Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran was found not liable on April 4, 2023 in a lawsuit where he was accused of stealing elements of the Marvin Gaye classic “Let’s Get It On” for his 2014 hit, “Thinking Out Loud.” Since then, a federal appeals court also upheld that ruling in November 2024, affirming that the two songs only share basic musical building blocks that copyright law does not protect. A separate, related lawsuit remains ongoing. The case called attention to the fact that there are motifs and musical structures common in pop music that no one owns, and all are free to use. When it comes to chord progressions, the 12-bar blues and basic I, IV, V, I progressions you hear in country and folk have been used and reused since people first picked up the guitar. In the wrong hands, the progressions can result in music that is boring and formulaic, but in the right hands, they can be a springboard for fresh ideas. Guitarist playing their instrument. Photo credit: Canva A comedy group proved the point perfectly In 2009, Australian comedy group Axis Of Awesome did a funny sketch showing how one four-chord progression, famous for being the basis of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” has been used countless times by musicians to great effect. They played a medley of 38 major hits using the same progression to prove their point. For musicians, it’s known as the I–V–vi–IV progression, and when played in the key of C it would be C, G, Am, F. Warning: Video contains strong language. Here are all 38 songs in the medley “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt “Forever Young” by Alphaville “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz “Happy Ending” by Mika “Amazing” by Alex Lloyd “Wherever You Will Go” by The Calling “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” by Elton John “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5 “Pictures Of You” by The Last Goodnight “With Or Without You” by U2 “Fall At Your Feet” by Crowded House “Not Pretty Enough” by Kasey Chambers “Let It Be” by The Beatles “Under the Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers “The Horses” by Daryl Braithwaite “No Woman No Cry” by Bob Marley “Sex and Candy” by Marcy Playground “Land Down Under” by Men at Work “Waltzing Matilda” by Banjo Paterson “Take On Me” by A-ha “When I Come Around” by Green Day “Save Tonight” by Eagle Eye Cherry “Africa” by Toto “If I Were A Boy” by Beyoncé “Self Esteem” by The Offspring “You’re Gonna Go Far Kid” by The Offspring “U + Ur Hand” by Pink “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga “Barbie Girl” by Aqua “You Found Me” by The Fray “Don’t Trust Me” by 30h!3 “Kids” by MGMT “Canvas Bags” by Tim Minchin “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia “Superman” by Five for Fighting “Birdplane” by Axis of Awesome “Scar” by Missy Higgins And the official video has even more songs It’s quite an extensive (and, as they prove, accurate) list, but that’s not all. In the summer of 2011, Axis of Awesome released an official music video of “4 Chords” on their YouTube channel, which included even more songs such as Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister,” The Black Eyed Peas’ “Where is the Love?”, John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” and even Men at Work’s “Land Down Under” in addition to many, many, many more. Check it out: Axis of Awesome officially broke up in August 2018 after a year-long break in 2017. Though the trio is no longer performing together, the impact of “4 Chords” goes on and on…much like the use of that musical progression. And, while all these songs may use the same four chords, you’ve got to admit they’re all bangers, so we’re not mad at it. This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated. The post Comedy rock band use 38 songs to prove how ‘every pop song’ uses the same four chords appeared first on Upworthy.

The Jackson 5 are arguably one of the most successful family acts of all time. Though their father Joe Jackson was notoriously tough on his sons, there’s no denying he turned them into stars. The boys could sing, dance, play instruments, and make all the girls cry. With the recent release of the biopic Michael, there’s a renewed interest in the King of Pop’s music and performance skills. A boy named Amir Elijah Lee’s Michael Jackson impersonation is so good that he captivates audiences. His mom shares his talent on social media, and people cannot believe what they’re seeing. @amirelijahlee Mir’s last Michael Performance #jackson5 #michaeljacksonofficial #fyp #michaeljackson #motown ♬ original sound – Amir Elijah Lee Amir Brings the Jackson 5 Back to Life Michael Jackson made the Jackson 5 into superstars, and Amir 100% does the King of Pop justice. Amir’s most recent Jackson 5 performance amassed 6.5 million views on TikTok, and people positively fell in love with all the boys. “I’ll call it ‘The reincarnation tour,’” a fan joked. “The way he so effortlessly hit that high note WHILE WALKING?! he’s so talented,” another person added. According to one fan, if this was the real Jackson 5, they’d already be booked around the country. “If Joe was still alive he would’ve made them go on tour,” someone joked. Of course, some thought that the Jackson 5 impersonators were spending too much time performing and not enough time enjoying their youth. Amir’s mom made sure to let people know that’s not the case. “Mom here! I run his page and I’m a licensed RN,” she expalind. “Amir lives a totally normal childhood, education, rest, and nutrition are first! We only book one to two shows per quarter during the school year and whatever he’s interested in during summer if he’s not vacationing!” This story’s featured image can be found here

