Quote:
Originally Posted by RM
That's fair and square. I just find the melody lines eerily like Lightfoot up until the point he, as you say, 'bends' it
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i believe Michael Masser used that verb in his defense, lol:
In April of 1987, Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, alleging that Masser's song "The Greatest Love of All" (recorded by Whitney Houston) stole twenty-four bars from Lightfoot's 1969 hit "If You Could Read My Mind." According to Maclean's, Lightfoot commented, "It really rubbed me the wrong way. I don't want the present-day generation to think that I stole my song from him." Unlikely, though Lightfoot himself has always remained cautious and questioning about the industry. Said Toronto promoter Bernie Fiedler, "I don't think Gordon realizes that he has a tremendous talent. When intelligentsia of the music business courted him, he felt threatened. He's a cautious man who won't take chances."
for those who don't think it's obvious, for example, give a listen to the sections "No matter what they take from me they can't take away my dignity..." from Whitney's recording
then "And I will never be set free as long as I'm a ghost that you can't see..." from Gord
apologies, this doesn't belong in this thread really as we've been discussing 'influences of songwriting mentors' and not out right plageurism....chord progressions and melody aside, lyrically they even have the hard "ee" rhyme match