Compare the guitar riff during the intro of both songs

Thin Lizzy - Sarah

Prince - Baltimore
https://soundcloud.com/pr.../baltimore

So you think Prince stealing music again? is that your out right accusation???

The only thing I see is the dude trying to look like Prince facially

How amazing that its taken 30 years for someone to notice this. You should sue Prince on their behalf.

bluegangsta said:

How amazing that its taken 30 years for someone to notice this. You should sue Prince on their behalf.

The Prince song referred to has only been out for 2 days...

PopcornFetus said:

bluegangsta said:

How amazing that its taken 30 years for someone to notice this. You should sue Prince on their behalf.

The Prince song referred to has only been out for 2 days...

Really? I thought is was Raspberry Beret? Sounds nothing like Baltimore?

luv4u said:

I thought of Raspberry Beret as well, but I can see where Baltimore & Sarah sound similar; it's really only around the guitar riff though.

I don't see or hear any similarities - it can't be "stealing" imo:


I am a fan, and Thin Lizzy "Sarah" is a great ballad, btw the band was huge in Europe (Denmark) in the mid- and second half of the 70s.


Thin Lizzy classics:
"Whisky In The Jar"
"The Boys Are Back In Town"
"Don't Believe A Word"
"Waiting For An Alibi"

the new song "Baltimore" by Prince is not good (imo), it's rather bad unfortunately.

Nothing classic about that. IMO:

The guitar playing on Baltimore actually sounds more reminiscent of early Thin Lizzy (early 70's) than Black Rose era. But anyway, to call this a lift of Sarah is really pushing it.

[Edited 5/12/15 1:53am]

luv4u said:

So you think Prince stealing music again? is that your out right accusation???

The only thing I see is the dude trying to look like Prince facially

I don't know if your reply is some kind of joke or if you're being serious, but the song and video were released in October of 1979 and Prince didn't have "that look" until late 81 or early 82, during the Controversy tour. Check out the pic of the Sarah single.

Here is a pic of Thin Lizzy's 1977 (febuary 16 1977 in Germany) single Waiting For An Alibi with Phil Lynott's hair coming down over one eye. This was before Prince even had a record deal.

thedance said:

I don't see or hear any similarities - it can't be "stealing" imo:


I am a fan, and Thin Lizzy "Sarah" is a great ballad, btw the band was huge in Europe (Denmark) in the mid- and second half of the 70s.


Thin Lizzy classics:
"Whisky In The Jar"
"The Boys Are Back In Town"
"Don't Believe A Word"
"Waiting For An Alibi"

the new song "Baltimore" by Prince is not good (imo), it's rather bad unfortunately.

Nothing classic about that. IMO:

You and some other people on this site are living proof that De Nile ain't just the name of a river in Africa. You don't hear it, because you don't want to hear it. I refuse to believe that you can't hear that the opening guitar riffs of both songs are the same. Prince's is at a slightly slower tempo, but other than that, they are the same.

I guess you would also deny what I posted on this thread, as well
http://prince.org/msg/8/4...?&pg=4

[Edited 5/12/15 4:27am]

therat said:

thedance said:

I don't see or hear any similarities - it can't be "stealing" imo:


I am a fan, and Thin Lizzy "Sarah" is a great ballad, btw the band was huge in Europe (Denmark) in the mid- and second half of the 70s.


Thin Lizzy classics:
"Whisky In The Jar"
"The Boys Are Back In Town"
"Don't Believe A Word"
"Waiting For An Alibi"

the new song "Baltimore" by Prince is not good (imo), it's rather bad unfortunately.

Nothing classic about that. IMO:

You and some other people on this site are living proof that De Nile ain't just the name of a river in Africa. You don't hear it, because you don't want to hear it. I refuse to believe that you can't hear that the opening guitar riffs of both songs are the same. Prince's is at a slightly slower tempo, but other than that, they are the same.

I guess you would also deny what I posted on this thread, as well
http://prince.org/msg/8/4...?&pg=4

[Edited 5/12/15 4:27am]

I can hear it. But it's just a few notes, not even the full phrase. Besides all the rest of the instrumentation, not to mention the song, are different. But sure, call people deniers because they won't agree with you

therat said:

They are similiar but not exact.

That is such a simple riff that it could easily be coincidence..........or not.

therat said:

thedance said:

I don't see or hear any similarities - it can't be "stealing" imo:


I am a fan, and Thin Lizzy "Sarah" is a great ballad, btw the band was huge in Europe (Denmark) in the mid- and second half of the 70s.


Thin Lizzy classics:
"Whisky In The Jar"
"The Boys Are Back In Town"
"Don't Believe A Word"
"Waiting For An Alibi"

the new song "Baltimore" by Prince is not good (imo), it's rather bad unfortunately.

Nothing classic about that. IMO:

You and some other people on this site are living proof that De Nile ain't just the name of a river in Africa. You don't hear it, because you don't want to hear it. I refuse to believe that you can't hear that the opening guitar riffs of both songs are the same. Prince's is at a slightly slower tempo, but other than that, they are the same.

I guess you would also deny what I posted on this thread, as well
http://prince.org/msg/8/4...?&pg=4

[Edited 5/12/15 4:27am]

.

actually its you and some other people that need to learn the difference between stealing and possibly being influenced by something.

.

all you and the others like you want to do is stir up shit. get a lilfe.

.

"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." - Salvador Dali

.

12 notes in the world, sometimes things are going to be similar.

