Reusing Important Or Meaningful Lyrics In Songs

[Dan Hennessey]

Hey all,

I was interested in what other songwriter's opinions on reusing lyrics in composition were. I'm not referring to smaller words that have little meaning like a, the , and, or other smiliar words. I'm asking about meaningful target words and phrases. For instance, If I wrote "come closer and don't cry" in the verse, would it be completely unacceptable to write " that night when I saw you cry" in the bridge? I understand the answer might have a lot to do with context, but I'm just looking for some opinions. Thanks.......Dan

[john]

It sounds like you are asking "At what point do you consider a lyric to involve plagiarism?"

A similar but related question would be "Why would you want to copy another lyric, verbatum?"

I only highlight those as they are the questions I would relate to the topic. I wouldn't go for the longer quote above, but then I have to question the need for the quote at all. Why not word it in an original way? The first part of the quote carries little in the way of keywords that couldn't be phrased in a way that wouldn't be a direct copy.

What I do see more often, and is certainly done a lot in music composition, and that is to do something that acknowledges another song, or is a twist on something from a previous song... ie not a direct copy.

So, what is acceptable? You mentioned context. For example, All Summer Long by Kid Rock:

That is making a direct nod to "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, which is used as a scene setter, that and the basic chord progression is the same, as is the bouncy Southern Boogie original.

Then again, there is a good chance there is a background licensing deal.

The point is, there are laws governing plagiarism, use and re-use and editing of a work under copyright law. What exactly constitute it? That is something that is hard to clarify, and usually needs a court case to do so.

[DonnaMarilyn]

Dan, if I understand you correctly, you're referring to repeating something that's already in a section of your own lyric, is that correct?

In the example you give, the similarity isn't that strong. However, it's advisable to try to avoid using the same words or phrases that have already been used in a section. The idea is to give the listener's ears something fresh and new to fall on. For instance, to avoid repeating "cry" you could have something like "that night when I saw you in tears".

Donna

[john]

Ah.... my fault for completely mis-reading that! Doh! Sorry Dan!

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[Reynir]

In my opinion, it could be a strong move to use lines that have a similar cadence in different parts of the song, even if they share some words, so I say go for it.