Johnny Depp, Jeff Beck accused of stealing lyrics for their new song

Washington: American actor-composer Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck have been accused of lifting lyrics from their song ‘Chat Motherfuckin’ Parade’. According to Variety, a report by Rolling Stone claimed the duo had been accused of lifting the song from an obscure “toast” sung by an incarcerated man and documented and published by a folklorist in 1974.

The lyrics of the Deb/Beck song `18′ are similar to the lyrics of a toast of black folk poetry called “Hobo Ben”. Apparently, it was written by a man named Slim Wilson, who was serving an armed-robbery sentence in a Missouri state prison, and documented by Bruce Jackson in his 1974 book about snacks, “Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me.” A companion album.

Variety reported that Wilson, whose pseudonym is not listed in the song’s credits. Hobo Ben, the hero from the song’s title, sings at a party, “Woman of culture and beauty, is there one of you who can get me a drink? I’m ragged, I know, but I don’t stink/ God bless the woman who’ll buy me a drink.” The stern Hattie turned to Nadine with a laugh and said, “What that funny motherfucker really needs, baby, is a bath.”

A parade of “sad motherfuckers” included, “I’m bitter, I know, but I don’t stink,” “God bless the woman who buys me a drink,” and “What does that silly motherfucker really need, baby, a bath?” [Depp and Beck] contributed to ‘Big Time Motherfucker’ and ‘Bust It Down My Level,'” Jackson told Rolling Stone, according to Variety.

5 August, 2022, 9:52 am