Cruz Anguiano’s life has not been easy. At just two years old, he’s already faced a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. After receiving treatment in San Diego, California, Cruz and his family traveled to New York in hopes of beating the dreadful disease. According to USA Today, the planned three-week stay turned into months, but Cruz left for California cancer-free. That was exciting enough for Cruz Anguiano’s family. But what Southwest Airlines did next for the 2-year-old truly made all the difference. “We have a very special passenger on board today,” a Southwest employee shared over the intercom. “We are so very proud of you. You are very strong and brave.” Southwest Airlines Made Cruz Anguiano’s Trip Home Even More Special Not only did Southwest Airlines congratulate Cruz Anguiano’s family, but so did other passengers. They applauded and shared sweet notes for the little boy and his parents. “I had to hold back the tears because that’s where it hit me,” Cruz’s mom Elisa Anguiano told USA Today. “We were finally going home to reunite with our daughter and all of our family.” Southwest Airlines shared a video of Cruz Anguiano’s trip home, and it made many people cry. “The way I would have cheered and clapped and cried if I was on that plane. Probably louder than I am at home watching this video,” someone shared on Facebook. “this makes me so happy! i’m the one who checked them in and i was desperately trying to reach out to their crews to get him some special attention! they are such a sweet family and Cruz has the best smile!” Another person added. Cruz’s mom chimed in to share more gratitude. “Thank you everyone. I’m Cruz’s mama! I read every comment and we’ll wish. Thank you for the prayers for our boy! He’s doing good and so happy to be home and with sissy. We were away from sissy and home for 4 months so he’s thriving! Thanks again,” she wrote. This story’s featured image can be found here

Mark Twain is often seen as the quintessential American novelist, having penned classics such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. But he was also a popular travel writer who wrote six books about his adventures abroad. In 1867, he was sent by a newspaper to travel throughout Europe and the Holy Land via the Mediterranean Sea, resulting in the popular book The Innocents Abroad. In 1880, Twain wrote an unofficial sequel to The Innocents Abroad called A Tramp Abroad, a fictionalized account of himself, his traveling companion “Harris,” and their attempt to walk through Europe. The book is both a travelogue from a time when it was rare for most Americans to travel to Europe and a satire of how clueless they can be when encountering new cultures. Twain didn’t care much for European cuisine One unforgettable passage in A Tramp Abroad has Twain critiquing European food and longing for his favorite comfort foods. He refers to European fare as unsatisfying, to say the least. “The number of dishes is sufficient, but then it is such a monotonous variety of UNSTRIKING dishes. It is an inane, dead-level of ‘fair-to-middling.’ There is nothing to ACCENT it,” Twain wrote. Mark Twain relaxing. Photo credit: The Guardian/Wikimedia Commons In the book, he jokes that when he returns to the States, he will have a “modest” meal of his favorite foods prepared for him and will send his requests ahead of time so they are ready when he arrives. The menu contains 60 of his favorite American comfort foods. Twain lists his favorite comfort foods “It has now been many months, at the present writing, since I have had a nourishing meal, but I shall soon have one, a modest, private affair, all to myself,” Twain wrote. “I have selected a few dishes, and made out a little bill of fare, which will go home in the steamer that precedes me, and be hot when I arrive, as follows: Radishes. Baked apples, with cream Fried oysters; stewed oysters. Frogs. American coffee, with real cream. American butter. Fried chicken, Southern style. Porter-house steak. Saratoga potatoes. Broiled chicken, American style. Hot biscuits, Southern style. Hot wheat-bread, Southern style. Hot buckwheat cakes. American toast. Clear maple syrup. Virginia bacon, broiled. Blue points, on the half shell. Cherry-stone clams. San Francisco mussels, steamed. Oyster soup. Clam Soup. Philadelphia Terapin soup. Oysters roasted in shell-Northern style. Soft-shell crabs. Connecticut shad. Baltimore perch. Brook trout, from Sierra Nevadas. Lake trout, from Tahoe. Sheep-head and croakers, from New Orleans. Black bass from the Mississippi. American roast beef. Roast turkey, Thanksgiving style. A Thanksgiving turkey. Photo credit: Canva Cranberry sauce. Celery. Roast wild turkey. Woodcock. Canvas-back-duck, from Baltimore. Prairie hens, from Illinois. Missouri partridges, broiled. ‘Possum. Coon. Boston bacon and beans. Bacon and greens, Southern style. Hominy. Boiled onions. Turnips. Pumpkin. Squash. Asparagus. Butter beans. Sweet potatoes. Lettuce. Succotash. String beans. Mashed potatoes. Catsup. Boiled potatoes, in their skins. New potatoes, minus the skins. Early rose potatoes, roasted in the ashes, Southern style, served hot. Sliced tomatoes, with sugar or vinegar. Stewed tomatoes. Green corn, cut from the ear and served with butter and pepper. Green corn, on the ear. Hot corn-pone, with chitlings, Southern style. Hot hoe-cake, Southern style. Hot egg-bread, Southern style. Hot light-bread, Southern style. Buttermilk. Iced sweet milk. Apple dumplings, with real cream. Apple pie. Apple fritters. Apple