It never registered with me att that “El Bimbo” was this big worldwide - apparently it missed the top 30/40 over here two years in a row - and I had no idea about its afterlife: Hearing it now seems more than likely that it was a conscious source of inspiration, without “Atomic” being in any way plagiaristic. (the Spanish emcee’ing is not part of the (original) recording) Ooh, it’s *that* track! remember it from the radio, think some deejay here used it as theme music for their show - and yes, you’re right, it does!

Decker also noted that even though 'Joyful Noise' is written in the key of A and 'Dark Horse' is written in B-flat, that's only a difference of a half step. The phrases also have a similar timbre - or distinctive quality of sound - using synthesized sounds to create a 'pingy,' artificial sound in the beat, Decker explained.Įven the texture of the sound in the phrases, such as the number of instruments being used, is unusually 'empty,' Decker said, with both introducing their beats in isolation.ĭespite the phrases ending with two different notes, Decker said 'Dark Horse' uses a similar dip down in pitch to end the ostinato.

He eventually isolated an eight-note melodic phrase beginning with four C-notes and two B-notes that he said seemed to indicate some musical borrowing on the part of Perry's songwriters.ĭecker said the melody for both phrases sits on the same note for four beats before descending in pitch. What's really blowing my mind right now is that Chris and Tom Hooper from Grapes of Wrath (an actual brother band!) are rocking the exact same look as Gary Louris from the Jayhawks (a psuedo brother band).įor the curious, here is what an expert witness for the rap artists - musicologist Todd Decker - testified on Friday (as reported in Law 360):įor this suit, Decker said he listened to Gray's 2008 song 'Joyful Noise' and Perry's 2013 song 'Dark Horse' back to back 'countless times' before plunking notes out on a piano to try to figure out any similar-sounding patterns between the two songs. But the Grapes of Wrath song sounds more similar, actually. Pray for Me came out three years before Fire Escape, Miles Zuniga from Fastball is a documented fan of the Jayhawks, etc etc. I thought that Fastball guitar riff came from here:

Whosampled billy paul war of the gods