Unfortunately for Sheeran, he once mashed up “Let’s Get It On” and “Thinking Out Loud” in a concert, which Townsend’s attorneys claim is “smoking gun” evidence of plagiarism, but Sheeran says only proves that a lot of pop songs are easy to meld together. He has argued that both his song and “Let’s Get It On” use a ubiquitous chord progression, suggesting that a verdict against him would mean granting ownership rights over a basic building block of music that all musicians are entitled to use. Sheeran himself has voiced exasperation with the lawsuit, suggesting that if he loses the lawsuit he may just give up writing music altogether. Gaye’s song is sultry funk about, well, getting it on, while Sheeran’s is in a subgenre that I find it hard to describe without sounding contemptuous (I want to call it “whiny white boy acoustic heartache muzak”). You have to listen really closely to detect any “ Let’s Get It On”-ness. The two songs don’t sound very much alike at all. The jury will then have to decide whether Sheeran wrote a forbidden song using copyrighted chords.įrom one perspective, the lawsuit against Sheeran can look pretty absurd. Last week in court, Ed Sheeran brought a guitar to the witness stand to show a jury of his peers how his song “Thinking Out Loud” differs from Gaye’s steamy classic. Sheeran, it is alleged, recorded a song that sounds very slightly like “Let’s Get It On,” and should thereby pay royalties to Townsend’s estate. And yet here in 2023, pop singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is having to defend himself in a lawsuit for violating the copyright of these two ghosts. Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the classic song “Let’s Get It On” with Gaye, has been dead for 20 years. "Texas Voices" features the artists, musicians and creatives in our great state.Marvin Gaye has been dead for nearly 40 years. Are we gonna sit here and look at each other or are we gonna write something that's gonna reach out and touch people to make them feel emotions?" said DiPiero. It's all about what's gonna happen today. "I believe it's just what I'm meant to do with my life," said DiPiero.Īnd they'll keep doing it as long as the music finds a home in someone's heart. He didn't and it became a number one hit. "Something like 'There Goes My Life,' I looked at Neill Thrasher and we both kind of choked up and we were like that's a good song," said Mobley.īob DiPiero wrote the George Strait song "Blue Clear Sky" and remembers everyone trying to persuade him, even George, to change it to "Clear Blue Sky". Wendell Mobley's voice can silence a room but his words echo long after the last line. To this day, I don't know if that will ever stop being the greatest thrill," said Miller. Everybody shut up and give me three minutes. Even after all these years and you recognize it from the intro, especially if you have the wife and kids in the car. "There is nothing compared to the first time you hear it on the radio. His hits like "In Color" and "You're Gonna Miss This" have been heard worldwide. Our stories and if the people in this room tonight listen to country music, they'll know all the words," said Lee Thomas Miller. It'll be songs about my wife or my kids or my best friend. "In that moment I remember what the idea was about or where we were when we wrote it. For songwriters, it takes them back to when they wrote it. There's always a song that takes you back to a certain place and time. We sat down for an interview with Wendell Mobley, Lee Thomas Miller and Bob DiPiero when they stopped in Waco for the Chords & Conversations showcase to help raise funds for Texas Tech University in Waco. (KXXV) - What do Nashville's greatest song writers and Texas Tech alums have in common? They all love a good lyric.
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