I now dub this “CatrianiPlay: The Most Used Melody in Pop Music“. Aside from “Pachelbel’s Canon” which is commonly referenced as one of the most re-used progressions in modern music the following songs all resemble a similar melodic structure. They are not necessarily note-for-note duplicates but they sound alike.
In my first post for this soundalike we saw Reuters reporting that Joe Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit against Coldplay claiming that the, “song ‘Viva La Vida’ incorporated ‘substantial original portions’ of his 2004 instrumental ‘If I Could Fly.'” Then just a few months later Cat Stevens publicly stated that “Viva La Vida” has some similarities to his epic 1973 track “Foreigner Suite” stating , ” [Viva La Vida] definitely sounds like it…It has such logical chords and the melody has to be what it is…” In addition Creaky Boards, a local Brooklyn band posted a clip on YouTube of their ironically titled track “The Songs I Didn’t Write” pointing out the similarities of “Viva La Vida” (apparently released long after Creaky Boards had been performing their song live).
Just when I thought I had all of the examples of this melody in modern pop music I was thrown two more by Paradojan followed by one more from Travis (who has recently submitted a whole slew of great songs). We can now add Mireille Mathieu & Patrick Duffy‘s “Together We’re Strong” (1983), Reamonn‘s “Tonight” (2006) AND Enanitos Verdes – “Frances Limon” (2004) (2002).
And now, in chronological order:
I made a video too:
Corrections in video
“Frances Limon” was released in 2002, not 2004.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amores_lejanos
“Raemonn” is actually spelled “Reamonn
And The Reason Why by John Farnham (1993).
Speaking of John Farnham, She Says to Me (1980) sounds very ABBA-like, with a riff that sounds like that of Ring Ring (1973), but his song, like most of his songs from this stage, was written by Graham Goble.
The guitar solo of Suzanne by Journey (1986) also has the CatrianiPlay melody. While I’m on the subject, Jesus of Suburbia (2004) and On with the Show (1983) also sound kind of like Don’t Stop Believing by Journey (1981).
How Can I Go On by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe (1988) also has the CatrianiPlay melody.
And Joanie and Chachi’s song from Happy Days Season 9 Episode 18 Great Expectations (1982), not to be confused with Great Expectations from Season 1. Unfortunately I can’t find the episode online. You can do another update, but I think it would be an idea to just include a few examples of the melody and have users of this website hear if they’ve heard it anywhere else.
Plus the instrumentals from It’s the Same Old Song by The Four Tops (1965).
You have this one too! 😀
(the part similar to these is at 0:55
Oooo. Thanks!
why does this chorus remind me of Sheena Easton 9 to 5