on a thread a little while ago about some other topics, someone posted a clip of

an old song by a woman, and it was strikingly similar (almost like an exact copy

iirc) to the music of "colonized mind".

it was way too striking to be a coincidence.

but i can't remember who the song was by and i'd like to listen to it again just to

see if i remember correct how much the two songs are alike.

and if they are, how prince got away with that, without being sued.

that's the one!

thank you.

omg, the 'cloud nine, no responsibility' line is killing me that just clinches it.

prince still turned it into another amazing song (altho these lyrics are far better),

but it's sad to think that one of his better compositions of late was kinda stolen.

just because its similar style doesnt mean its a ripoff....

I remember reading that The Most Beautiful Girl In The World was a rip off of another song too :S. Kinda ruins the magic of some of his songs for me. And wasn't aspects of Guitar ripped from other songs as well?

luvsexy4all said:

just because its similar style doesnt mean its a ripoff....

^^ Perfect example of someone in denial.

luvsexy4all said:

just because its similar style doesnt mean its a ripoff....

Exactly. Even if it is a rip, it's still amazing and one of his best recent songs.

Nivivrus said:

And wasn't aspects of Guitar ripped from other songs as well?

The guitar riff is very similar to the one in U2's "I will follow", and the chorus is similar to The Beatle's "Back in the USSR".

ludwig said:

Nivivrus said:

And wasn't aspects of Guitar ripped from other songs as well?

The guitar riff is very similar to the one in U2's "I will follow", and the chorus is similar to The Beatle's "Back in the USSR".

Yeah, I can definitely hear the Back In The USSR part. And for "Beautiful Girl" I didn't really hear any similarity to Takin' Me to Paradise until the chorus. Even then, it was just the way he said it that was similar.

That bit about the TMBGITW was completely ridiculous. It was really just the way the word "I" was sung on both songs.

A lot of these similarities people are hearing are simply due to those parts being very simplistic ("Back in the USSR!", "I love my guitar!"). "Colonized Mind" seems to be more of a song written over ideas from another song. Maybe he was trying to figure out how to play that song on the guitar and then just started to turn it into a song of its own. He should have been open about it in the liner notes though.

i don't have a problem with it as such, either. but it's just another one of those

semi hypocritical moments. prince is always going on about covers and such or

about people taking from him and yet he then puts this on his album and not a

word about it in the liner notes. that's just messed up.

Damnnnnnnn! That is a pretty blatant rip there P! Much more then just being influenced by this song...no wonder Colonized Mind is such a cool song casue this track is very deep!

ludwig said:

Nivivrus said:

And wasn't aspects of Guitar ripped from other songs as well?

The guitar riff is very similar to the one in U2's "I will follow", and the chorus is similar to The Beatle's "Back in the USSR".

Yeah, but those are very basic chords, very basic patterns.

BTW, I love both songs. I love "Guitar" live its ace.

luvsexy4all said:

just because its similar style doesnt mean its a ripoff....

It's hardly just in the same style though, is it?

jasontate said:

luvsexy4all said:

just because its similar style doesnt mean its a ripoff....

It's hardly just in the same style though, is it?

P could have heard the song 20 years ago and subconsciously used it. IDK. But yeah, I get the feeling if it was the other way around people would consider this one stolen/used/borrowed/copied to a degree but I don't know many in the music industry that do not do.

SuperFurryAnimal said:

jasontate said:

It's hardly just in the same style though, is it?

P could have heard the song 20 years ago and subconsciously used it. IDK. But yeah, I get the feeling if it was the other way around people would consider this one stolen/used/borrowed/copied to a degree but I don't know many in the music industry that do not do.

Oh come on, prince isn't holy. And "everyone else is doing the same" is not a good argument.

[Edited 8/10/12 10:49am]

Let's not forget, however, that a big part of the appeal of "Colonized Mind" lies on the chorus.

I don't know. I kinda dig it when musicians use other people's material to build new songs from. That's just essentially what music was about for several thousand years before somebody invented laws to prevent it.

ludwig said:

SuperFurryAnimal said:

P could have heard the song 20 years ago and subconsciously used it. IDK. But yeah, I get the feeling if it was the other way around people would consider this one stolen/used/borrowed/copied to a degree but I don't know many in the music industry that do not do.

Oh come on, prince isn't holy. And "everyone else is doing the same" is not a good argument.

[Edited 8/10/12 10:49am]

but if this one went to the courts would they have a case? It's similar in style and structure but is it a complete rip? When the rubber meets the road.. I don't think so.

