Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos Accuses Pharrell of Stealing "Take Me Out" Riff for Paloma Faith Song
By Carrie Battan on January 31, 2014 at 10:06 a.m.
Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos has directed a tweet at Pharrell today implying that Paloma Faith's new single "Can't Rely on You" (written by, produced by, and featuring Pharrell) lifts a riff directly from Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out".
"Hey @Pharrell - I love your tunes," he writes. "If you want to borrow a riff, just ask..." In response to a fan who tweeted, "maybe you could buy him a new hat once he's paid up?," Kapranos tweeted, "Let's hope it's a hit, then. Again."
Pharrell hasn't responded. Representatives for Paloma Faith have not responded to a request for comment.
The song certainly doesn't sound dissimilar to "Take Me Out"...
4. "RE: Blues & Pants - James Brown" In response to Reply # 2
Clearly they've never listened to Hip Hop.. dummies.
Double 0 DJ/Producer/Artist Producer in Kidz In The Hall ------------------------------------------- twitter: @godouble0 IG: @godouble0 www.thinklikearapper.com
>Clearly they've never listened to Hip Hop.. dummies.
yeah, i felt like that too ... the funniest thing i've noticed is the ignorant FF (a band i like btw) fans are trolling the video comments of the Paloma video already screaming rip-off ... no clue of the funk cloth that Pharrell's cut from ...
10. "I can't hear what he could possibly be talking about" In response to Reply # 0
I mean especially considering he decided to call Pharrell like that I would think it would be something that was a lot more blatant. I can't even hear much similarity between the FF song and the Pharrell produced track.
14. "the guitar melodies are similar " In response to Reply # 0
Pharrel's is muffled and buried in the mix. The Franz one which kicks in for the chorus (1:03) is up mixed up front and center.
The similarities are very likely coincidental. I just wanted to point it out for those who were curious where the hell anybody would get the idea. The fact that the two songs are cut from completely different cloth (funk vs rock) is enough to distract most people from zooming in on the melody which is the point of contention. The grunts and drums are just window dressing in the context of the accusation. Remember Rod Stewart vs that bossa nova artist?
The funny thing is, if I cared enough, I could probably find another song with a similar guitar riff that predates the Franz Ferdinand. Very bold of him to be accusing somebody of biting an unremarkable doodling riff. This is not the riff for "Seven Nation Army" we're talking about here...lol
15. "Seriously..." In response to Reply # 14 Fri Jan-31-14 06:45 PM by Jakob Hellberg
>The funny thing is, if I cared enough, I could probably find >another song with a similar guitar riff that predates the >Franz Ferdinand. Very bold of him to be accusing somebody of >biting an unremarkable doodling riff. This is not the riff for >"Seven Nation Army" we're talking about here...lol
I always thought that Franz Ferdinand-riff was a partial rip-off off Zeppelin's "Trampled underfoot". Not sure that is the riff people are refering to but if it's the main riff that kicks in after a while in the Franz Ferdinand-version, it's the same one I'm talking about... I haven't heard the Pharell-song yet though but either way, this sounds like bullshit so far...
EDIT:After listening, I agree with the James Brown-thing, the phrasing at the end of the riff is markedly different from the Franz Ferdinand song but strongly reminiscent-though not identical -of Brown... who of course was the inspiration for the Zeppelin-tune as well...
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
The Lesson
