Warning: If you are die hard Led Zeppelin fan, it would be best to stop reading this post now, unless you want to see your idols shit on.
For those of you that are regular readers of my blog, you know that every Monday, I post a blog entitled Mash Up Monday. A mashup is when you take two or more songs and mix them together to make one song. This week's post was of a mix that consisted primarily of Green Day's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams' and Oasis' 'Wonderwall'. If you listen to the song, it's hard to imagine why Green Day wasn't sued for copyright infringement. The melody is very similar. The chord progression is practically identical. It's uncanny how much the songs sound alike.
That, in a way, is the theme of Kirby Ferguson's 'Everything is a Remix'. Since the late 70s, artists have been sampling beats from other songs to the point that, today, we don't even notice. Nothing is original anymore. Everything is heavily influenced by, or is a cover of someone else. Sometimes, it's just blatantly ripped off. That was the case with Led Zeppelin. Turns out, they just redid a bunch of little known blues songs on electric guitars. They didn't change any of the notes. In most cases, they didn't change the lyrics. Yet Robert Plant and Jimmy Page still listed themselves as the songwriters. Take a look. It's very educational. Be sure to watch all the way to the end of the clip.
Part two of the series is about the lack of originality in film. Sorry 'Star Wars' fans. George Lucas is next. I'll post about him tomorrow.
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