One Direction have revealed that they find the opening riff in The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go a ‘great’ one – and they intentionally ripped it off for their new single Live While We’re Young.
NME reports group member Harry Styles told BBC Newsbeat that the main riff of the song was intentionally designed to be similar to the one that kick-starts The Clash’s classic track.
“It was kind of on purpose though. It’s a great riff, so…” he mentioned during the interview.
Bandmate Louis Tomlinson has backed up his claims, saying that it was inevitable that songwriters would pen tracks that sounded similar to older efforts:
“I assume it must be quite difficult to do a unique riff now because there have been so many songs – surely there’s only so many riffs you can pull out?”
Yeah, yeah. Either way, these comments aren’t going to make The Clash fans – or any rock purist for that matter – very happy. Memo to One Direction: if you want to become a real, cred-filled global phenomenon boys, maybe whip out your guitar and try and create your own iconic riff?
Here’s the two videos to compare – make up your own mind if One Direction are ripping off The Clash:
http://youtu.be/sIXLHtg2Btk
