Songs That Were Ripped Off, pt. I

You might have noticed that I tend to make sense of the world by trying to find tenuous connections between anything and everything, especially with regards to pop culture. I've decided to put this tendency to some use by gradually sharing some songs that, to me, sound a lot like previously-released works. I don't want to use the word plagiarism or anything, but the similarities are uncanny.

Full disclosure: I'm trying to write a twenty-page paper on the cemeteries of Al-Andalusia in Spanish, and it's becoming increasingly difficult. As such, this post is the product of tedious procrastination and wasted time.

The song: "Then The Morning Comes" by Smash Mouth (1999)
    What it ripped off: "La La Love You" by the Pixies (1989)

This one's been bothering me for a long, long time. I first heard "Then The Morning Comes" as a tender-eared child of five or six, and didn't discover the Pixies until five or six years later. The first time I heard "La La Love You," I felt like the whole world opened up. What was, to my six-year-old ears, the talent and creativity of Smash Mouth, was revealed to be lazy and unmotivated stealing from a group who actually had talent, once upon a time. Listen to these and tell me the guitar riff is not exactly the same (except way less impressive when stolen).

The original:

 

- "La La Love You" by Pixies, from Doolittle (April 1989)

The rip-off:

- "Then The Morning Comes" by Smash Mouth, from Astro Lounge (June 1999)