What songs would you recommend for a music piracy playlist?

September 10, 2004 6:15 AM

I'm making a music playlist, the theme of which is music piracy. What songs would you recommend for it? Things like Bow Wow Wow "C30, C60, C90, Go" or I guess anything with words like "free" or "copy" in the title...
posted by skylar to Media & Arts (22 answers total)

go ask this question here.

also, you may find inspiration at illegal art.
posted by mookieproof at 6:27 AM on September 10, 2004

i would use the songs from the two sampling cases:

pretty woman (2live crew)/oh pretty woman (roy orbison jr) (the sampling is fair use case)

get off your ass and jam (George Clinton, Jr. and the Funkadelics)/100 miles and runnin (the sampling is piracy case)

or, i guess, most of the negativland catalogue
posted by crush-onastick at 7:14 AM on September 10, 2004

Oh yeah. Negativland could easily figure prominently in your comp. (Can you find a copy of their "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"? It's around.)

Another major sampling case involved Biz Markie & Gilbert O'Sullivan.

And I'd recommend Kanny G's version of What A Wonderful World, but I take it this would be something you'd actually want people to listen to.

Tghis is a neat idea. I might have more after I wake up.
posted by chicobangs at 7:34 AM on September 10, 2004

"They Steal One, You Write Another One" from the Broadway play "Jelly Roll".

Title-related:

Pirate Song - George Harrison
Fuck the System - System of a Down (From Steal this Album)
Don't Stop the Music - various
Steal Away - Etta James (or others)

(?)

and maybe Chant du Pirate by Edith Piaf; nobody will know what the hell it is, but it'll be fun!
posted by taz at 7:35 AM on September 10, 2004

booker t and the mg's: boot leg

also: anything by cassetteboy, or jazz pianist joe sample,
posted by nylon at 7:44 AM on September 10, 2004

some more:

jo jo read: before you steal another song
the new seekers: beg, steal or borrow
john martyn: hiss on the tape
national eye: copy of a copy
friends for heroes: make a copy
boogie down productions: illegal business
front 242: sampled

ah, i could go on for hours.
posted by nylon at 7:56 AM on September 10, 2004

ok, last one:

the upsetters: unlicensed dub
posted by nylon at 8:00 AM on September 10, 2004

Acts of Parody is about songs being ripped off of other songs, (.mp3 available on this page), and it is itself a rip-off of the song Acts of Creation, (.mp3 sample available). WARNING: Contains Filk.

When you play with words and music, and creation is the game,
Then your symbols have the power to replace the ones they maim.
From the structure, rhyme, and scansion, to each note and treble clef,
Every act of creation is an act of theft.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 8:59 AM on September 10, 2004

free bird?
posted by o2b at 9:29 AM on September 10, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions... Nylon's are my favourites at the moment but keep 'em coming...
posted by skylar at 9:34 AM on September 10, 2004

Anything from Metallica should be fine.
posted by robbie01 at 9:50 AM on September 10, 2004

"Get Ur Freak On"-Missy Elliot (although she sings "copywritten" when it should be "copyrighted," anyway, it works with the rhyme.)

Anything by DJ Rupture

"My Way" (entire album)-Akufen

I've got many more but work calls. More later.
posted by anathema at 9:59 AM on September 10, 2004

"Something For Nothing" by Loudon Wainwright is exactly what you're looking for. You can see the lyrics (and download the MP3!) from waxy.org.

You can pull one of my songs right out of thin air
Go ahead and download me, see if I care
In love, war and cyberspace, everything's fair
And it's okay to steal 'cause it's so nice to share...
posted by turaho at 11:09 AM on September 10, 2004

biz markie baby
posted by whoshotwho at 11:09 AM on September 10, 2004

"everything is free" by gillian welch is right on the money.
posted by edlundart at 11:19 AM on September 10, 2004

"My Sweet Lord."
posted by norm at 12:14 PM on September 10, 2004

Chumbawamba, "Pass it Along (MP3 Mix)"
posted by abcde at 12:21 PM on September 10, 2004

It wouldn't be complete without Madonna's contribution to the genre.
posted by ulotrichous at 12:38 PM on September 10, 2004

is anyone still reading this? cuz i'm back with more.

the rasmus: time to burn
momus: tape recorder man
wat tyler: decidedly dodgy
purple sunset: you ought to be arrested
motorhead: (i won't) pay your price
eduardo ramos: cancion de los cd-r
echo and the bunnymen: burn for me
negativland: you must respect copyright
AC/DC: breaking the rules
edwyn collins: keep on burning
sergei khmelev: copy what u want
eddie adcock: bootlegger
carla bley: copyright royalties

[this is fun]
posted by nylon at 1:58 PM on September 10, 2004

might as well keep going, while i'm in the zone:

jack mudurian: downloading the repertoire
diamond dogs: let me share it
pris: kick out the duplicates
geoff galaxy and the clip-on bell-ends: legitimate back-up copy in case the original gets scratched*
twin hype: the counterfeit incident
missile command: why'd you put that song on my cassette
christian kleine: unauthorized
almost famous: napster

*i made this one up.
posted by nylon at 2:27 PM on September 10, 2004

Response by poster: Nylon, you must be some sort of indie genius. I haven't heard of ANY of the acts in that last list. What do you do all day?
posted by skylar at 2:55 PM on September 10, 2004

I'm sort of saving this for my own posterity's sake here. Feel free to add as you please.
posted by magnetbox at 10:11 AM on September 16, 2004