Fans Accused The Offspring of Ripping Off The Beatles’ ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’

TL;DR:

  • The Offspring had been accused of ripping off The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”
  • “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” charted in the USA.
  • The Offspring track in query lasted even longer on the chart.
The Beatles | Bettmann / Contributor

Some critics and listeners in contrast one of The Offspring’s songs to The Beatles‘ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.” Subsequently, The Offspring’s lawyer mentioned the supposed similarity. Notably, the 2 songs carried out very in another way on the charts in the USA.

1 of The Offspring’s songs was impressed by frontman Dexter Holland’s fascination with actuality tv

In accordance with a 1999 article from MTV News, The Offspring’s Dexter Holland mentioned his fascination with actuality exhibits. “I admit I’ve kind of got a morbid curiosity where I get drawn to those shows,” he mentioned. “It’s like watching a car wreck or something.” He mentioned actuality tv impressed “Why Don’t You Get a Job?”

“‘Why Don’t You Get a Job?’ is [one] of those songs where the stripper comes on Jerry Springer and her boyfriend doesn’t work, and he just stays at home and smokes pot, and she has to support him, and she’s here to tell him she’s going to kick him to the curb,” he mentioned. Holland needed “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” to sound like a campfire track.

Warning: This video comprises specific language

Critics and followers felt The Offspring’s ‘Why Don’t You Get a Job?’ seemed like The Beatles’ ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’

Some music critics and Beatles followers felt “Why Don’t You Get a Job?” carefully resembled The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.” The Offspring’s lawyer, Howard E. King, mentioned the controversy. “Other than speculation, no one’s made or threatened a claim on this matter,” he mentioned.

In a 1999 article from the Los Angeles Times, copyright lawyer M. Fletcher Reynolds mentioned the perceived similarity. “The music tends to trade on what’s familiar and what has been successful, so there’s things that sound a lot like other things,” Reynolds mentioned. “Originality is great up to a certain point but [pop music] has to be in a stylistic context. If you play something completely original on the radio, who wants to hear that?”

How The Beatles’ ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ and The Offspring’s ‘Why Don’t You Get a Job?’ carried out on the charts

“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” turned a minor hit for The Beatles. It reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on the chart for seven weeks. The tune appeared on The White Album, which topped the Billboard 200 for 9 of its 215 weeks on the chart.

“Why Don’t You Get a Job?” was a minor hit as effectively. The tune reached No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 15 weeks on the chart. The monitor appeared on The Offspring’s album Americana, which hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 67 weeks. Americana charted increased than any of the band’s different albums, though it didn’t final as lengthy on the chart as Smash.

“Why Don’t You Get a Job?” is one of The Offspring’s most well-known songs regardless of whether or not it appears like The Beatles.

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