Musical Interpretations

I couldn't really decide on an artist to feature with this post, but I still needed to put up something, so instead I'm going to pseudo steal a post from Soul Sides, an amazing music blog about all sorts of rhythmic music from soul to hip hop. An observant reader of soul sides noticed the songs Slow Dance by John Legend and He Can Only Hold Her by Amy Winehouse have very similar intros and chord progressions. Well Mr. Wang, the author of Soul Sides, quickly realized this was because both songs were based on The Icemen's 1966 single My Girl, She's a Fox.

The Icemen - My Girl, She's a Fox

Now sampling ideas from music is nothing new, but I found it interesting that both of these artists took the basic format of the song, including the little 'da da da da' line and incorporated it into a new song with different lyrics. I never knew of The Icemen song but I had heard both the Winehouse and Legend versions before reading the post, but I never put two and two together.

I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing both artists used the song with permission, as the similarities are definitely close enough to get sued for if not. Amy Winehouse picks the tempo up a little in her version and is more liberal with the songs use, but its still the same basic idea. John Legend reworks the lyrics but maintains the original tempo and feel of the song. I think his version is really the strongest as the lyrics just seem to fit so well with the song. In the end I think its just really impressive how one main idea can form the basis for three different songs which all have their own unique feel. I really love all three of these tracks, and don't consider any of them to be the same song.

John Legend - Slow Dance

Amy Winehouse - He Can Only Hold Her


And as a bonus, the live version of He Can Only Hold Her where Amy breaks into a certain Lauryn Hill song at the end. Pretty sweet.

Amy Winehouse - He Can Only Hold Her (live)


-Alec