11/29/10

Why Does Everyone Rip Off "Tommy?"

I have a weird issue where I often feel that every band in the world is ripping off The Who's "Tommy."  And of course, I'm usually correct.  However, usually I'm not sitting at my computer when I notice this.  [Editor's note:  yes I am, I just never think to blog about it.  I'm always sitting at my computer.]  Well, they're not going to get away with it this time!  "They" being Belle and Sebastian, those lovable Scots who never met a pipe organ riff they didn't like.  On their new album "Write About Love," B&S have a song that I would say is about 80% composed of a song off of "Tommy."  In particular, the movie soundtrack version of "Tommy," which features different instrumentation (among other differences) from the album version.  The rip-offage occurs right off the bat, getting really obvious once the drums and organ kick in (about 8 seconds in). 

You be the judge:

"I'm Not Living In The Real World" by Belle and Sebastian:


"Go to the Mirror (OST version)" by The Who:


Eh?

By the way, that's Jack Nicholson singing on "Go to the Mirror."  Top that, Scots!

3 comments:

John Das Binky said...

I promise, I will never rip off Tommy. Ever.

Newmanium Reveler said...

Ripoffage/homage. Blatant/brilliant. See how similar things are, even though they have completely different meanings???

But yeah. This is pretty undeniable.

Anonymous said...

Great spot. A good chunk of the next song on the album - The Ghost of Rockschool - is just a speeded up version of U2's All I Want is You.