SuperFurryAnimal said:

ludwig said:

Oh come on, prince isn't holy. And "everyone else is doing the same" is not a good argument.

[Edited 8/10/12 10:49am]

but if this one went to the courts would they have a case? It's similar in style and structure but is it a complete rip? When the rubber meets the road.. I don't think so.

The feel of it may be the same but really it's not up there with the songs that have seen successful lawsuits (Men at Work I'm looking at you).

I must say thanks for posting this link up though. Very nice song and her voice is great. Nice to hear someone I haven't heard of before.

Got to ask, how did someone make this connection?

Although "Colonized Mind" is one of my favorite Prince songs, definitely in my favorite top ten, I can agree that there is a definite possibility that "Colonized Mind" is based on the chord structure and progress of "Quit It." And, if he just stole this structure without giving credit, that is wrong and may possibly give weight to other charges of him stealing songs. And, of course, this becomes a great example for those who want to say that Prince is "washed up" or "no longer has it" because he must steal from others. But, since I like "Colonized Mind" and find the guitar work more creative than "Quit It," I wonder how much of the negative critique of "Colonized Mind" as a rip-off is because it is structured on "Quit It" and how much of the negative critique of the song is because he did not give credit to "Quit It". If Prince would have cited or listed "Colonized Mind" as a remake of "Quit It" or if he would have just given album/writing credit to "Quit It" as the blueprint for the song, would there be as much criticism of the song or of Prince as a washed up thief?

iloveannie said:

SuperFurryAnimal said:

but if this one went to the courts would they have a case? It's similar in style and structure but is it a complete rip? When the rubber meets the road.. I don't think so.

The feel of it may be the same but really it's not up there with the songs that have seen successful lawsuits (Men at Work I'm looking at you).

I must say thanks for posting this link up though. Very nice song and her voice is great. Nice to hear someone I haven't heard of before.

Got to ask, how did someone make this connection?

Someone made the connection on the org a long time ago.

1725topp said:

Although "Colonized Mind" is one of my favorite Prince songs, definitely in my favorite top ten, I can agree that there is a definite possibility that "Colonized Mind" is based on the chord structure and progress of "Quit It." And, if he just stole this structure without giving credit, that is wrong and may possibly give weight to other charges of him stealing songs. And, of course, this becomes a great example for those who want to say that Prince is "washed up" or "no longer has it" because he must steal from others. But, since I like "Colonized Mind" and find the guitar work more creative than "Quit It," I wonder how much of the negative critique of "Colonized Mind" as a rip-off is because it is structured on "Quit It" and how much of the negative critique of the song is because he did not give credit to "Quit It". If Prince would have cited or listed "Colonized Mind" as a remake of "Quit It" or if he would have just given album/writing credit to "Quit It" as the blueprint for the song, would there be as much criticism of the song or of Prince as a washed up thief?

Nope, based on what I hear I don't believe it's a complete rip and I don't believe they would have a case. It's like way back when people would make comparisons to the song "Now" from the GoldExp vs. Onyx's "Slam!" the chorus and beat (the drum beat is very similar) to a degree sound similar and could be an inspiration but not a complete rip.

Like a Prayer.

Madonna finds it reductive and is not pleased.

I like it and could care less where he got the inspiration for it from

SuperFurryAnimal said:

Now THAT'S a great song

nursev said:

I like it and could care less where he got the inspiration for it from

You "could" care less? Surely you mean you could "not" care less?

Being pedantic I know

1725topp said:

Although "Colonized Mind" is one of my favorite Prince songs, definitely in my favorite top ten, I can agree that there is a definite possibility that "Colonized Mind" is based on the chord structure and progress of "Quit It." And, if he just stole this structure without giving credit, that is wrong and may possibly give weight to other charges of him stealing songs. And, of course, this becomes a great example for those who want to say that Prince is "washed up" or "no longer has it" because he must steal from others. But, since I like "Colonized Mind" and find the guitar work more creative than "Quit It," I wonder how much of the negative critique of "Colonized Mind" as a rip-off is because it is structured on "Quit It" and how much of the negative critique of the song is because he did not give credit to "Quit It". If Prince would have cited or listed "Colonized Mind" as a remake of "Quit It" or if he would have just given album/writing credit to "Quit It" as the blueprint for the song, would there be as much criticism of the song or of Prince as a washed up thief?

My points exactly!