Thursday, March 3, 2011

Lady Gaga samples 'Lullaby'?

Has Lady Gaga "sampled" a bit of 'Lullaby' in her new song 'Government Hooker'? Listen to that keyboard bit towards the end. Coincidence or intentional? (Thanks Aaron)
Posted by Craig at 10:45 AM

53 comments:

  1. Mr. MandelbrotMarch 3, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    Sounds like that to me. And the song is absolutely awesome.

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  2. vMarch 3, 2011 at 11:25 AM

    Oh yes, I hear it too. I'm digging this track!

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  3. CraigMarch 3, 2011 at 11:26 AM

    Yep. I love this one. Was pretty disappointed with Born This Way, but this is much more like it.

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  4. Fabien GMarch 3, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    The low bass sound behind the 'lullaby' sample sounds like 'the walk' as well to me.
    She certainly has had a Cure influence in her youth, but that doesn't make me like her personna.

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  5. Mr. MandelbrotMarch 3, 2011 at 11:43 AM

    But shouldn't she sample some Queen first? Just saying. This might be a huge hit, despite the annoying intro.

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  6. PussycatMarch 3, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. PussycatMarch 3, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    If there was a sample I would agree it sounds more like The Walk over Lullaby.

    Smooches,
    pussycat
    http://www.cureconnections.com

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  8. UnknownMarch 3, 2011 at 1:40 PM

    No, that's a fairly common keyboard riff. It's not like The Cure were the first to ever use it.

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  9. AnonymousMarch 3, 2011 at 7:51 PM

    thank u maggie!!! the first one in here with some common sense!!!

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  10. andythecurefanMarch 4, 2011 at 12:17 AM

    I didn't hear anything that sounded like The Cure. Can anyone please tell me as to which times you guys are hearing what?

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  11. PietroMarch 4, 2011 at 2:10 AM

    Honestly, I don't hear it. I liked Lady Gaga at first, but when she began going all pretentious and kinda annoying in her videos (I'm looking at you, Bad Romance and Alejandro) I stopped listening to her

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  12. KleeGirlMarch 4, 2011 at 4:08 AM

    I'm not sure what a lot of you are talking about. Like andythecurefan I hear absolutely no similarity between this and 'Lullaby'. If anything perhaps 'The Walk' as Pussycat said and if I may add there's nothing even remarkable about that.

    I have to admit that I'm disappointed. It's bad enough I can't seem to get away from Lady Gaga being pushed in my face everywhere I look but it would seem that she has managed to infiltrate here as well.

    Let's strip it down to basics here, her music's really nothing special and she wouldn't get much attention from the general public if it wasn't for her wild antics and bizarre costumes.

    So we're left with simply 'performance art' which I can appreciate, but see, there's no genuine art and nothing actually original with Lady Gaga.

    All of her 'ideas' are fed to her or 'borrowed' from someone else and she's merely a puppet who likes putting on the show. I would bet that she is actually snickering under her breath at all the millions who bow at her feet and fall for it.

    Well she hasn't fooled me and there are far more talented and interesting artists, i.e. the ones she 'borrowed' ideas from, who are actually worthy of such reverence. And that's who I'm going to choose to be interested in.

    I know, I know 'to each his own' and all that jazz and I'm sorry if you adore her and think she's the bees' knees, I REALLY am. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if this comment were deleted, but Lady Gaga is simply not worth my time and I'm sort of angry at myself for actually devoting a chunk of it to write this comment. But I just had to get it off my chest already.

    Now I can breathe.

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  13. perfect.murderMarch 4, 2011 at 5:44 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. perfect.murderMarch 4, 2011 at 5:47 AM

    I'll never get back those 2 minutes i spent reading your post KleeGirl...

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  15. Fabien GMarch 4, 2011 at 7:26 AM

    at 2min18.

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  16. aaronjlawMarch 4, 2011 at 8:10 AM

    It was a mere comment I read about it, so I thought I would let Craig know. It is a very slight point so I wouldn't worry about it guys...

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  17. CraigMarch 4, 2011 at 8:18 AM

    Seriously! Some people takes things way too seriously. It's a brief little bit, no one is saying the song sounds like Lullaby. If anything, it sounds more like Blue Monday, in a way.

    But there's that very brief, 6 or 7 note keyboard bit that repeats in the song, that sounds like the one of the keyboard parts in Lullaby. If you don't hear it, no harm, no foul. I hear it. So do others. It really makes no difference either way.