[Edited 5/12/15 7:00am]

UncleGrandpa said:

I hear it with the guitar riff so I'm inclined to believe that this is no coincidence just as he was called out for taking from Miriam Makeba for Colonized Mind. It's lazy at the bare minimum and approaching Robin Thicke/Bruno Mars territory.

Incline away, i'm inclined to think that it's laughable to call it a rip off. It's nowhere near Robin Thicke/Bruno Mars territory since that was about a vibe and the production not a specific sequence of notes. Miriam Makeba was almost a cover, and assuming he didn't get permission it was not cool.

Thin Lizzy song is about a thousand time better btw

[Edited 5/12/15 7:08am]

Love Sarah.

... Did Prince rip it off? Hardly.

There are dozens of Prince songs actually strike that, there are millions of songs that sound similar to other music but are not copies. Seriously, you could go through Chuck Berry's catalog and find every famous guitar riff that people think was created by others. Musicians learn to play by mimicking, you learn how to write songs by mimicking and you repeat and repeat until your voice and sound starts coming through. It's why most music sounds familiar, most artists have the same hero's in whatever genre of music they perform like RNB(Prince, Stevie, Marvin, Donnie, etc) so there ends up being many different artists copying their hero's and ending up producing a product that sounds similar to each other and borrowed from the past. However, that doesn't make them theives, so please don't outright say anyone stole anything from another artist unless it is note for note and there is no doubt about it. Singers have taken riffs and runs from other artists is that stealing? No. If you heard a lead guitar line and liked it and played it over and over and over and then made changes to it that are yours and what you would do to it, is it stolen? No. I can't tell you how many piano parts in songs I've loved and learned to play and played them over and over and then added and took away from them to create something that's mine. It's how I and so many musicians learned.

Love Thin Lizzy, love "Sarah", didn't make this connection - and I don't hear it.

Keep reaching for the stars though!

Polo1026 said:

THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY NOTES YOU CAN ARRANGE, PEOPLE.

And when a key is selected, the ear, BY DEFINITION, hears harmonics that are suggestive of all the other songs written in that key.

with 12 notes to chose from some degree of overlap is just inevitable, especially given all the music that gets created these days.

Is some of it a little bit more than that?

Maybe.

So what?

Picasso said: "good artists borrow, great artists steal."

And his Women of Algiers just dold for 170 Million, highest price ever paid at auction.

Okay OP. So Prince is a thief. Does that make you feel better?

Will it tarnish his image or negate the overwhelmingly positive news he's gotten the past two days which probably bothers the crap out of you? No.

Prince is a thief yall.

There. Now what?

therat said:

luv4u said:

So you think Prince stealing music again? is that your out right accusation???

The only thing I see is the dude trying to look like Prince facially

I don't know if your reply is some kind of joke or if you're being serious, but the song and video were released in October of 1979 and Prince didn't have "that look" until late 81 or early 82, during the Controversy tour. Check out the pic of the Sarah single.

Here is a pic of Thin Lizzy's 1977 (febuary 16 1977 in Germany) single Waiting For An Alibi with Phil Lynott's hair coming down over one eye. This was before Prince even had a record deal.

Yeah. What did Churchhill say about fanatics? They can't change their mind and won't change the subject. If it's not about Prince, they don't have a clue.

RJOrion said:

Polo1026 said:

There are dozens of Prince songs actually strike that, there are millions of songs that sound similar to other music but are not copies. Seriously, you could go through Chuck Berry's catalog and find every famous guitar riff that people think was created by others. Musicians learn to play by mimicking, you learn how to write songs by mimicking and you repeat and repeat until your voice and sound starts coming through. It's why most music sounds familiar, most artists have the same hero's in whatever genre of music they perform like RNB(Prince, Stevie, Marvin, Donnie, etc) so there ends up being many different artists copying their hero's and ending up producing a product that sounds similar to each other and borrowed from the past. However, that doesn't make them theives, so please don't outright say anyone stole anything from another artist unless it is note for note and there is no doubt about it. Singers have taken riffs and runs from other artists is that stealing? No. If you heard a lead guitar line and liked it and played it over and over and over and then made changes to it that are yours and what you would do to it, is it stolen? No. I can't tell you how many piano parts in songs I've loved and learned to play and played them over and over and then added and took away from them to create something that's mine. It's how I and so many musicians learned.

yep....just like the keyboard riff from Vanhalen - 'Jump', is similar to the keyboard riff from the song, "Dirty Mind"....happens all the time...

How about "Invisible Man" by Queen sounding like "Ghostbusters"? "Ghostbusters" WAS a rip-off of "I want a new drug" by Huey Lewis, but "Invisible Man" sounds more like it was just inspired by GBusters.

[Edited 5/12/15 14:06pm]

[Edited 5/12/15 14:07pm]

Remember, Phil Lynott fronted a band called Grand Slam as well. Sound familiar?

When I hear Baltimore, I feel like I hear an older Prince song, but cannot place it. It is more specific to the guitar riff at the beginning ...... can anyone help or guess? For the life of me I cannot place it! At first I thought Steely Dan, Hey Nineteen, it's close but I know there is an older Prince song...... Help!

RJOrion said:

luv4u said:

So you think Prince stealing music again? is that your out right accusation???

The only thing I see is the dude trying to look like Prince facially

Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy looked like that b4 Prince did...Andre Cymone was quoted as saying they were Thin Lizzy fans as youths, so it could be possible he was influenced...