Every few years a hit song will come along that although very catchy and providing me much joy, leaves me wondering how is it not plagiarizing some other work? Not being a musician myself, or a copyright expert, I suspect there may be some guitar riffs so basic they are considered public domain. How else to explain this song? Surely someone used this lick back in the fifties or sixties. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it show up in my son’s introductory piano lesson book.
This is not meant as a knock on the song. Sometimes simple is best. Like vanilla. I don’t remember where I first heard this song but I do remember listening to it in the summer of 1996 in the backseat of a car with a bunch of my high school friends. We were together for the first time in ages, going to Conestogo Lake, I think. I remember it being hot and sunny when this song came on and I asked whoever was driving to crank it up. I was 24 at the time and already, that moment felt like nostalgia. Good friends, carefree lives, and awesome tunes. A few months later I’d move to Saskatoon and never return.
Let’s kick off the weekend, hopefully a sunny one, with “Santa Monica” from the 1995 album Sparkle and Fade by Everclear.
Official Video:
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