Tag: i Won’t Back Down

“Stay With Me” Because “I Won’t Back Down”

Recently it was revealed that Sam Smith had agreed to pay royalties from his mega-hit “Stay With Me” to Tom Petty because of the similarity between Smith’s song and Petty’s 1989 hit “I Won’t Back Down.” The deal also involved giving credit to Jeff Lynne (of ELO fame), who contributed to Petty’s song.

Prior to the announcement, a number of folks had noticed the similarity between the two songs. Below is on the the mash-ups from YouTube.

Meanwhile, Slate argues that the reason Petty’s representatives have heard similarities between Petty’s songs and other hits at least three times is because Petty’s music uses basic rock and roll progressions. And, they explain, it is hard to avoid the basics. As for Petty, he released a statement saying he has no hard feelings against Sam Smith and understands how these things happen.

What do you think? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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