As research for this post I looked for Youtube videos in which musically inclined people compared short passages from Ed Sheeran’s 2014 hit, “Thinking Out Loud,” with Marvin Gaye’s classic from 1973, “Let’s Get it On.” I found the first video below, made in 2015, in which YouTube user mrsquidge notes that “The groove and chord progression is virtually identical between the two” songs. There are also many videos of the songs laid on top of each other (they mesh almost perfectly) and were also many, many covers of both songs as well, so it’s not just Townsend’s estate noticing the similarities.
This isn’t the first time Sheeran has been accused of lifting music. He was sued just this June for alleged parallels between his song “Photograph” (which is on the same album as “Thinking Out Loud,” X) and the song “Amazing,” a 2011 song performed by X Factor winner Matt Cardle. TMZ has a comparison clip and the songs sound almost identical. As a layperson I don’t immediately notice the mimicry between “Let’s Get it On” and “Thinking Out Loud” like I do here, but the songs do sound very similar to me. The new lawsuit states that that Thinking Out Loud copies the “heart” of Gaye’s hit and has “melodic, harmonic and rhythmic” compositions which are similar:
The Townsend family claims that Sheeran’s Grammy-winning song “Thinking Out Loud” uses harmonic progressions, and melodic and rhythmic elements central to “Let’s Get It On.” Townsend co-wrote the lyrics and created the musical composition for “Let’s Get It On,” which was a Number One hit for Gaye in 1973.
“The Defendants copied the ‘heart’ of ‘Let’s’ and repeated it continuously throughout ‘Thinking,'” the lawsuit claims. “The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of ‘Thinking’ are substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition of ‘Let’s.'”
A representative for Sheeran was not immediately available for comment.
The Townsends’ lawsuit comes just months after songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard sued Sheeran for $20 million for plagiarism. The pair claimed Sheeran’s X hit “Photograph” bore “verbatim note-for-note” similarities to their song, “Amazing,” recorded by X Factor winner Matt Cardle in 2012 (Cardle, however, has distanced himself from the lawsuit).
As Rolling Stone notes in this same article, all these copyright infringement lawsuits may be happening because of the successful lawsuit last year by Marvin Gaye’s heirs against Robin Thicke & Pharrell for “Blurred Lines’s” similarities to “Got to Give It Up.” Musicians worried at the time that the lawsuit may have a chilling effect on the music industry and they may have been right. Or songwriters may now have more recourse against popular artists lifting their music, I guess it just depends on your perspective.
As an interesting sidenote: in the Marvin Gaye estate vs. Pharrell and Thicke lawsuit last year, the jury wasn’t allowed to listen to the full version of “Got To Give It Up” because in 1977 only sheet music was able to be copyrighted.
“Thinking Out Loud” vs. “Let’s Get It On”
Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”
Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”
photos credit: WENN.com
Finally. Even my dad noticed it the first time he heard the song. And he was right about “blurred lines” too.
+1000
I’m a huge Marvin Gaye fan, and I noticed the similarity immediately.
So much derivative and copycat “music” out there today. God I sound like my parents….
I don’t really hear it, but okay.
Really? I heard it the very first time I watched that video two years ago and sure enough in the YouTube comments, others were raising it too. I justassumed he had some license since I didnt hear about the estate suing.
Wow. Better watch out for marvins estate. Honestly though, so many songs nowadays sound like others. What, are all artists going to just start suing each other?
I have to say, watch Cadillac Records and you will be so happy these artist’s have a voice, albeit posthumous. Many fine artists dies penniless; Howlin Wolf was ripped off by a generation of white artists, and -at least- Eric Clapton had the decency to buy a proper headstone for HW who wrongly died in destitution.
@Margo S If they are copying each other’s then yes. It should encourage creativity and originality.
I hope this forces the industry to start supporting original writers who are creating songs that haven’t lifted direct chord structure and progressions from other successful tracks. It’s the industry to norm for us writers to be told to make a song almost exactly like (insert famous song here) key word is almost. It’s lazy and has created crap music over the last two decades.
