ALICE IN CHAINS’ “YOUR DECISION” VS. NIRVANA’S “POLLY”
Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 4:30pm by Axl RosenbergReader CB Mather e-mailed me over the weekend to assert that Alice in Chains’ new song, “Your Decision,” is “an obvious rip-off” of Nirvana’s “Polly.” Now, since I absolutely loved AIC’s new album, Black Gives Way to Blue, and really, really dig the song “Your Decision,” I immediately decided to investigate…
…and there are some undeniable similarities between the songs. The vocal lines are different and the choruses are not really similar at all, but the chord progression during the verse is… well… it’s not identical, but I can see a relationship there. I don’t know if I’d call it “an obvious rip-off,” but only the most die-hard AIC fan who can’t live with the thought of anyone saying anything even mildly insulting to the band would deny the similitude of the two songs.
Here they are side-by-side. I tend to think this is just one of those times when a song kinda-sorta sounds like another song, but the fact that they’re both Seattle bands from the same era makes the connection that much more relevant.
NIRVANA PERFORMING “POLLY” ON UNPLUGGED
ALICE IN CHAINS PERFORMING “YOUR DECISION” ON JIMMY KIMMEL
So? What does everyone else think?
-AR
“Seattle bands from the same error”
You seem to have made an era.
now that’s funny
Alice In Chains is still better in musician-ship. o.O. Not saying Nirvana doesn’t write some damn good songs and isn’t influential, but AIC is a much better band.
wtf does that have to do with anything!?for fuck’s sake man
These two songs are pretty similar, chord-progression wise…how did someone in AIC not notice this when it was being written?
Maybe they did, and just didn’t care?
I know what it’s like being in a band… Sometimes you just don’t notice similarities until you listen to a lot of other music after you’ve written a song…. When you’re writing it’s best not to listen to anyone elses music because it could always seep into yours..
I’ve noticed that both guitar players in my band wrote two different riffs with the exact rhythmic pattern of the same song(s) — … I lol’d when I had to tell them both they are unoriginal.
The bad part is both bands/songs are horrible:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olmlEaMf2wg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDiC83Usn2s
But yes these are pretty much identical in chord changes… You can sing each song over the other… I smell a couple mash ups in the future
Can’t copywrite progressions
You sir, have it exactly correct.
With two songs as simple as they are (using the same chord progression), it would be very difficult to avoid any comparisons. Both great songs, in my opinion.
unless your satch. As per his lawsuit of Coldplay over Viva La Vida.
Oh well, two good songs with one progression. That’s music!
THe intro to Your Decision reminds me of Angel Eyes from Degradation Trip.
exactly! i also am kinda remind of Nutshell from JOF. but NOT polly.
I hear nutshell too, my favorite AiC song. There are millions of rock songs recorded. Not much is new these days. This is not similar enought to rate ripoff status. Like Cantrell would need to steal something from the sloppiest guitarist ever.
Being a big Nirvana fan, and not an Alice In Chains fan (yeah fuck you too) i would say its definitly NOT a rip off, a few similarities maybe, but its getting pretty fuckin hard to avoid that these days
EVER THINK THERE IS ALOT MORE TO IT.BEIN A FELLOW HEROIN ADDICT (NOT PPROUD AND ACTUALLY OFF OF IT FOR NOW) IN MY OPINION ITS TO WHAT WE DO TO OURSELVES EVERYDAY IS THE POINT ,KURT AND LAYNE NOT BEIN HERE TO TELL THE STORY CUS ITS OVER .THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM CAN BE THE ONLY ONE UNDERSTAND THE HURT AND MAYBE IN SOME WAY UNDERSTAND .IT PROBABLY STILL HAUNTS THEM ALL EVERYDAY LOSING THE BEST FREINDS AND MUSICIANS THEYVE EVER KNOWN.IT HARD TO STEAL FROM DEAD FRIENDS WHO NEVER GAVE A FUCK IN THE FIRST PLACE.SORRY FOR THE CAPS I DIDNT FEEL LIKE REWRITING
lolwut?
i guess heroin destroyed your caps lock as well as your mind huh?
WINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. I am glad you gave up the smack, but shit learn how to use a keyboard.
Fucking Junkies. Die.
Hey “brutalizer”, where did you get your name? And for future reference, it is spelt “Br00talizer”, like the influential post-music band.
I can spell it however I desire, who gives a fuck anyway it’s metalsucks. Fuck you. I got my name from ravaging your girlfreind’s throat cunt. Apparently I brutalized her. Weak slut.
I noticed the similarities to Polly and Angel Eyes after I heard the song a couple of times, but all the songs are different enough for me to not give a shit.
Come on…..people…….it’s E,G,D,C.
Many, many songs have that chord progression.
Nirvana did not invent songwriting. It did exsist B.K. (Before Kurt)
Chord-wise that song is basically the verse section of Neil Young’s “Keep on Rockin in a Free World” with the inconsequential G chord thrown in.
Who ever’s crying about rip-off needs to go bitch to Joe Satriani about it. And then you can both fuck off.
lol that’s what i was thinking….
get a grip people, the first section of each song contains the same extremely common chord progression… that’s about it… they certainly feel different.
one of these days im going to get a website that is a chord progression archive, where you jsut put in 3 or 4 or 5 chords and you get a bunch of songs that use it….
that’s actually a terrific idea for a website
i saw a video once where they put songs that had the same chord progression one after another, and one chord progression had something like 30 songs… it’s almost impossible to write a new chord progression without it sounding awful.
aah i found it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP0–qwCuek&feature=fvw
have fun.
sounds very similar at the start
My take is that this is a song of closure for the band on not only Layne But also Cobain. Nothing wrong with referencing other music if its done with taste and reverence. All of those guys probably got heroin from the same dealers and they all built that scene together.
Whiile we’re on the subject of musical plagiarism, I was listening to Tesla yesterday and I realized that the intro to Creed’s “One Last Breath” is pretty much the same as Tesla’s “Getting Better”. Just some food for thought. And another reason to hate Creed.
Yeah, the chords are similar, but I wouldn’t say it’s a ripoff by any stretch. Stealing chords has long been a part of music… you can’t copyright them, so artists will reuse them. This is basically how we had the bebop movement in jazz. Also look at the blues, most of that is the same with the exception of turnarounds and such.
To be honest, if I wasn’t listening to similarities to “Polly,” I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
*listening for
I like both bands, but I think I prefer Polly. I like my AIC with electricity. They kind of bore me unplugged.
AIC’s song is less interesting and the intro is blatantly reminiscent of “Polly”. Not sure why they even bothered with the lame intro; hate to be so negative. The solo was nice!
Gotta say I prefer AIC more
Nirvana >
Nah!
There are probably 100s more songs that use those same 4 chords in a row. “Your Decision” is different enough not to be considered a rip-off, and I too really like both songs!
who. gives. a. shit.
Not even close.
like everyone else has said: similar chord progression. but there’s a different strumming pattern, different tempo, different vocal melody… shit… “Your Decision” has drums and a guitar solo! it’s not a direct rip off by any means.
Like one dude said on this website, there is no originality anymore
Yeah but did anybody say to Kurt ‘Bro, you sound like Crosby Stills and Nash on this one’ ?
Well maybe someone could have but it didn’t matter.
I’m pretty sure Bach would have told them both that IV I V IV is a pretty weak chord progression but whatever.
It is what it is.
I think it’s far more important we address the issue of Alice in Chains is MISSING LAYNE STALEY AND THEREFORE CAN NO LONGER BE ALICE IN CHAINS.
They can be NOT LAYNE STALEY. that would be cool.
dang. Miss Layne now. No one could replace Layne.