Did Lady Antebellum Steal “Need You Now” From A Popular 80s Song?

November 17, 2010 7:14 AM

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lady antebellum1 Did Lady Antebellum Steal Need You Now From A Popular 80s Song?

That’s what the artist is claiming. Listen to it for yourself:

Some people think “Need You Know” sounds eerily similar to a different crossover hit from back in the ’80s, a song called “Eye in the Sky”, by The Alan Parsons Project. An “Executive Personal Assistant to Alan Parsons” sent a letter to “Nashville Scene” saying that “hundreds of Alan Parson’s fans” (there ARE hundreds of Alan Parson fans) are saying “Need You Now” is a lazy ripoff of “Eye in the Sky”. Somebody put together a mashup of the two songs, and they blend seamlessly together.

You can check it out here and decide for yourself . . .

Did Lady Antebellum Steal Need You Now From A Popular 80s Song?

Tonja

WOW…that’s crazy!!
Linda

“Need You Know” or “Need You Now” ?
Red

I love lady antebellum and this is most definitely NOT a rip-off. I mean, of course you are going to get HUNDREDS of songs that sound the same. There are only so many notes on the scale and only so many melodies that are played.

Randy

And if you didn’t love Lady Antebellum, I’m sure your view would be different.
Mick

I wonder if both Lady Antebellum and Lady Gaga feel a little wierd making money and getting awards from their own songs that are clearly ripped off from Alan Parsons and Madonna…but maybe not with the cha-ching$ ringing in their ears…

Jason

no it wasnt stolen.. there are alot of songs in the world. its hard not to find some with the same beat.. eye in the sky is just trying to get bak popular
Lisa

give me a break….I’m not really a Lady A fan but that’s bull. No way.
Supergrit

Jason and Red have obviously not heard the two songs played in sequence. Same key, same beat is hard to write off as coincidental. Composers have to be aware of crossovers and whoever wrote Antebellum’s song missed the boat. It is,also, highly possible that it was penned by an outside songwriter and the group was unaware of the conflict. More than one DJ caught the high similarity to the Parsons song. Co-incidental, I think not.
T

Who rattled the Parsons Project coffin? Who are they anyway?
denise

HOLY SNAP !!!!!!! This is blatent copying !!!!

denise

im older than the younger group…but yes this is the same song and hopefully they contacted the The Alan Parsons Project to get rights to this song,,if not then the royalties will be going to the project….this can not be a “slight” oversite on a writers outtake with all the rules governing the process of any music made back then or nowadays…..

kymmery

omg do you know how many songs have the same beat or sound… get over it people its one little thing its not like they are singing the song and saying they wrote
brandon mayes

that is a rip off if i’ve ever heard one!!!! i hate counrty music! and this is another reason why! country is always ripping off artists, rock n roll, r&b too! Sue them
kyle

i think they sound close but lady Antebellum did nit steal it there is a lil differanc in the melady
Ron

Why does someone always want to start some “crap”. This world would be a better place if they didn’t. Believe what you want, as I will. It’s a proven fact, history repeats itself.
cmc

They didn’t steal it. Have you ever listened to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and The Alphabet? How about the beginning of “Here Comes The Bride” and “The Funeral March”. There are so many songs that sound very similar. I’m sure you could put together a video like this with many songs.

James

I knew it was a rip off as soon as I heard their horrible song. They butchered the Alan Parsons song and should pay with absolutely everything they’ve got!
Sonja

cmc–Wagner’s ‘Here Comes the Bride’ (different name) and Chopin’s Funeral March start with the same processional rhythm, and absolutely nothing else. If they were in the same key, which they are not, the Wagner would start CFFF and the Chopin would start CCCC. And Wagner is in major and Chopin is in minor. Both Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and ABCs are folk songs that use a melody from a Mozart piano piece, sort of like how ‘Midnight Blue’ uses a Beethoven piano melody and “I’m always chasing Rainbows’ uses a Chopin piano melody. The pop composers were open about borrowing the classical melodies. This situation is completely different. No one is saying it was deliberate, but it was copied. It’s possible it was inadvertent, as the one song’s from the 80′s, but someone heard it, and at some time the melody ‘clicked’ and they used it, complete with the same key, similar chord structure, and unbelievably similar melody.

Maddy

“Eye in the Sky” was a great song in its day…..Need you Now is a great song today…….similar maybe, but who cares Both good songs……leave it alone……..
ET

ummm either I am too old, a true claim or all you non music fans are so biased you don’t have a clue….from the moment I heard Lady A’s song I kept saying I have heard that before…this is not about who’s song is better, but a clear copyright issue. Let the music lords of the court system hash it out. Both are GREAT songs and Alan Parsons I ROBOT is a great Album.
Joey

What a complete RIPOFF–1000% plaigerism. C’mon people–even a FETUS could tell they stole this song-SERIOUSLY!!!!-Trust me I am a music producer & almost fell off my seat in hysterical tears the first time I heard it!–A sad testimony to the utter lack of talent & originality in the Country music scene when this blatantly stolen song won song of the year @ Americam Country Awards-Truly ridiculous how people can listen to this matchup & STILL deny it–BAFFLING –same exact beat-tempo-cadance syllables–even the falsetto accent is the same-COME ON !!??
Please

Lady Antebellum should not have received grammys for this song. It does sound like the eye in the sky and in addition it is very simple and they lyrics are not very creative. I could have written this song.

