09.02.06
Dilana lyrics controversy revisited…
I’m having my doubts over the plagiarism conspiracy over Lather and thongs lyrics now. The smart work by the editors in Rockstar Supernova by first portraying Dilana as a scheming bitch and then subsequently the hurt , vulnerable participant has made me realise how we as viewers can be so easily swayed by the power of the visual medium. I think the fact that Dilana clearly had big-time support from the band members was established very early on in the show. After all even her passable or average efforts post the good work in Lithium were praised to the skies. This when the other singers were hauled over the coals for even a half misstep be it in song selection or in the stage act. Since music is such a personal, subjective experience we all have our own favourites and have seen them at times treated harshly in the show. So now we are all suddenly getting some collective psychological kick in seeing the Supernova’s favourite pet falter. This is what has fed all the hatred and conspiracy theories in online reactions at various forums and blogs.
Since I did participate in the conspiracy theory too for a bit, this weekend I’m doing what should have been done in the first place before posting such accusations in the public domain – taking a first hand look at the evidence i.e the lyrics.
Breakfast In Central Park(written by Jan Koster)
All the nightbirds gather on Houston & Bleecker
Celluar phones, pagers & beepers
They go yeah, life’s a party you know
So bring your dry martinis your Liz Claiborne specs
Your Dolce & Gabbana your buds & your Becks
And go yea, lets’s get this show on the road
So go up to 57th to Central Park West
Put on your skates & a see-through dress
Like a Village reject with Manhattan class
Now get out of the powder room girl
And show me some New York ass!
Breakfast in Central Park
Loungin’ in the sun be cool just smile
Breakfast in Central Park
Sidewalk, catwalk, bohemian style
Breakfast in Central Park
Get a little rollin’ stoned
Now they got red, white, blue, green & yellow wigs
Pavarotti, chili peppers all in the mix
They go yea, Lauren Hill’s queen of club
So take the 5 to 57th to Central Park South
Get on your boards and let it all hang out
Like a SoHo hippie with a lot of cloud
Wipe the mace off your face boy
And gimme some New York mouth
So take the 5 to 57th to Central Park South
Just like the 4th of July let it all hang out
Is it Jersey smog or Jamaican cloud?
Baby take a wild, wild guess
Ain’t nothin’ like a jumpin’ jack flash
Oh it’s gotta be New York it must be that New York grass!
This song was performed by Dilana’s former band.[video link above] In week 6 there was a song writing clinic for the participants where Dilana came up with some… umm not so good lyrics for a Supernova song. The lyrics to her song titled Lather and Thongs are below.[you can recheck yourself by viewing the url to Dilana's song in windows media player from Rockband forums Lather and thongs (Dilana’s Week 6 original)
Come on!
Pretty boys nasty girls
Let’s get together
There’s a house on the hill
Just south of Sunset
Get your Heinies and your Buds
your shoes and your shades
we’ll be partying on and on
leave your bad days behind
Cuz LA never sleeps
when the sun goes down
no matter what the weather
we should always be together
No LA never sleeps
when the sun goes down
We’ll be rockin’
till the mornin’ comes
Are you ready?
