"Ticking Bomb" Is A Better Song Anyway

I keep waiting for Aloe Blacc to tell me that it’s my song  

Well, it's not your song.  It's his.  And Elton John's...but I have a feeling that may be your point.  

Exactly.   So, today's Sametime Status deals with Aloe Blacc's song, "The Man."  It's more or less an okay song.  The lyrics (which, I won't lie are a little disappointing from Aloe Blacc, whose music I tend to respect more than most R+B/Hip Hop artists) deal with the ubiquitous Hip Hop theme of being better than everybody else.  They include the following lines:  Yeah you can tell everybody; Go ahead and tell everybody; I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man; Yes I am, yes I am, yes I am; I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man.  Poetry, ladies and gentlemen.  Poetry.

Anyway, the important part to note here is that first line there "Yeah you can tell everybody."  Every aspect of that line is lifted directly from Elton John's song "Your Song."  So much so that Elton John is actually listed as a co-writer of "The Man."  I'm sure he's collecting money off of it, too.  

So, whether Aloe Blacc is paying homage to a better song, or if he somehow originally thought he could get away with a theft this blatant is irrelevant.  Here we have a reasonably talented musician riding the coattails of a better musician in order to sell records.  

Also, when I hear "The Man," everytime I hear that I can tell everybody, I'm expecting to hear that I can tell them it's my song.  Instead, I get to tell everybody that Aloe Blacc is the man.  It's nowhere near as great an honor.  Also, given that 83% of hip hop lyrics are about somebody being "The Man" or better than any other hip hop artist, it's a dubious claim at best.  Not to mention the fact that every time I inform people that Aloe Blacc is the man, they really don't care.