Where was Mr Brightside's refrain stolen from???

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It's so familiar and we can't find the right answer with my girlfriend. Please, help!

― zeus, Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:08 (twenty-one years ago)

What part are you referring to, here? Can you point me to it with lyrics?

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Placebo.

― splates, Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I cant remember which song though.

― splates (splates), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm referring to this part:

"Jealousy, turning saints into the sea
Swimming through sick lullabies
Choking on your alibi
But it?s just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
?Cause I?m Mr Brightside"

It can be Placebo, though, but which one?

― zeus, Sunday, 27 February 2005 10:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Special K, maybe? At a pinch... (the "no escaping gravity" bit after the chorus, I suppose).

― edward o (edwardo), Sunday, 27 February 2005 10:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, "Special K" by Placebo was the first thing to come to my mind when I first heard it. "Make a heavy sound", all that stuff.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 27 February 2005 11:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Always reminds me of Bowie's "Queen Bitch" - "... I'm phoning a cab cos my stomach feels small" etc etc

― Mike Donnelly, Sunday, 27 February 2005 12:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Nothing to do with the refrain, but Mr. Brightside reminds me of "Ode to Joy", especially around the 3 minute mark.

― Gregory T (tubesocks), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:14 (twenty-one years ago)

What is he singing at the end of the song? That part always reminded me of "Better Man" by Pearl Jam - they're in the same key too.

― billstevejim, Sunday, 27 February 2005 18:23 (twenty-one years ago)

The cadence in the verses bares a striking similarity to Underworld's "Born Slippy".

― Tantrum (Tantrum The Cat), Sunday, 27 February 2005 18:25 (twenty-one years ago)

OTM!

Sounds like "I never" to me. And I totally believe that Brandon Flowers never.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 27 February 2005 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

my favorite part of the video is at the end when he does that weird gesture in time with the last 3 notes of the song that can be described only as a foppish bitchslap and he has an expression on his face that looks like he's trying to hide the fact that he's cracking up.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

"Dreamin'" by Blondie

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:13 (twenty-one years ago)

...is the answer.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

woah

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha, I checked and they're almost in the same key, too. "Dreaming" is in D major, "Mr. Brightside" is in C# major.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Well the verse is a direct steal from Bowie's Queen Bitch. I know this cause I asked the drummer.

― elwisty (elwisty), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude was asking about the chorus, though.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha, I checked and they're almost in the same key, too. "Dreaming" is in D major, "Mr. Brightside" is in C# major.

I'm no expert, but... isn't a halftone off about as different as it can get, harmonically speaking?

― OleM (OleM), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, but I don't think that matters. The point is that, pitch-wise, they're very close. I mean, listen to the choruses on the two songs back to back and there's no mistaking it.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:48 (twenty-one years ago)

The increasingly fevered rush of the refrain reminds me a lot of Pulp's "Mis-Shapes."

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 28 February 2005 03:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Yep it's 'Special K' by Placebo

― splates (splates), Monday, 28 February 2005 08:15 (twenty-one years ago)

The verses' rhythm remind me a lot of "I don't like your face" Furious Pig...

― MGrout, Monday, 28 February 2005 10:25 (twenty-one years ago)

The Placebo link doesn't extend much beyond the word "gravity" (in "Special K"), the guitar intro on the Blondie song comes a little bit closer. I still wouldn't call it theft though...

― JoB (JoB), Monday, 28 February 2005 11:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, I listened 'Special K' again, and this should be the winner.
Though I thought of the guitar in 'Dreaming' too.
What is really annoying in this song is the voice of Brandon Flowers. Almost as bad as Eddie Vedder. The music is OK.

― zeus, Monday, 28 February 2005 22:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know about the guitar, but it's the vocal melody in the refrain that was obviously nicked from the vocal melody in the chorus of "Dreaming."

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 28 February 2005 22:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Special K, maybe? At a pinch... (the "no escaping gravity" bit after the chorus, I suppose).
-- edward o (edwardo...), February 27th, 2005.
Yeah, "Special K" by Placebo was the first thing to come to my mind when I first heard it. "Make a heavy sound", all that stuff.

-- Dom Passantino (juror...), February 27th, 2005.

haha I always half-expect him to sing "gravity" instead of "jealousy" too! I'd assumed it was just me.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 28 February 2005 23:01 (twenty-one years ago)

> "Dreamin'" by Blondie

Less this, more "You Might Think" by the Cars. Let's not go directly linking (probably) my favorite song ever to a song that I like a bunch but will be through with before summer.

― James.Cobo (jamescobo), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

i would've said muse - "our time is running out".

― mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 2 March 2005 18:27 (twenty-one years ago)

So cribbing from Beethoven, Blondie, the Cars and Placebo all in one song...does that make them some kind of fucking genius or what?

― Huk-L, Wednesday, 2 March 2005 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not hearing the "You Might Think" comparison.

But no matter: the original question was specifically about the melody in the chorus, and that melody is indeed very very very similar to the Blondie song.

Same rhythmic pattern too: BAAAAH da da, ba ba ba ba BAAAAH da da.

― The Mad Puffin, Wednesday, 2 March 2005 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

Film School - On and On
The Replacements - Left of the Dial

I've heard it before on a few other songs. It is to modern songwriters what painting buffalo was to the caveman.

― Cunga, Wednesday, 28 January 2009 05:15 (seventeen years ago)

This was for another thread^

Apologies to all.

― Cunga, Wednesday, 28 January 2009 05:17 (seventeen years ago)

it's New Order i'n'it?

― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 28 January 2009 14:37 (seventeen years ago)

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