Get it, Marvin’s estate. How can these crappy pop songs go through so many people, producers etc and no one notices that? Do they just assume that they won’t get sued? Does it count as talent to rip off a great song into a bland AF pop song? Marvin was hot back in the day too.
And I can’t hear the Sheeran song without thinking about the Hawkeye version that Renner did on Kimmel. Much better IMO. The espresso has kicked in….
great news. its insane if you think about that it took so long for poc artists to finally get some rights. white “artists” have been stealing songs since forever. basically every famous white song you know its ripped off from
(usually black) poc musicians. Surfing USA may be the most obvious and most famous example.
In the 1950’s there were two charts, the RnB chart ( black people) the Pop chart ( white people) record execs would see what was a hit on the RnB chart and then have their white artists record the EXACT SAME SONG and blast it on the Pop chart where it would make more money. Money that the black writers and performers never saw. This has been the case for a VERY VERY VERY long time.. I hope the fact that this is starting to cost labels millions of dollars will make them weary and more inclined to back and support original writers, but I won’t hold my breathe….
I’m surprised it’s taken this long. I noticed the similarities the first time I heard Ed’s song.
Sheeran looks like he’d have a clammy handshake…I think He’s ghastly.
Omg 100%. I am all for people of various looks and styles being famous but I always say that he looks sweaty and gross. Not his physical characteristics, just his overall sheen and shine.
Ever since i read here that Ed is often not changing his Underwear for a week and is generally unclean i just can’ t look at pictures of him without wondering if he stinks.
I have a friend who loves him and I used to tease her all the time “you know he doesn’t shower, right? Can’t deal with the greasy hair, looks so dirty!”
Yuck. I wouldn’t want to get too close.
Why do these artist think that they can get away with the chord progressions that has been done before by the original artist. Do they think that that people are stupid? I have to admit, I fell in love with the song by Ed Sheeran that my musical insights didn’t get in the way of my emotions, however I have realized that it is a rip off of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s get it on”.
Nothing wrong with sampling a song but not citing a original singer is called stealing. I am sure it is not his intention.
P. Diddy made an entire music career out of it. The problem is Ed and his ilk think they are the end all be all genius when it fact they are lucky, at best.
i think this is even more of a blatant rip off than blurred lines. i noticed the very first time i heard it and was actually shocked at how he basically ripped off every chord and nearly every vocal inflection. it’s not just the music – it is also the way he sings it.
I agree – instrumentally and vocally he’s ripping off Marvin. How sad. When the Youtube video transitions to ‘Let’s Get it On’ the musicianship just skyrockets too.
Let’s get it on is one of the single most sexy songs out there. Gahhhh what a great song to dance alone to. I love this song.
That said, that’s one of the songs that I really like of Eds, and that video is so so lovely, but just watching the video here for the first time it was so easy to hear the similarities.
I honestly don’t think some artists intentionally rip off other artists, but I think they don’t realize that melody they’re hearing in their head is very close to someone else’s. I’m not saying this is the case here.
Remember how vanilla ice got away with it by adding one extra beat?
I knew it sounded familiar. They keep messing with Marvin
I am of two minds on this. Yes they sound similar, but that’s how I feel about most pop songs these days. But the Gaye estate is ALWAYS suing someone and fighting over the money right? Yes Thicke deserved to lose richly, but I had a feeling the win for the estate would make them redouble their efforts. I question how much this has to do with protecting a legacy and how much is all about getting that cold hard $$$.
I don’t even care if it is just about money. Artists (in this case, their estates) deserve to be compensated for their work. And Ed Sheeran made a ton of money and received accolades and acclaim for stealing someone else’s work. It’s crap.
Uh… I just assumed he used a sample. I didn’t realize they didn’t get permission. It’s blatant.
I don’t think it’s as much of a rip off as Born this Way was to Express Yourself. That I heard right away. These songs are similar, but not enough to be called a rip off. I think they’ll lose.
Ed Sheeran should be sued just for turning “Lets get it on” into one of the most flaccid songs ever.
I like Ed’s song. I love Marvin’s.
Let’s give credit where its due, regardless if for money or integrity. It’s the right thing to do.