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The realization that a hit song could be used to recut a new hit song is not exactly brain science. And while some bands choose to fly under the cover, striking familiar chords to a new set of lyrics (i.e. Nirvana’s, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” versus Boston’s, “More Than a Feeling”), others choose what could perhaps be considered a more noble (or legal) path.
A sample can be legally attained by making your way to the previous artist and recording label to ask permission to use a “sample” of their song with the promise to credit (reward) them appropriately while also breathing some creative life into it. And this can be a great deal for both parties involved. The originator gets some renewed coverage of an old song, and the sampler gets a leg up on a hit by using a previous hit to prime the pump, so to speak.
And this symbiotic relationship does occasionally create magic by producing a new song that not only crosses oceans and genders but also genres, generations, and maybe even a few “blurred lines”…