I ate meat all of my life, mostly consisting of chicken. I was never big on red, but still ate it occasionally as well as tuna sometimes but no other seafood. About a year ago I decided to go vegetarian. I still have reactions to these foods, but I am still consuming dairy and eggs. I’ve been cutting down on them drastically in the past few weeks though, and considering veganism lately.

I have always had bad springtime allergies, but by some miracle I haven’t suffered from them this year! (Hope I’m not speaking too soon) Lately I’ve been considering getting my amalgam (mercury!!) fillings out and I’m harboring a secret hope that if and when I do, my body will stop hating nature and I can eat an uncooked apple again. :) One of the many flaws in that theory is the fact that I may have had these allergies before my first filling. I know I was young, but I don’t remember when I got the fillings.

-Doug

I think most of what you said is fair and correct. However, a couple things for both (all) of us to keep in mind… First, Bublé didn’t actually write “Haven’t Met You Yet.” He co-wrote it with Alan Chang and Amy Foster-Gilles (according to Wikipedia). In the modern world of music, when a song is co-written, it generally means that the “artist” didn’t have a ton to do with the actual song. It’s extremely likely that Alan Chang wrote the piano riff and the melody. Amy Foster-Gilles is a lyricist, so it’s probably safe to assume that she wrote the lyrics. Buble would have come in after the song was virtually complete. At that point the 3 of them would have worked out the kinks together to make it a song that flowed well for Buble, which probably included some minor lyrical and melodic changes. That’s probably the extent of it.

It’s true, in a certain sense, that most music is derivative in some way or another. However, I disagree with you when you say that it’s not reasonable to call out a rip-off based on a simple piece of a song. I actually think it’s completely appropriate and reasonable to do so. Do I think that Sara Bareilles should sue Buble or anything like that? No. There wouldn’t be much of a case because Haven’t Met You Yet definitely has its own unique characteristics. Nevertheless, I think many students of music would have to agree that the opening riff was at the very least “inspired” by Love Song. If I choose to call that a rip-off but you prefer to call it something else, that’s fine.

Lastly, there is no head-tearing going on here. Frankly, it’s just fun to get a juicy conversation going on the web because people feel compelled to defend the honor of their camp. I stated my opinion, and now you’ve stated yours. We’re both smiling, I’m sure. I’m amused by all the comments on this posting, and I’m glad you took the time to put in your two cents.

-Doug

One of the best quotes my trumpet teacher ever told me was “There is no such thing as original music.” He was right. All music is taken from a chromatic scale and arranged in different ways. If you’ve ever taken a philosophy class, it may interest you to ponder the idea that thought, too, is a an arrangement of various experiences taken from life. Thus, two people that have similar experiences may come to the same conclusions without ever meeting each other. Sara and Michael have similar musical styles and it’s possible they could have listened to the same music growing up. They’re both young and most likely have similar influences.

Ergo, it’s not a stretch to come to the conclusion that they compiled their songs based on their chosen style of music. The piano riff is a pretty simple one and I don’t think it’s reasonable to say that one simple piece of a song is grounds for calling it a rip off.

I love Michael Buble and I respect Sara Bareilles immensely and I doubt either of them would like their fans tearing each other’s heads off. It’s just as pointless as arguing over the quality of Beethoven over Mozart. Enjoy the music and respect both as true artists.