Are you a heady, rock’n roll-loving soul who likes Tom Petty? Have you smoked marijuana to “Last Dance With Mary Jane” at least once during a break-up? Have you had a sing-a-long to “American Girl” while cruising on a roadtrip with your friends? Congrats! You’re a human being!
Tom Petty is without a doubt a beloved rock’n roll icon. But his music is often criticized by musicians for simple three chord progressions that any jackass with an $80 Washburn off Craigslist can play. Or rip-off, in the case of Sam Smith.
A bunch of people started noticing that Sam Smith’s hit single,”Stay With Me,” sounded A LOT like Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Someone made a mashup of noting the similarities between the two songs on YouTube last July. Now Petty will receive a writing credit on the song, though it’s up for the lawyers to sort out whether he’ll get royalties. Via Gawker:
“Not previously familiar with the 1989 Petty/Lynne song, the writers of Stay With Me listened to I Won’t Back Down and acknowledged the similarity. Although the likeness was a complete coincidence, all involved came to an immediate and amicable agreement,” a spokesperson for Smith said.
Listen to it. Uncanny how similar the songs are.