So, If Robin Thicke And Pharrell Got Sued For Ripping Off Of Marvin Gaye, How Come Ed Sheeran Hasn’t Been?

Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On is one of the greatest songs in the history of ever.  It's the song that my husband and I chose for our first dance song at our wedding a decade and a half ago, because a) it's one of the greatest songs in the history of ever and b) it's not our style to choose an appopriate song to dance to at our own wedding.  If you know us at all, you know that appropriateness in general is not our style. 

Anyway, aside from the sentimental aspect, it's just a fantastic song.  Which is why, when my sister first introduced me to Ed Sheeran's music months ago, and played me the song Thinking Out Loud, I immediately thought, "HOLY CRAP this sounds a whole lot like Let's Get It On."

I didn't think much of it beyond that initial "HOLY CRAP" moment, but then a month or so ago, the internet was ablaze with news of how Robin Thicke and Pharrell lost a lawsuit against the estate of Marvin Gaye for ripping off his Got To Give It Up song with their smash hit Blurred Lines.

You may have heard about that. It was kind of a huge moment in the music world, and in my opinion, kind of an awful one.  While there are similarities between the two songs, I certainly didn't think they were lawsuit worthy.  I thought Pharrell and Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines was a wonderful tribute to that era of music, and that it was really reminiscent of Marvin Gaye's song, but it was still a totally different song. 

Which brings me back to Ed Sheeran's song Thinking Out Loud, and how much it sounds like Let's Get It On.  I'm not the only one who's noticed this.

For those of you who haven't heard Ed Sheeran's song, here you go (pay special attention to the base line under the lyrics starting around the 30 second mark.)

Now compare that to Marvin Gaye's classic.

I MEAN COME ON. 

And listen – I'm not saying Ed Sheeran SHOULD get sued.  He shouldn't.  And Robin Thicke and Pharrell shouldn't have been sued either. 

If everyone could just stop suing everyone for stupid crap, that'd be awesome.

Now there's going to be those of you out there who are all, "WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH POLITICS MOCK OMG?"  And you know what? Save your breath.  Our site has never been strictly about politics.  It's always been about politics, pop culture, and society, and it's going to continue to be about those things, for all the reasons Daisy talked about in this post.

Anyway, I'm curious to know what you think about the judgment against Pharrell and Robin Thicke.  Fair or bad precedent?  As egregious as Vanilla Ice's lift of Queen's Under Pressure in Ice Ice Baby or not even close? Is Ed Sheeran stealing or merely honoring?

Discuss. (And if you're interested, peruse Youtube for all kinds of mash-ups of Thinking Out Loud and Let's Get It On. There are tons of them!)