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Song Stories

“Last Nite”

The Strokes | 2001

“Last Nite” turned the New York garage rockers into one of the most talked-about indie bands of the Aughts, helped along by the fact that the opening riff was “borrowed” from Tom Petty. “People would say, ‘You know that song “American Girl” by Tom Petty?’” Lead Stroke Julian Casablancas said. “‘Don’t you think it sounds a little like that?’ And I’d be like, ‘Yeah, we ripped it off. Where you been?’” In a 2006 Rolling Stone interview, Petty said he found it funny they admitted to the pilfering. “It doesn’t bother me,” he said.

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“Just Like Heaven”
The Cure | 1987
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“I Can See for Miles”
The Who | 1967

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Song Stories

“Too Close”

Next | 1998

Next was formed in Minneapolis when the uncle of Terry "T-Low" and Raphael "Tweety" Brown, who was a gospel choir director, introduced the brothers to Robert Lavelle "R.L." Huggar. Sounds of Blackness singer Ann Nesby groomed the R&B group before handing them over to Naughty by Nature's KayGee, who wrote and produced "Too Close." The idea for the song was sparked "from a conversation we had with several girls at a nightclub," explained T-Low. "It's talking about the club scene, with guys getting out of hand and the female telling him to back up, asking, 'What are you doing?'" 

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