Musical Convergence

Jun 6, 08:40 PM

Going through the Catholic Book of Worship, III.

Has anyone ever noticed that the song Abba, Father is a lot like the intro to the theme song from “Chariots of Fire”?

And that “You are the Voice” harmonizes perfectly with the chorus of Piano Man?

It’s more obvious with a piano-driven choir, rather than guitar-driven, but you can get the idea:

You ........... are .. the voice
Sing us a song, you’re the piano man,

of the li – ving God, calling us now
...... sing us a song, tonight,

To live .................. in your love,
Well we’re all in the mood for a melody,

to be children of God once again.
and .. you got us fee-ling alright.

Coincidence? I think not… I just can’t decide if there’s an insidious plot behind it, or if people are just very unoriginal.

— Catherine Nolan

Comment

  1. Well, I think it has to do alot with the chord progressions, which people often use the same or similar, and usually without knowing it themselves. And then theres always the same three chords that people play over for other songs that then becomes unoriginal. If you’ve seen Moulan Rouge you’ve heard them put together a good amount of different popular songs which were quite original into the same chord progression. I think the question has to be modified, so, of what is original or not. Would being original then be using new chord progressions that have never been done before? Or old progressions in a new way? What is originality? Shakespeare hardly had (if any) original plots. (aka, ones he came up with himself) His plays are based upon other stories that he rewrites into these plays, its the way he does it. Makes them completely original, yet are they?

    — Rob K · Jun 7, 12:30 AM · #

  2. Chord progressions are definitely part of it, but don’t explain all… The melody lines are similar as well. In “Abba, Father,” both the melody and timing are coincidental, and in “You are the Voice,” the last couple of bars have the same melody line, as well.

    And I agree, there is definitely a tradition of artists and composers using others’ works: look at all the folk songs that Beethoven used. Still, it’s one thing to do it on purpose, and another to do it accidentally. If one does it on purpose, without saying so (“Abba, Father: Variations on Vangelis”), one wonders why…

    — Catherine · Jun 8, 10:49 AM · #

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