Somewhat obviously, joke stealing in comedy has always been a big no-no. Nowadays it's worse (or should I say better) because it's much easier to expose someone. Anyone with access to a computer and youtube can post and/or find a plethora of videos with pretty damning evidence of stealing. A common defense is "parallel thinking", the claim that you came up with a similar idea on your own.
In music, stealing (and I don't mean attributed sampling) has also been problem. It's usually pretty obvious when someone steals a riff or a distinct bass line, like Vanilla Ice taking Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure". But what if it's not stealing the music but stealing the theme. Of course, there a many similar general themes (love, sadness, etc.) to songs but what if the themes start sound really similar. I guess most artists wouldn't really mind as long as you don't copy the music, but when can we attribute it to parallel thinking?
I've got a idea for a few songs that have similar themes... in fact so similar I've decided to write about them. Now, just to make perfectly clear, I'm not accusing anyone of anything, I'm just pointing out the similarities. Today I'll start with:
Barenaked Ladies' If I Had $1,000,000 and Bacilos' Mi Primer Millón
Barenaked Ladies - If I Had $1,000,000
Bacilos - Mi Primer Millón
While both bands had some success and had somewhat popular singles before each of these songs (Bacilos had Tabaco Y Chanel and Barenaked Ladies had their cover of Bruce Cockburn's Lovers In A Dangerous Time), I think it's safe to say that both became really popular after these songs and (likely before these songs) earned their first million dollars.
Aside from the fact that one band sings in English and the other in Spanish, I think they are pretty similar. Both bands play (or in the case of Bacilos, played) generally popular music. Considering their genres, neither of them stray much from a traditional pop/alternative sound.
The Timeline
Although If I Had $1,000,000 was on tapes released sold by the Barenaked Ladies in the late 80s, I'm pretty sure it wasn't that well known until around 1992 when they released their debut album, Gordon. Bacilos didn't get together until the mid 90s and I can't see anything showing that Mi Primer Millón was around before their 2002 release Caraluna. Either way these songs were popular about 10 years apart.
The Songs
The theme of both songs is fairly simple, earning a lot of money. Interestingly, both chose a million dollars as the mark of riches. While an alternative number (writing about making 1.5 million or 2 million) may seem a bit random, either band could have written about "becoming rich" or "being a millionaire". In fact, many artists have written songs about being rich but most don't spell out a million dollars in their song's name and chorus. Also, unlike both bands, most don't explicitly mention various items they would buy with that first million. Particularly of note both bands mention buying houses, with the Barenaked Ladies adding that they would buy "furniture for you house" and Bacilos making sure that the house was big enough to fit your heart ("una casa grande en donde quepa tu corazón").
Another interesting point, is that both songs are also love songs. The biggest difference, in terms of love songs, is that in If I Had $1,000,000 the couple may not be in love yet. Considering one of the things that would be bought is "your love", it comes off as much more of a love song. In the song, Barenaked Ladies often speak of "us" and "we" and, In fact, the most common starter for a line is "Well, I'd buy you a(n)..."
Both songs are also facetious. Bacilos tries to calm the love interest by saying that while he is hanging out with Paulina Rubio, she's just a friend ("Tranquila querida, Paulina solo es una amiga"). The Barenaked Ladies are even more obvious about it with numerous jokes such as buying John Merrick's remains ("Ooh, all them crazy elephant bones") and making sure not to buy a "real green dress" since that would be cruel (after mentioning that they also wouldn't buy a real fur coat).
Probably the biggest difference between the two songs is that Mi Primer Millón is almost as much about fame as it is about fortune. Actually, If I Had $1,000,000 doesn't make any mention of fame (remember, it's more of a love song) and one of Bacilos repeated goals is to have their songs sung around the world ("desde San Juan hasta Barranquilla, desde Sevilla hasta Nueva York").
I guess when it boils down to it, while obviously the languages are different, these songs are pretty similar because they're both pop/catchy songs about a million dollars and what would be purchased with those million dollars. Unlike Barenaked Ladies, Bacilos does connect fame with the fortune, but a lot of the themes remain similar. Not exactly a unique idea, but still similar enough that I wanted to mention it here.
A final note: Another song that could be put in this comparison is Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars' Billionaire which came out in 2010. However, despite the name, that song really isn't about fortune. It is much more about fame and even ventures into political commentary. It doesn't really speak to what they would buy with the money, it speaks about what they would do with their fame... attaching fame with fortune to an even greater extent than Bacilos did.
