Monday, August 26, 2013

Songs sounding the same? Brave vs. Roar

I'm sure that I am not the only person who listens to popular songs on the radio and think they all are the same thing. The most common defense is that everything has the same backbeat, chords, and structure. Why, just listen to comedian Owen Benjamin explain it to you.
It is not unusual that some music is very similar. Recently, there has been a dispute between Katy Perry and Sarah Bareilles. People are arguing over whether Roar was copied from Brave or vice versa. I listened to both songs individually, Roar during last night's Video Music Awards, and Brave in a music video. The similarities are scary. Then I heard this mashup:

Talk about scary similar. So I found another:
Still incredibly similar! What was going on? Its as if the songs were meant to be performed together. Marketing ploy? Who knows? Honestly, this may just seem like one of those instances of creativity that just seem to strike at the same time. 

But consider the lyrics as well:
Roar: 
[Intro]
I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything
You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, your hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake your ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready 'cause I've had enough
I see it all, I see it now
[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter,
dancing through the fire
Cause I am a champion and
You're gonna hear me ROAR
Louder, louder than a lion
Cause I am a champion and
You're gonna hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me roar
Now I'm floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own hero
You held me down, but I got up
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder, gonna shake your ground
You held me down, but I got up
Get ready 'cause I've had enough
I see it all, I see it now
[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter,
dancing through the fire
'Cause I am a champion and
You're gonna hear me ROAR
Louder, louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion and
You're gonna hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me roar
Roar-or, roar-or, roar-or
[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter,
dancing through the fire
'Cause I am a champion and
You're gonna hear me ROAR
Louder, louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion and
You're gonna hear me ROAR
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me roar


Brave:
You can be amazing
You can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug
You can be the outcast
Or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love
Or you can start speaking up
Nothing's gonna hurt you the way that words do
And they settle 'neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins
But I wonder what would happen if you
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
Everybody's been there, everybody's been stared down
By the enemy
Fallen for the fear and done some disappearing
Bow down to the mighty
Don't run, stop holding your tongue
Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
Innocence, your history of silence
Won't do you any good
Did you think it would?
Let your words be anything but empty
Why don't you tell them the truth?
Say what you wanna say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
With what you want to say
And let the words fall out
Honestly I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I wanna see you be brave
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you
I just wanna see you.


They both are about coming out of your shell and being able to defend yourself. Weird.

What do you think?

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