Elvis Costello has gone on the record defending Olivia Rodrigo against those on the internet accusing her of plagiarizing his 1978 classic “Pump It Up.”
There have been comments posted comparing Olivia’s song “Brutal” to “Pump It Up,” saying it features a “pretty much direct lift” of the chord sequence from Costello’s song.
Elvis Costello does care. He said, “This is fine by me...It's how rock & roll works," Elvis responded. "You take the broken pieces of another thrill and make a brand new toy."
Costello added: "That's what I did." Costello then added the hashtags #SubterraneanHomesickBlues, which is the Bob Dylan song that actually influenced “Pump It Up.”
He also posted #TooMuchMonkeyBusiness, a reference to the Chuck Berry song that influenced Dylan’s song.
[Source: Dr. Dave’s Ultimate Prep]