    And like it or not, Gaga is/was a Cure fan, and while this is probably just a coincidence, it really wouldn't surprise me if she included this small bit on purpose.

    Anyway, thanks for sending it to me Aaron. I thought it was interesting.

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  18. perfect.murderMarch 4, 2011 at 8:26 AM

    It's quite audible, i think..in fact i was going to post about a Rihanna song i heard yesterday that has a similar 6 or 7 note keyboard bit that's so totally nicked off "The Walk", but i didn't manage to get the name of the song...

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  19. CraigMarch 4, 2011 at 8:40 AM

    Andy - The bit we are talking about repeats throughout various parts of the song, but it starts at 1:34 and repeats every few seconds, then comes in clearer at 2:20 and repeats.

    It sounds like a sped up version of the 7 note keyboard bit in Lullaby that is first heard at the 46 second mark (on the album version).

    And as V and I were discussing yesterday, it's most likely a remix done just for that fashion show, so either way, it may not even be in the album version.

    Again, just something fun to take a listen to. No lives have been lost, no fortunes have been made.

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  20. KateMarch 4, 2011 at 8:51 AM

    Thank you.

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  21. BTSMarch 4, 2011 at 8:52 AM

    Craig,
    I definitely hear the sampled piece to which you are referring; I believe it is more likely a common keyboard riff, BUT... there is a good possibility it is borrowed more as homage than as plagiarism. I'm not a fan of hers, not my kind of music. I don't think KleeGirl is totally off the mark, though. There is something deviously "packaged" about Lady G...In the end, mostly I don't like the music she makes. You can't really sing it. There's no melody, for the most part. Always a good discussion here, though.
    Thanks for the site.

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  22. perfect.murderMarch 4, 2011 at 8:58 AM

    I meant to say "nicked off LGTB", not The Walk,and the track is called S&M...the keyboard bit towards the end is very reminiscent of LGTB.....

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  23. perfect.murderMarch 4, 2011 at 9:01 AM

    In fact it is already on Wikipedia..check the "Composition" paragraph..
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26M_(song)

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  24. Fabien GMarch 4, 2011 at 9:45 AM

    Craig,

    you should know that some of us (I include myself) could talk for hours about anything Cure-related, however stupid and meaningless it is! :)

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  25. MissDrea83March 4, 2011 at 10:41 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  26. MissDrea83March 4, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    I like the song. I can see (or hear for that matter) a similarity to both 'The Walk' and 'Lullaby' however vague.

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  27. sarab543March 4, 2011 at 2:11 PM

    i def hear what you are talking about. interesting..it does have a blue monday, the walk, and lullaby vibe to it. very interesting.

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  28. sarab543March 4, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    only reason i say lullaby vibe is because of that small sample lol

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  29. SOLEDAD NOSDEOMarch 4, 2011 at 2:38 PM

    off topic:
    what happen with all this tracks?

    the faith healer (alex harvey tribute)

    http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/stars-pay-tribute-to-alex-harvey-on-new-lp

    unknown tittle (Steve Hewitt & robert smith)

    http://sucker-love.com/placebonews/?p=128


    unknown tittle japanese popstars (r.s. remix)

    http://beatsmedia.com/future-releases/preview-the-japanese-popstars-release-their-new-single-song-for-lisa/

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  30. chipdandyMarch 4, 2011 at 2:39 PM

    Totally a mixture of lullaby and the walk at 2:18. I still hate her.

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  31. aaronjlawMarch 4, 2011 at 3:40 PM

    http://www.whosampled.com/sample/view/68656/Rihanna-S%26M_The%20Cure-Let's%20Go%20to%20Bed/


    Rihanna bit of LGTB you can actually hear :)

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  32. Sørens OsseMarch 4, 2011 at 5:24 PM

    Rihanna's is very clear.

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  33. Mr. MandelbrotMarch 4, 2011 at 5:51 PM

    People don't seem to understand how things work. She took the sample, made some adjustments to make it match her song's tempo/beat, made some changes to the equalization and this is why it "doesn't" sound like Lullaby. But it's the same riff, sped up. It might have been just redone using a synthesizer, but it is the same notes and the same riff, in a faster tempo.

