Musical Plagiarism? or Massive Coincidence?

[Sparta]

Hey guys.

Early this week i bought the Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah self-titled album. I've been into indie recently and i heard really good things about their self-titled album so i decided to give them a shot. As i was making my way through the album i got to this one song, called Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood. I was listening to the song when all of a sudden it dawned on me that i had heard this somewhere else....

When it clicked.

In April, The Arcade Fire released their new album Neon Bible. On that album is a song called (Antichrist Television Blues).

Musically, (Antichrist Television Blues) is identical to Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood. There is only minor differences in the chorus of each song that make them different. Other than that, its a logical conclusion for someone to think that The Arcade Fire has ripped off Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah. Its also logical to conclude that its a massive coincidence as well.

The thing that makes me think its not a massive coincidence is that the Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah song is two years older than the Arcade Fire song. "Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood" was released in 2005, whereas "(Antichrist Television Blues)" was released in April this year.

Pretty suss, eh?

I've shown this to some family and friends and they all agree that this is really suspicious and just too coincidental to be a mistake.

Here, listen and judge for yourself.

Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
http://www.clapyourhandssayyeah.com/mp3/Tidal_Wave.mp3

(Antichrist Television Blues) by The Arcade Fire.
http://hypem.com/track/251499 click listen.

(i've tried the links, they work for me in firefox. tell me if they don't and i'll look for another source.)

 

[Reginald]

I can't listen right this moment, but the reason I'm replying is that it's Arcade Fire, not THE Arcade Fire.

Grr.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Pretty similar, in a Tom Petty - Chili Peppers kind of way, but I wouldn't say they straight ripped it off. The style and pace of the song is pretty different atleast... the only thing that's almost identical is the acoustic guitar riff, which is a fairly common one at that, and the ambient guitars in the background to an extent. The chord progression is similar but not the same, and the bass and drums are different in both.

This is my 5 minute assessment anyway ^_^

 

[StardogChampion]

Such basic music that it's possible they just came up with something similar.

 

[Jangle]

I think it's just coincidence that the styles are similar and they both start on the same chord. Apart from that, they're pretty different. The chord sequence in the Arcade Fire one is completely different to the other one. And even if they were intending to rip it off it's different enough to make it legit. It's difficult to find a piece of music that hasn't "ripped off" another one.

 

[Solaris]

"All art is either revolutionary or plagiarism"

 

[ComradeBadger]

Talent borrows, genuis steals

The two songs aren't much alike imo

 

[Cerpin]

Except they both suck.

 

[Sparta]

To me, the first minute of that Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah song is ripped completely, and used for the entirety of that Arcade Fire song. I quickly chucked both of them into Soundtrack Pro and they both sound identical when playing together. The only difference is the Arcade Fire song starts with it's lyrics earlier.

Probably should've said that in the first place .

 

[Qhartb]

They're completely different songs. Similar feels, mostly from the rhythm guitar. Certainly nothing on par with "He's So Fine"/"My Sweet Lord".

 

[Pfraser]

It's a pretty common guitar rhythm... I've heard it before in many songs... The songs definitely aren't identical though and the Arcade Fire wouldn't rip anyone off... I just saw them live a few days ago and they are so talented i couldn't even comprehend it.

The Rhythm in the song is similar but not even it is the same... Deff not ripped off.

 

[brink's]

I can't listen atm, but i will say that it is highly unlikely that the arcade fire ripped off some other band. They are probably the most original post year 2000 act around right now, their music sounds totally authentic and they've made a name for themselves because of their originality.

So, it's probably just a coincidence.

 

[Sparta]

It's a pretty common guitar rhythm... I've heard it before in many songs...

The Rhythm in the song is similar but not even it is the same

True it does sound like a common guitar riff, but the thing is, not only does the riff sound the same, but so does the bass and the drums (with the exception of an added bass drum and snare drum note in the Arcade Fire song). There's even that "ooooooommmm" sound at the end of the first bar once the guitar kicks in. And the fact that the songs sync remarkably well in a recording program just seems like too much of a coincidence to me.

I never intended to say that i thought the Arcade Fire ripped off the entire song from Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah. Looking back at my first post it does read like that and i'm sorry but thats not what i meant. What i meant to say is that, to me, its too much of a coincidence that all the verses (Antichrist Television Blues) sounds exactly like the first minute of the Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah song, with an extra bass drum and snare drum note thrown in.

It probably is just a massive coincidence, but everytime i show it to someone in person i get the same reaction. That "Wow, that can't be real" reaction.