Amy Guskin wrote:
> On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:40:57 -0400, Phil Hoffer wrote
> (in article frlhrs$6l6$1{at}geiz-ist-geil.priv.at):

>> The song strongly reminds me of PJ Harvey's "Hardly
Wait", so Franke's
>> version has to be a cover of it, with changed lyrics only.<<
>
> Absolutely not.  The chord progression is somewhat similar, but you know,
> there are only so many chord progressions in the universe (ask George
> Harrison about "My Sweet Lord"/"He's So Fine").
>
> Never mind the fact that there's no credit for Harvey in the episode. 
> Never
> mind the fact that most writers/copyright owners seriously balk at 
> allowing
> parody lyrics to be set to their music (unless it's Weird Al, or it's a
> commercial product offering a LOT of money, e.g. McDonald's using "Mack 
> the
> Knife" a few years ago).  The most compelling answer -- aside from the 
> music
> itself, which isn't that similar to Harvey's song -- is that the show 
> simply
> didn't have the budget for such extravagances as music licensing.
>
> And it's not like Franke doesn't know how to write a song!

Absolutely agreed on the last point.

However, running the two tracks alongside each other in Soundtrack Pro 
reveals that (until the B5 bar music changes to the 'takedown' cue) the two 
match pretty much *beat* *for* *beat* through verses and choruses, right 
down to the instrumentation. And the melodies are strikingly similar (as are 
the vocal deliveries). The main difference is in the chord progressions: 
Franke uses a four-bar phrase of tonic - mediant - subdominant - tonic, 
whereas Harvey uses a two-bar phrase of tonic - mediant.

All I will avow is that (1) given the similarities I would use the term 
'homage' in preference to any other, and (2) I *much* prefer Franke's track.

Bruce
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