Like Coldplay and Ray Parker Jr. before him, all-out genius/Grinderman vocalist Nick Cave is being accused of plagiarism. Frankie Duffy (of defunct Dundee, Scotland act Rising Signs) claims that "Palaces of Montezuma," a surprisingly tender moment on Grinderman's sophomore effort, Grinderman 2, sounds suspiciously like his old act's tune "Grey Man."
While clips of both songs reveal a similar melody, this kind of thing happens all the time. There are only so many notes in a scale, you know. Duffy, however, believes the legendary Cave to have been up to some sinister shenanigans.
"I can't help thinking that Nick Cave was sitting in his house one night and decided to surf some unsigned bands and saw our site, saw we were split up and thought, 'I'll have that track, nobody will ever know,'" Duffy told the Courier [via Spinner/Prefix].
Cave himself has addressed the situation, calling bullshit on Duffy's claims when Grinderman stopped by the Hammersmith Apollo in London on Friday (October 1).
"You may have read that some 17-year-old kid in Dundee is trying to sue me and is claiming to have written this song," Cave said before launching into "Palaces of Montezuma." "That's funny, because I wrote it for my wife."
Who's to say how this will turn out, but if Cave can't even get the guy's age right - Duffy is reportedly 29 years old - can we actually believe that the legendary singer gave enough of a shit to actually troll the Internet for untapped material? Unless, of course, the factual lapse is meant to distract us from the truth...
Judge for yourself:
While clips of both songs reveal a similar melody, this kind of thing happens all the time. There are only so many notes in a scale, you know. Duffy, however, believes the legendary Cave to have been up to some sinister shenanigans.
"I can't help thinking that Nick Cave was sitting in his house one night and decided to surf some unsigned bands and saw our site, saw we were split up and thought, 'I'll have that track, nobody will ever know,'" Duffy told the Courier [via Spinner/Prefix].
Cave himself has addressed the situation, calling bullshit on Duffy's claims when Grinderman stopped by the Hammersmith Apollo in London on Friday (October 1).
"You may have read that some 17-year-old kid in Dundee is trying to sue me and is claiming to have written this song," Cave said before launching into "Palaces of Montezuma." "That's funny, because I wrote it for my wife."
Who's to say how this will turn out, but if Cave can't even get the guy's age right - Duffy is reportedly 29 years old - can we actually believe that the legendary singer gave enough of a shit to actually troll the Internet for untapped material? Unless, of course, the factual lapse is meant to distract us from the truth...
Judge for yourself:
