'The Sound Of The Sharon And Hope'

[RobB]

Well,yes, the verses of 'Sharon And Hope' do sound very similar to the verses of Suede's 'The Sound Of The Streets as was noted by one reviewer back in 2001.

And given that Stina had invited Brett Anderson to sing with her only a year after 'TSOTS' was released on a single ('Electricity') and album (Sci-Fi Lullabies'),it tends to confirm 'Sharon And Hope's origin.

[sound world]

Weeeell...the first two lines of the melody of the verse are similar,but that's all.
And since that's a fairly abecedarian musical phrase (it goes up in step,then comes down;) and furthermore is used in sequence (it goes up and down twice,second time at a different melodic place)-effects that are both very common,and very catchy in such a stepwise melody,it could be just coincidence.The harmonic underpinning is slightly different in the two versions (Suede/Stina).
Stina's tune extends the sequence even further.In fact it's a very good example of how to construct a simple musical sequence and then fashion a whole song out of it.

Here endeth the lesson.

[RobB]

Here endeth the lesson.

....and a very intreresting one too.Thanks Dave.

But I think its far more than just coincidence.
Granted,Stina probably couldn't get David Bowie or (cough) Gary Numan to sing with her and Brett Anderson may well have been down her initial list but Stina must have been reasonably familiar with Brett's vocals /Suede records to have invited him to LA ?

......and Paul McCartney (for example) has written hundreds of songs,and I can't recall any of Stina's songs which sound anything like any of them.

So,I reckon Stina must have heard 'The Sound Of The Streets' at some point and consciously or sub-consciously used the melody as the basis to write 'Sharon And Hope'.

Coincidences happen all the time but I think in this case,with Brett collaborating so soon after the release of TSOTS, its just all a little too convenient.

[sound world]

Have you noticed that Stina uses a very similar melodic shape in 'On Falling' from TWIS?-in the chorus-it even uses the same rhythm.

[RobB]

Have you noticed that Stina uses a very similar melodic shape in 'On Falling' from TWIS?-in the chorus-it even uses the same rhythm.

I hadn't really noticed until you pointed it out but it is a little similar I guess. But with the Suede song,I've played it along with 'Sharon & Hope' to non-fans of both artists and they've all noticed the similarity.......as did the original reviewer back in 2001.