Lana Del Rey confirmed rumors of legal trouble between herself and Radiohead on Sunday (Jan.7), tweeting that Radiohead’s camp feels as though her song “Get Free,” the closer to her 2017 album Lust For Life, is too close to their 1993 hit single “Creep.”
She says while she knows that her song was not inspired by Radiohead, she has offered 40% of its royalties to quell the situation — but Radiohead’s lawyers are asking for a full 100 percent.
It’s true about the lawsuit. Although I know my song wasn’t inspired by Creep, Radiohead feel it was and want 100% of the publishing – I offered up to 40 over the last few months but they will only accept 100. Their lawyers have been relentless, so we will deal with it in court.
— Lana Del Rey (@LanaDelRey) January 7, 2018
Del Rey took her continued frustration over the situation on stage to her show in Denver on Sunday night as well, saying that she would continue to live the positive messages of the song, even if it doesn’t exist on future copies of the album. “Those sentiments that I wrote, I really am still going to strive for them, even if that song is not on future physical releases of the record,” she said.
Indeed, “Get Free” has a similarly haunting intro to Radiohead’s “Creep,” complete with building vocals, interrupted by an intermittent chord strum. As “Get Free” hits its stride, Lana croons “this is my commitment, my modern manifesto,” which sounds fairly similar to Creep’s famous declaration of “I’m a creep, I’m a weirdo.” As music and copyright law continue to intersect with creativity and reuse, this may be the latest example of a confusing legal battle over chord progressions.
Whether or not the similarities are intentional, or just too similar, may soon be up to the court’s opinion. Take a listen to the song above, and let us know if you think Lana Del Rey copped Radiohead’s breakout hit on “Get Free.”