puffs, Southern style. Peach cobbler, Southern style Peach pie. American mince pie. Pumpkin pie. Squash pie. All sorts of American pastry. Fresh American fruits of all sorts, including strawberries, which are not to be doled out as if they were jewelry, but in a more liberal way. Ice-water—not prepared in the ineffectual goblet, but in the sincere and capable refrigerator.” Mark Twain playing pool. Photo credit: The World’s Work/Wikimedia Commons Twain’s list of favorite foods is notable because he spent much of his life in different regions of the United States, including Hannibal, Missouri (his boyhood home), Hartford, Connecticut (his adult home), and Elmira, New York (his summer retreat). His career as a writer also took him to places in the West, including San Francisco and Sacramento, California, as well as Carson City and Virginia City, Nevada. This led him to develop a taste for many regional cuisines, which he referenced specifically on his list. The oysters should be from San Francisco, and the black bass from Mississippi. Some may recoil when they see a few items on his list, namely “’coon” (short for raccoon) and “’possum,” short for opossum. These days, most Americans would shudder at the idea of eating them for dinner, but in the 1800s, they were seen as delicacies. Both were commonly roasted or stewed and served with sweet potatoes. Twain’s over-the-top menu is a fun look at the types of food that were popular in the late 1800s, and it’s also a charming example of how every region of the U.S. has its own specialty. Whether it’s fish in the Sierras or duck in Baltimore, Maryland, every place has its own flavor, and to a man who lived just about everywhere, they were all something to savor. The post After touring the globe, Mark Twain listed 60 American dishes he sorely missed appeared first on Upworthy.

“Bookworm” is a phrase often used to describe someone who enjoys reading books. While the term is endearing, people may not realize that a bookworm is also an actual insect. No, not the cute cartoon inchworm wearing glasses and a bow tie. A literal bug that is anything but cute—and one woman is horrified by the discovery. Taryn Delanie Smith took to social media to share that she recently discovered that “bookworm” was more than a term of endearment. The shocked woman explained that after showing off her antique book collection online, comments poured in. People were telling her to be careful and look out for bookworms. Bookworm and bookworm damage. Photo credit: Dominic Mason/Wikimedia Commons This warning prompted Smith to look into what people were saying, since she was unaware that an insect by that name existed. What she discovered in her research scarred both her and unsuspecting viewers alike. “I love collecting old, dusty, smelly books, and I just think it’s really cool. It’s like a random, stupid, niche thing about me,” Smith says in an Instagram Reel while resting her hand on a stack of old books. That’s when she reveals that someone told her to check her thrifted books for bookworms, before adding, “because I thought that was just a term of endearment for people that liked books.” Old books. Photo credit: Canva Smith grows animated, loudly saying, “You mean to tell me there’s an actual insect called a bookworm?” She covers her mouth with her hand as she looks on in horror at pictures of the small, yellowish, clear bugs eating holes through a book’s pages. The now-grossed-out woman looks at her dusty books with disgust as she wonders aloud whether they’re harboring the small insects. View this post on Instagram She demands to know if she was the only person unaware that bookworms are actual insects. She was not. Bookworms are not common knowledge, according to commenters: “Literally have a degree in literature and this is news to me” “You know what sometimes I think we have enough information” “nah because what do you mean i now have to go through the hundreds of books i own?” “OMG TARYN NO I could have gone my whole life without knowing this but now that I know, I’m equal parts grateful and HORRIFIED ” “Say what now?!?! How big/ small are these buggers?? Is a magnified glass needed or can the naked eye spot them?!?! Ay dios mío ” “Omg omg omg i must burn all of my books with fire I fear ” Old book with bookworm damage. Photo credit: Ragesoss/Wikimedia Commons Bookworms don’t actually refer to just one insect, though. According to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the term “bookworm” is used to describe hundreds of different insects that feed on books: “[The insects include] booklouse, silverfish, powderpost beetle, spider beetle, common furniture beetle, Mexican book beetle, paper worm (larvae of the paper beetle or moth), and larder beetle. These insects are not necessarily interested in eating paper, but they can damage paper in their attempts to reach other materials. They actively feed on leather and cloth bindings, starch paste, animal glues, paper, and cardboard, creating tunnels and holes through these materials.” A woman reading an old book. Photo credit: Canva One librarian who viewed Smith’s Reel offered advice for buying old books: “Librarian here. We have a whole machine we ‘cook’ the books for days if any sign of a bug is found. I would not trust freezing them. Actually I would call your local Library and ask for advice! Hopefully you are all good though. The first step is to flip through and if you see any bugs or little bits of flecks all over that kind of look like dirt, put that book outside in the garage.” The post Shocked woman learns bookworms are real insects. Now everyone is horrified. appeared first on Upworthy.