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  34. KleeGirlMarch 4, 2011 at 5:55 PM

    I'm sorry again, I just sort of snapped earlier because I just don't get the fascination with Lady Gaga and I couldn't understand (for my part) what that song had to do with the Cure. It's my fault really, I haven't been into mainstream stuff since I was a kid in the 80s so I guess I just don't speak the language. And I'm sorry to those of you who feel they were robbed of over 2 minutes of their life reading my rant and hopefully, I didn't rob another minute of it by explaining myself. If it's any consolation I gipped myself more than double that by listening to the song and writing the comment about it and I'm kind of laughing at myself about that. We're all still comrades even if you happen to like Lady Gaga and I do not. :^) We can all love the Cure and not like all of the same things of course. <3

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  35. Mr. MandelbrotMarch 4, 2011 at 5:58 PM

    There is a site with samples of songs where a certain Led Zeppelin drum riff is being sampled, in some songs you can barely tell that it's the Zep drum riff you hear in their record. It's chopped, re-equalized, slowed down/sped up, but it's the same original recording. Maybe not as clear as you hear it in Zep II/III/whatever, but it's there.

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  36. melt05March 5, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    @ KleeGirl. I am with you, and as you mentioned in your first comment about maybe someone would delete it, I think the author only can do that. But please don´t!

    I am not 100% sure, but I think Lady Gaga is aware about the fact that she is doing copy/paste with the Performance Art. For example I remember sawing the flesh dress in an exhibition about ten years ago. Doesn´t she have a Master in that? To me its okay to cite other artworks or make references, but to copy it like one to one is not my cup of tea. That for I appreciate Marina Abramovic for her piece about historic performances, as she is transfering it to another level. But still she got to much upperclass recently and a bit boring. The same will come to Lady Gaga. I will give her a few more years. But I think she is clever enough to search for something distinctive, otherwise she will vanish from everything.

    By the way: I can´t hear Lullaby references in the discussed song as well.

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  37. swiftyMarch 5, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    That song was a lullaby for sure!! I fell asleep half way thru.

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  38. Maniken PYS (LeChienNoir)March 5, 2011 at 11:34 AM

    !! Caution !! This is a big tartine and navel-gazing post, you really will lose 2 minutes of you time.

    Well, yeah, it's fun but it's not like you would put a copyright on seven notes. It's not the main riff of Lullaby either.

    I wouldn't care about Lady Gaga's random drag-queen song. She made better songs. Anyway, even if she reused some stuff from Madonna's videos; I don't think The Cure invented all aspects of their style either. As long as it's better than what you've heard before it's okay but that's subjective too. (Well The Cure did better than the others we will say :). On the other hand, me I preferred Madonna. But things get old.)

    Though, there's the same analogy with a Radiohead song !!
    Somewhere in the middle of "Let down" (3:11 & 3:20, during the break) you hear a riff that is very similar to the end of "Pictures Of You" (7:11). Well it's nice.

    Then, as we speak about Lullaby, I saw on TV an instrumental Japanese-style cover of Lullaby running as playback for a DITA VON TEESE performance called "Burlesque Geisha". (You know, the girlfriend of Marilyn Manson.) I just can't find it on YouTube, sorry.

    !! PULL THE STRINGS !!

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  39. Eli (carnage visors)March 5, 2011 at 2:23 PM

    sample- no
    key- yes
    melody- slightly, not note fore note.

    I see similarities to new order, and the two cure songs, but just kind of. Its not like twinkle twinkle, and ABC, if you notice those are both basically the same song.

    My verdict NOT Guilty

    I think she, or whoever was not deliberate, but may has been influenced by said music, while writing this song. I also recognize the tone and voices used for the bass part, and the lullaby sounding melody, I have those on my Micro Korg as factory presets. I don't think sampling was done here.

    To me, the style of this song would be very lords of acid.

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  40. FrankMarch 6, 2011 at 12:26 AM

    @andy, pietro, kleegirl: it's very obvious. the hook in lullaby after the string section hook, the one that sounds like a violin being plucked in pizzicato fashion (and "mimed" that way by one of the band members in the video) is the same exact melody (just in a different key) as the one in the last 20 to 30 seconds of the gaga song. when posters above said "at the end", i simply advanced the player to the end, and it was playing immediately, and like i said, blatantly clear.

    @perfectmurder: i thought maybe you were talking about the progression in the chorus of "shut up and drive" by rihanna, which is identical to the main progression of "the walk" (and, of course, "blue monday" by new order).

    @mrmandelbrot: if it's "redone with a synthesizer" as opposed to actually RECORDED and lifted from the original recording and inserted into a new song, then it's not a "sample."

    @maniken: my favorite radiohead AND cure songs!

    @carnage: it IS, in fact, "note for note." it's not "slightly" similar. and "twinkle, twinkle, little star" and "the alphabet song" are the EXACT same song, not virtually so.