I guess because it was country, the academy felt that it could give out this honour. If it had been POP I’ll bet it wouldn’t have even been nominated.
Candy

I thought this song was a cover song but didn’t know who made it popular first–evidently I was thinking of the Alan Parsons group.

Since George Harrison lost a copyright lawsuit by stealing some notes of “My Sweet Lord” from the 60′s Motown song, “He’s So Fine”, I think there might be other grounds for copyright infringement here.
Hairy Siamese

Of course they copied it! I will go out and copy a famous artisits song and put my own words into it and make millions.. Hey, it’s the American Way!! Yipee… and to add salt to the wound, these losers got a Grammy!
Hairy Siamese

They did steal it.. No question about it.. Should have never made it to any radio
bretwus

I wouldn’t give grammy’s away to anyone who reuses another bands hit song melody to forge their own. It just brings in the older crowd to sell records. Cheap trick!!!
Some Guy

ok, to all the little children saying its not a rip-off, if this was a lady gaga or beiber song that was copied you’d be hurling up a shitstorm, so i don’t wanna hear your one-sided “arguments”.

yes this is a blatant rip-off, the real question is was it intentional, because it’s been said before, some times people make the same sounds, but if they straight took the sounds and claimed them ass their own(which i think they did) then they are in big trouble.
Dexter

If you live in Chicago, Eye in the Sky is pretty popular, and the ears don’t lie, they sound eerily similar.
Mick

Who is Alan Parsons??….uhhhhhh, ever heard of the Beatles and Pink Floyd?…Lady’s “hit” song is definitely a rip-off of AP’s song….Just goes to show you that many songs today are not that original; maybe Lady should have asked permission from AP to sample his song…anyway, ever listen to today’s hit songs?—it’s so saddddddddddddd.
http://www.facebook.com/RocketRadio Xolie Morra Cogley

I was the one who contacted Allan Parson’s camp to let them know about the copyright infringement on their part for their chorus, hopeing they would help me with my problem. See Lady Antebellum stole my song melody and production from the song “Secrets” previously published through BMI http://repertoire.bmi.com/writer.asp?page=1&blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&fromrow=1&torow=25&affiliation=BMI&cae=487514913&keyID=997208&keyname=MORRA%20XOLIE&querytype=WriterID

You can find my song at http://www.ourstage.com/regardingemma

It is a blatant rip off right down to all the tones used (guitar, bass and drums) The melody is my co writer Dean and my melody with a couple of extra notes to distract from the blatant theivery.

i am an artist with Asperger’s Syndrome (High Functioning Autism)..I was signed for a moment to Interscope records under development and Interscope is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group with Lady A is signed to. It is sad what bands today are doing to artists who don’t have the money to go after them in court. And Attorneys don’t work pro bono anymore or even on contingency, so there is no recourse if you don’t have money. Major labels are blatantly ignoring copyright laws because they can. If you don’t have money, what are you gonna do about it.

Please post my song vs theirs on your blog to help get the recognition out there. I am still trying to get Allan Parson’s camp to contact me back so I can go in on the law suit together.

This is the original letter I wrote to Allan Parson’s back in October including the exact video you used in the blog. Now I see he has filed the law suit in November and I didn’t even get contacted. Is it another case of Greed or just lack of grattitude for bringing it to their attention.

Please call me if you would like to run a story because having no money to do anything about this, I could really use all the help I can get.
http://www.facebook.com/inthespectrum (documentary site)
http://www.ourstage.com/thestrangekind (my personal music site)
Xolie Morra Cogley

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: xolie morra
Date: Sun, Oct 16, 2011 at 3:48 PM
Subject: Notice of Copyright infringement
To: Assistant@johnregna.com

I’m sure you may have noticed that the lady Antebellum song Need you Now has a strikingly similar chorus to Alan Parson’s “Eye in the Sky”, but they also stole my melody and production for their verse from a song I co wrote and recorded while signed under development to Interscope Records called Secrets. Lady Antebellum is a part of the Universal Music Group which also owns Interscope. Attached is the song secrets along with the mashup and at the link below is a comparative someone did between Lady Antebellum and Alan Parsons. I am a starving musician without the resources to take this case to court, but with the help of someone in Alan Parson’s Position, it would be easy to prove that both of our songs were blatantly ripped off in order to create the grammy award winning song “Need You Now”. Please pass this on to whoever can help.

Thank you for your time.
Xolie Morra
http://www.thestrangekind.com