C’mon, c’mon party animals
you know it’s goin’ down
the party rolls fast
the weirdos and the freaks
Bring your wine
and your song
Your lotion and your thong
We’ll be pumping up the volume
till the break of day
Cuz LA never sleeps
when the sun goes down
no matter what the weather
we should always be together
No LA never sleeps
when the sun goes down
We’ll be rockin’
till the mornin’ comes
hey hey yeah
It’s okay if you’re crazy
It’s okay if you’re bad
the night’ll be twis-ted
you know you can’t resist it
hey yeah
Cuz LA never sleeps
when the sun goes down
no matter what the weather
we should always be together
No LA never sleeps
when the sun goes down
We’ll be rockin’
till the mornin’ comes
Looking at the words, the two songs can possibly be called lyrically similar in tone. And there are a couple of lines that have similar words and exactly the same structure. But the song as a whole is not a complete copy or a steal. Artists do have a license to interpret creatively from other sources as long as it’s not a direct imitation or copy. So calling it a steal would be harsh since then we would basically have to term a whole universe of (far better songs!) similarly. I mean after all even Bob Dylan’s songs have some lines that have origins in obscure books and poetry. Anyway I doubt too many people read my blog or would vote based on what’s written here but for anyone who did that I apologise for my earlier misplaced post. Enough said…
Did Dilana steal her lyrics ? « Solarium said,
September 2, 2006 at 6:06 pm
[...] [I’ve an update to Dilana’s lyrics controversy in this post where you can compare lyrics to both songs. She didn’y exactly steal, just borrowed some similar lines. ] [...]
Anita DeLuca said,
September 3, 2006 at 12:34 am
I love you Dilana.If they vote you off then someone out there is waiting on you now.
Storm said,
September 3, 2006 at 2:33 pm
i dun gv a damn bout wat ppl think bout dilana coz she is 1 of a kind, she is good n my support wil alwiz be wif her
Incanus said,
September 4, 2006 at 1:16 am
Anita, Storm: Yes I don’t really expect true fans to give up support coz of what happened. It’s a tough competition and there’s lots of stress with camera’s all around. Would be so much nicer if the shows just concentrated on the music instead of the melodrama.
David O said,
September 14, 2006 at 2:24 pm
Dilana is a fucking tool and an ugly kunt. It is great to see that bitch losing.
She is a nasty vile conceited little whore.
dilana . you lost ha ha ha you fucking clep
die soon.
Incanus said,
September 14, 2006 at 11:18 pm
David O: Such bile & hatred over a reality tv episode is infantile in my book. Any further silly comments will be deleted on this blog.
Dilana isn’t my favourite singer, performer or person but I wouldn’t claim to know her as a person coz of some edited melodrama shown on TV. FYI everyone made bad comments about other performers in the actual interviews. Check out Rockband.com for all the behind the scenes info if interested.
Dilana’s comments were the worst of course and the show producers only decided to show them. It created drama with the frontrunner stumbling and then even more melodrama as she fought back in the end. All reality tv editing which of course works going by crazy reactions of so many fans like you.
Also Lukas was picked at the auditions by Tommy Lee and unless he screwed up badly on the show was always going to win. So just enjoy the music which you love… reality tv is only harmless fun not much else.
dave said,
October 4, 2006 at 9:33 am
am I misunderstanding or are you saying she stole from herself? If it’s her former band is’nt it likely that she wrote the original yrics to begin with? Maybe they werent used at the time and she decided to retool it for the show. It’s not coming up with something fresh but it would still be her original work. Anyway I’m glad she did’nt win I would rather hear an album of her original work not another supergroup that probably won’t be around in a couple of years. This may be an unpopular opinion on this site but if I had to sum up haer potential I wuld say she could be this generation’s Stevie Nicks……with the right songwriting partner because she does need that but let’s be honest those vocals are pretty amazing
Incanus said,
October 28, 2006 at 1:15 am
The earlier song was written by her band mate Jan Koster actually. It really isn’t such a big issue since almost everyone seems to get inspired from somewhere else anyway. But much was made of it in online forums and I must have got carried away a bit too while blogging about it .
Dilana sure has potential. I completely changed my opinion toward the end of the show
Mostly coz I liked her voice on Behind blue eyes a lot. I think she has some interesting offers on her plate now in her solo career. So maybe the show could be her ticket to bigger and better things. Agree with you completely on the supergroup thing. They rarely work and even if they do they don’t last beyond 1-2 albums.
essemaifene said,
October 29, 2008 at 4:52 am
Emm.. Are you tuned in to my trainable wood I have a nice fresh joke for you people) What happens to illegally parked frogs? They get toad away.