What Roy Orbison song does this sound like?

December 28, 2016 9:47 AM

I recently saw Eliza Rickman live, and she performed the song Lark of My Heart. Afterwards, she made a joke about how the melody had come to her so easily she suspected she had subconsciously plagiarized it, but fortunately she hasn't been sued by the estate of Roy Orbison yet. The crowd laughed so got the joke but it went over my head! What Roy Orbison song does this sound like?
posted by srrh to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Maybe she just meant that it was Orbison-esque in feeling, but it does have a resemblance to 'In Dreams'.
posted by mdrew at 9:57 AM on December 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It's almost certainly a joke about the most famous plagiarism case in US law, Campell v. Acuff-Rose, which concerned the Roy Orbison song Oh, Pretty Woman. So it's an IP law joke, not a music joke per se.
posted by The Bellman at 9:59 AM on December 28, 2016 [7 favorites]

It also has a passing resemblance to Running Scared.
posted by Jasper Fnorde at 1:34 PM on December 28, 2016 [1 favorite]