    @EVERYONE: as a musician and songwriter, i can tell you that there is nothing new under the sun. there are only so many different permutations you can achieve by playing with the sequence of the notes and chords you "write"...there are only 12 notes in the scale, so in pop or rock or really ANY kind of music, repetition to some extent is inevitable. you could search and find probably 50 songs that share a riff or line with just about ANY song. example: "maybe someday" (crappy cure song from their worst album) has the same exact chord pattern in the verse as "building a mystery" by sarah mclachlan, "one of us" by joan osborne, "holiday" by green day, "zombie" by the cranberries, and like 100 other songs. so it's possible she purposely "quoted" the hook, but just as possible that it was simply a logical, music theory-sound melody line to write over that passage and it just came into her head as if anew, just as it did when robert (or roger or whomever) originally "wrote" it into "lullaby."

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  41. FrankMarch 6, 2011 at 12:36 AM

    oh, and also...the riff actually appears as early as 1:34, in what i would presume would be the "chorus", immediately as she finishes singing the lines "i'm gonna drink my tears tonight", "i'm gonna drink my tears and cry", and "cause i know you love me baby."

    and carnage, it's not at all in the same key..."lullaby" is in C# (the riff is C#-C#-Eb-C#-E-C#-E-Eb-C#), and this song is in F# (riff=F#-F#-A-F#-Bb-F#-Bb-A-F#).

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  42. Mr. MandelbrotMarch 6, 2011 at 9:30 AM

    I know that if it's rerecorded it's not a sample, only Gaga herself can tell what happened. To me it sounds like a sample, though. A sample is just that, a sample, extracted off something. For the record, to be considered plagiarism there must be a certain number of bars that must be exactly the same - notes, tempos - or very close to the original song, and a few notes aren't in that category, it's not the case this time. I didn't say either that it's the "main" riff of Lullaby. It's one of the main riffs, if you want it. I could go on forever on Gaga's methods of being famous (copy and paste? Come on, even George Harrison was accused of plagiarism!), but that's not the point. We're not discussing Gaga here. We could go on forever on "inspiration" vs. "plagiarism" vs. "talent" as well. See Coldplay as an example. Or Oasis.

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  43. Mr. MandelbrotMarch 6, 2011 at 9:42 AM

    This site is so much fun: http://www.whosampled.com/
    It will destroy some magic you thought your idols have though.

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  44. sofiaMarch 6, 2011 at 1:01 PM

    and melt05 wins 5000 internet points for mentioning marina abramovic in a cure post (it's not a lady gaga post. it's NOT)!

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  45. melt05March 6, 2011 at 2:35 PM

    Thank you sofia! I am blushed. Can I buy some Cure-Rarities with the winning points? Would be fun...

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  46. FrankMarch 6, 2011 at 8:04 PM

    hi sofia.

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  47. sofiaMarch 6, 2011 at 11:42 PM

    frank r is that you? holy holy.

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  48. qMarch 8, 2011 at 4:18 AM

    yep. small world.

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  49. Maniken PYS (LeChienNoir)March 8, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    This is a nice Sample !! :)

    Skreatch feat John Green : Roxanne's lullaby (Official video)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO_XWPnLxVc&feature=player_embedded#at=97

    (Saw it on the WhoSample.com site !! nice)

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  50. UnknownMarch 9, 2011 at 12:35 PM

    i hate lady gaga, so wish The Cure could sue her over this... she is NOT an artist, well, maybe a ripoff artist...

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  51. Xploding_BoyMarch 22, 2011 at 4:06 AM

    @Frank:

    I could be wrong, but if the riff is the same as Lullaby, but in F# instead of C#, then I think it would be played like this:

    (F#-F#-G#-F#-A-F#-A-G#-F#)

    I haven't played along with it to be sure though.

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  52. Xploding_BoyMarch 22, 2011 at 4:08 AM

    Wow, I need to check this site more often like I used to. I barely read about this now!

    @Frank:

    I could be wrong, but if the riff is the same as Lullaby, but in F# instead of C#, then I think it would be played like this:

    (F#-F#-G#-F#-A-F#-A-G#-F#)

    I haven't played along with it to be sure though.

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  53. cranemanMarch 22, 2011 at 4:38 AM

    Not sure if anyone has also mentioned this - talking about songs sounding a like and all - is it just me or does Daft Punk's song "Rinzler" ( off Tron ) sound a hell ov a lot like "The Walk". - only slowed down. - thoughts ??

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