I Won't Back Down, But Stay With Me Anyway...

A big story on the wire today has been the settlement between Tom Petty and Sam Smith granting Petty songwriting royalties for Smith's grammy nominated hit "Stay With Me" due to its similarities to Petty's own hit song "I Won't Back Down" from 1989.

The settlement has been handled pretty amicably-- Smith's group ponied up the credit pretty quickly, but his writing team claim that this is all a coincidence.

I've actually thought about these two songs a lot, and not just because of this incident.  I certainly noticed the similarities between the songs when "Stay With Me" first went into heavy rotation, but what stood out to me were its lyrics, which always came off to me as a blunt appeal for groupie sex.  I always get a good laugh when I hear the song, because I think it's outright shameless, especially with all the gospelly background singing and what-not-- God has told Sam Smith to bed these fan-girls in the most spiritual way afforded a one-night stand.

What stood out to me about the Petty song was also the lyrics.  "I Won't Back Down" was written about Petty's experiences clashing with music executives back in the hey-days of the big labels, but it has since been appropriated for all sorts of stand-up-for-yourself scenarios, including the 9/11 aftermath.  The song is still in frequent rotation on my local classic rock station.

One thing that never really stood out for me about either songs was the melody.  This is a pretty basic melody and chord progression.  I've always been a fan of Petty, but back when "I Won't Back Down" was first released, I couldn't stand the song.  Of all his hits, it's probably the least sophisticated melody he's come up with.  I've thought for years that the only reason it was even a hit was because of its unsubtle lyrics, which, of course, everybody wants to relate to (whether you're a stand-up guy or not).  The same is true of Sam Smith's "Stay With Me".  If there's anything notable about the song, it's the dream fulfillment lyrics and waaaaaay over-the-top production, not the melody or chord progression.  

They're both incredibly simple songs; so simple as to be obvious.  I can't help but think that, over the years, countless amateur musicians have stumbled onto the progression themselves during random jam sessions.  I bet you could dig up some pop songs from the 40s that use the same basic melody (somebody ought to get on that right away; I'll provide the moral support).  We're not talking about a wildly clever and innovative tune from the brain of Burt Bacharach here. 

All of this is to say that I can believe that Smith and his co-writers came up with this tune on their own.  But it makes me wonder how it would've panned out in court.  There's no denying the similarities, but each song feels quite different overall.  And what's the legal status of an obvious melody like that?  I'm glad they settled it-- some things aren't worth fighting over-- but it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.