Plagiarism again? Fans compare Olivia Rodrigo’s new single to other songs

Olivia Rodrigo announced her second album, GUTS, for the month of September, and started promoting the new work with the single “vampire”. The song was accompanied by a clip, and reached 18 million views in three days.

But Twitter users were quick to note the song’s similarities to other songs. One of the viral tweets that fueled all the discussion says: “I can be canceled for saying this, but does Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘vampire’ look like it was copied from somewhere? I don’t know, the beat, it all sounds familiar. I just can’t pinpoint exactly where I heard it.”

But the user ends up congratulating the composition: “Wait, I found it… sounds like the song of the year”.

might get canceled for saying this but Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo sounds like it’s been copied from somewhere? idk the beat, the lyrics, it all sounds familiar. i just can’t pinpoint exactly where i have heard it? wait, i figured it out, it sounds like the song of the year https://t.co/5vXpg3uZXY

— alexa 🧛🏻‍♀️ (@gomezstan) June 28, 2023

This led to several other accounts opining that other songs had already been heard from Olivia’s single.

The beginning of “Vampire” has been compared to the beginning of One Direction’s “If I Could Fly”. “The way the beginning of ‘vampire’ sounds like ‘If I Could Fly’ is driving me crazy lol,” reads one of the posts.

The way that the beginning of “vampire” sounds like “If I Could Fly” is throwing me off lol

— Harry, Harrison, and Katie.x (@katieloveshandh) June 30, 2023

I’ve been trying to figure out why vampire by oliva rodrigo sounds so familiar and i just realized it sounds like if i could fly

— a (@aciddhoran) June 30, 2023

Others pointed out a resemblance to Radiohead’s “Creep”. “2 seconds of “Vampire” by Olivia Rodrigo. I like it, but it actually has the same chord progression as ‘Creep’ by radiohead,” says one user.

2 seconds into vampire by olivia rodrigo. i like it but it does in fact have the same chord progression as creep by radiohead

— lily rose ♏️ (@lettrbomb12) June 30, 2023

One user even heard John Lennon’s “Imagine” on Olivia’s song.

the beginning of vampire sounds like imagine by john lennon

— scottish pimento cheese (@LesboJoMilf) June 30, 2023

Followers even connected “Vampire” to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Because I liked a Boy”, which was supposedly the pivot of Olivia’s breakup with her ex-Joshua Bassett. “Honestly ‘Vampire’ sounds like ‘Because I liked a boy’,” reads one of the tweets.

Honestly Vampire sounds like because i liked a boy

— andrea (@rhiannonrryy) June 30, 2023

Comparisons to other music, while slight at this point, aren’t a new thing for Olivia. In 2021, the singer was criticized and accused of plagiarism by the public.

According to the website of “Paper” magazine, they ranged from the riff of “Pump It Up” by Elvis Costello in “Brutal” to “Cruel Summer” by Taylor Swift in “Déjà vu”, but mainly due to the use of the melody of “Misery Business ” by Paramore in their song “Good 4 u” — later, Olivia includes the band in the credits, just as she did for Swift, St. Vincent and producer Jack Antonoff in “Déjà vu”.

The GUTS album was produced in partnership with Daniel Nigro, who was also part of SOUR, his debut.

“For me, this album is about growing pains and trying to figure out who I am at this point in my life,” she tells JustJared.

“I feel like I grew up 10 years between the ages of 18 and 20 – it was such an intense period of strangeness and change. I think this is all just a natural part of growing up, and I hope the album reflects that.”