Elvis Costello has said he is completely relaxed about Olivia Rodrigo’s song Brutal and its supposed similarities to his 1978 hit Pump It Out.
Brutal is a track on Rodrigo’s 2021 debut album, Sour, and yes, it does contain a riff almost identical to the one from Pump It Up. But the 71-year-old songwriter says he has no plans to sue.
"That’s too silly to talk about,” Costello told The Times. “Well, I met Olivia and she was lovely. I said: 'Look, this is just a riff and how could I be arrogant enough to sue on the basis of originality when my song is based on Subterranean Homesick Blues?'
"Did Bob Dylan sue me? He teased me about it but didn’t sue. And did Chuck Berry sue Bob because his song was like Too Much Monkey Business?"
As for Rodrigo – who releases her third album You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love today (June 12) – she’s previously defended herself against those plagiarism accusations. In an interview with Teen Vogue magazine, she said: "I think it’s disappointing to see people take things out of context and discredit any young woman’s work. All music is inspired by each other. Obviously, I write all of my lyrics from my heart and my life first.”
"Every single artist is inspired by artists who have come before them. It’s sort of a fun, beautiful sharing process. Nothing in music is ever new. There’s four chords in every song. That’s the fun part - trying to make that your own."
And Pump It Up is, in all likelihood, being played by Costello for the first time in years on his current UK jaunt. The songwriter and his band The Imposters are on manoeuvres around the country this week for a tour billed ‘Radio Soul! The Early Songs of Elvis Costello’.
