What if I tell you “Billie Jean”, by MJ, was influenced by The Doors?

Even when the main question of this post is quite strong and shocking, it’s a question based on my personal opinion, so, this isn’t a fact, but it’s certainly an interesting possibility, don’t you think?

In my previous posts, I was talking about what’s a “Hook” in music, which you could find interesting and a little bit related to what I’m about to show you here. If you wanna read it, click here.

When I’m working on the post production of a photoshoot, I always like to listen to good music to get some inspiration while I work and it also makes me feel good. So, I decided to put an aleatory selection of music on Youtube and start with my duties. When I had already listened to many songs, one amazing and incredible song randomly appears and took me through an incredible trip: Riders on The Storm, by The Doors.

Fuente

I was working and enjoying the moment with such a very good song, but then I had to put some attention on the photo’s edition so I just stop paying attention to the song. Then, Rhode's piano solo started and I was humming the bass line when suddenly I realized, very amazed, that the guitar was playing the main riff of Billie Jean’s song. It caused an impression on me! So, after an initial shock and a lot of replays of both songs, I decided to build an argument for you, using some musical tools and my judgement, so you can tell me if I’m wrong or I’m damn right (hahaha!).

Before we start to talk about it, why not to enjoy this incredible song called “Riders On The Storm”, by The Doors? Listen very carefully, you might find something here ;)

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Riders on The Storm, The Doors (1971).

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In order to start building a comparison between both songs, I think you should take the chance to listen “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. Enjoy and listen carefully!

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Billie Jean, Michael Jackson (1983).

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You are probably thinking that I’m kinda crazy. You might not have found the relation between Riders on The Storm and Billie Jean. So, this is where I must explain my point to you.

Even when my theory might be considered as a “little bit exaggerated”, I would develop some important points to prove you why I think that “Billie Jean” , by MJ, was influenced by The Doors.

In the following section I will be referring to The Door’s song as “ROTS” (A.K.A. Riders On The Storm), and the same will occur to MJ’s song, “BJ” (A.K.A. Billie Jean).

What you can hear.

In this section I will guide you through my perspective. I think in this particular point you would find the sense of my point of view (I hope hahaha). So, here is where I’m gonna guide you through “What you can hear”.

As you could hear in the beginning of ROTS, it starts with a bass line + some feels with the rides and cymbals of the drum. The bass line is the key piece of this argument. It’s repetitive, it maintains its structure (except for some particular variations) and its duration is almost the duration of the song. It’s a bass line based on a constant rhythm, a constant pulse and beat.

What the guitar does is incredibe. It defines all my argument. In this song, the guitar is really wide open, a spaced - free guitar line, really interesting work. Ok, it really doesn’t sound like BJ at all… Or does it? Here, le proof: It sounds like the guitar riff of BJ at the minute 3:05.

Something that you should know is that as musical producers, some people can build a whole new song based on a tiny part of another song. A good example of that is the amazing band called Daft Punk. If you want me to write about their musical work, let me know in the comment’s section!

That said, I'll proceed to talk about MJ’s song, but now, I’m gonna talk a little bit about music language, so to do a musical comparison.

Still not convinced? Bear with me, please... Keep reading! ;)

What you can read

As I’ve said above, I’m about to proceed to talk about BJ. I’ve told you that ROTS “starts with a bass line + some feels with the rides and cymbals of the drum. Find a match?

Source

Yes, BJ starts with the same structure but with a variation: It starts with a drum beat, accompanied with a repetitive and constant pulse and rhythm. But the bass line is the key piece, remember? So, here is where the examples take part:

Souce: Mae Rod's transcription.

The whole bass line is formed by quaver’s notes, maintaining a constant rhythm, and also a pretty similar bass line to the one played on ROTS, considering which notes are being played. Then, you can find another similitude: what the guitar plays at ROTS and what the keyboards plays at BJ.

Souce: Mae Rod's transcription.

In both lines similar rhythms are played, with the only and simple difference that in BJ the notes were moved adding a silence (well played, producers of Michael Jackson).

Do you still think I'm crazy, or am I right?

I must add that my intention with this post isn't to generate a criticism of Michael Jackson or discredit the level of his music, it's quite the opposite. It's not a fact that the producers of Michael Jackson have taken that section of ROTS to develop their song, but assuming that it was, it would have been just great that they have developed a world hit as a result of what it sounds briefly in the Door's song. This is where a Hook plays an important and really interesting role.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, the use of hooks or leaks of existing songs could be considered as plagiarism if they aren't used as a resource to enrich a song or to enrich musical genres creating fusions, using that resource with good taste and with intelligence. If you take part of an existing song to compose, you always have to try to say something new and great to the world, trying to leave a message, otherwise it will show that we don't have much to say as artists, that we don't have our own ideas and our own voice, that we don't know how to say anything new.

In short... Maybe BJ is not influenced by ROTS, but without a doubt it's a pretty good thought to entertain one that does not cease to be a possibility, however minimal.

I hope you liked my post! Until next time!

Mae Rod.