Tim: Previously we’ve covered new One Direction tracks as soon as they’re out; this year, though…
Tom: We missed them releasing a track?
Tim: No, but I thought it’d be more fun to wait for the inevitable plagiarism allegations to hit, and see which slightly-past-it musician wants to get in the headlines by kicking up a fuss.
Tom: To be fair, Best Song Ever did sound really like Baba O’Reilly.
Tim: Well, possibly. But we should probably hear the new track first, so here it is.
Tom: Strong piano riff. I’m sure I’ve heard it before.
Tim: Possibly, at least according to Chad Gilbert from New Found Glory, who may or may not have an album coming out next week. He reckons they’ve stolen the intro from his 2006 track It’s Not Your Fault, which charted precisely nowhere. Hmm. Admittedly there’s a similarity, but he curiously declined to answer the question of whether he in turn ripped off Journey’s considerably more successful 1983 track Faithfully.
Tom: That’s where I’ve heard it before! There’s a whole lot of new stuff over the top of it though.
Tim: Chad did, though, go on to say that “Music influences music. No one cares.” Who’d have thought it?
Back to the track that matters, though, and if it is a deliberate ripoff then the writers must have been incredibly confident they wouldn’t get sued, because that is basically the track. Over and over and over, with a few words thrown on top for good measure. Fortunately, that piano riff is a very good one, which means we can do our best to ignore the incredibly narcissistic and almost disturbingly possessive lyrics which don’t have anywhere near the same sense of fun and enjoyment they had a couple of years ago.
Tom: “I don’t exist if I don’t have her.” I’m not sure those lyrics work any more in a world where Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé, and dozens of others are more at the top of the charts and out in the public consciousness. Let’s have less of the possession, hm?
Tim: Still, very catchy, very clappy and very enjoyable – I’ll take it.