR or songs that TWGMTR sound like (however you wanna put it)

Evangelion. I still have the sheet music, dated and all, with a giant red D. My music theory teacher was a bit of a prick...the only composers that mattered were Bach...and Lennon/McCartney. And yes, he actually said that in class :rolleyes

Ha ha! That is similar. Thank God Mike doesn't start singing "Ladies - you know what I'm talking about?..." over that part of the song.

Was TWGMTR written in 98, as that's when Millennium was released? Makes you wonder if Wilson/Thomas/Other Guy were influenced by the excessive radio play at the time, subconsciously or otherwise.

wow i'm going to see if i can find that anime and hear the theme song lol
you're teacher was a douche lol..but at least he mentioned lennon/mccartney haha :)

that's really creepy :O mike is a real creep but one thing i like about him besides his voice is his style it might seem cheesy to some but it fits the beach boys look lol
wow that makes me wonder hmmm i doubt any of the boys listen to what was on the radio in 98 lol

Didn't know he wrote the Midnight Cowboy theme, too. Still, I feel like I've heard this used elsewhere, too, I just can't think of it.

We know some initial idea for "That's Why God" came about in 1998, but I don't think we have any idea what part or to what extent it was written back then.

The more I think about this, the more I wonder if Barry should have a writer's credit on TWGMTR. After all he does on Milennium (obviously as it's a sample), and as far as I can tell he is also credited on this Lopez song.

Also:
"Surfin' USA" sounds a lot like "Sweet Little 16"! OMG!!!

And here I thought I was about to get Rickrolled. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxlfX3kDKy8 (check out 3:07) now check out TWGMTR 2:23 & tell me what you hear that's the exact same...well then again most songs slow down before the last chorus(bridge) lol..

The top rated comment also points out 3:07. Newguy is obviously Prettyqirlbitchhh on YouTube.

The JLo song sounds a lot like Kiss Me Baby from the Today album.

End of discussion.

you're funny hello kitty  :lol

if you look at the first page of when the clip of TWGMTR, however long ago that was.  on the very first page...this was mentioned. 

The J. Lo song is explicitly based off Midnight Cowboy, it looks like they gave John Barry a writing credit on it. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_I_Love_U!)  So this is all about the similarity to Midnight Cowboy.

True. I posted this somewhere on the first page of the "songs that sound similar" thread in the general music discussion area. The Bond theme you're thinking of is "You Only Live Twice," with its pseudo-"oriental" sound.

How does one make the background non-black?

Yeah I noticed this too. I wonder if Barry should be credited on this BB song though?

I dunno.  I almost think then you'd have to credit him for every song that modulates down a whole step after a bar.

But the melody, with the three notes per bar, is identical, and particularly prominent during the bridge. Granted it's a simple melody, but there are other things you could do over those chords - the way it's used in TWGMTR is almost a musical quote imo. I mean, is there anybody that didn't pick it up the second they heard it (even if they did think it was Robbie Williams, J Lo etc.)?

Compare the above similarity, to that between Anybody Seen My Baby & Constant Craving - Within those two songs the similarity is basically limited to 4 notes, and that required a co -writers credit for Lang.

J Lo's song is a blatant rip off and a piece of crap.

Beach Boys is just a coincidence and totally awesome.

 >:D

Yeah, Wilson probably had that melody kicking around since the early 60s anyway!

Guys..guys....forget JLo, "You Only Live Twice", "Midnight Cowboy"....TWGMTR is just the fade of  "All Summer Long" slowed down.  :)

At 2 minutes in...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2smDXr13EJE

Awesome.  John Barry should give the Boys a writing credit for Midnight Cowboy. :lol

Well, waddya know - I told ya so!!

Great spot, Ghosty!

I can only assume you've not been reading the "TWGMTR" single threads as, since day one (actually somewhat before) the startling similarity to "Cowboy" was duly noted.

Futuristic contact lenses that invert colors like it's 1997 and you're using Microsoft Paint and have suddenly become a graphic designer.

I spent the better part of a year mentally composing an extended piece meant to be played on piano. I don't play or own an instrument, so I did it totally in my head. When it was all done I realised that a good chunk of it was the melody to "Make You Feel My Love" by Bob Dylan.  :lol

I think everybody here, with the possible exception of Newguy who was unfamiliar with Midnight Cowboy, has spotted the similarity since day one so I'm not sure who you're referring to. This thread is more about whether it's plagiarism or not. The best argument against is that All Summer Long features a similar pattern in its refrain which I had not realised.

Al's "Postcard from California" REALLY heavily borrows from "Rhinestone Cowboy".  Now we have this "Midnight Cowboy" thing.  Must be Al's fault. :lol

You can hear the same pattern from TWGMTR and "All Summer Long" in "No Go Showboat". Brian didn't invent it of course. It's as old as the hills.

For further soundalike fun I give you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co9mW_9hH2g