Did Britney Spears Copy Her New Single?

By Kelly Fisher Posted Jan 13th 2011 07:00AM

As Britney Spears enjoys the No. 1 spot on iTunes with her new single, 'Hold It Against Me,' one music group is crying foul, saying she ripped off the title of the hit song.

Country group The Bellamy Brothers released a song in 1979 called 'If I Said You Have a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me,' and singer David Bellamy is speaking out against Spears' new song, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The chorus of Spears' latest hit contains the line, "If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me?'

"It's not every day you get in the middle of a Britney Spears brawl," Bellamy told the magazine.

Listen to both songs inside.

The country crooner, who penned the group's 1979 hit, said his son first clued him in on Spears' single. While no legal action has been taken regarding the song's crossover title, Bellamy is looking into the situation.

"I just have to see what the intent was," he said. "I just kind of found it unoriginal, and I guess it makes us realize how old we are, because they're recycling our titles already."

Bellamy, who has not heard from Spears' camp regarding the similarities, understands that the "beautiful body" line is often used, but not always as overtly as with this latest hit single.

"This particular title is kinda hard to disguise, because the title is the song," Bellamy said of Spears' track. "It's not like saying, 'I love you, baby.' ... I think there's just more original stuff out there to do than just rehashing old titles."

The Bellamy Brothers would know. The country band hits the road this year for a 180-show tour as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of their hit album, 'Let Your Love Flow.'

Spears' song, produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke, hit the Internet on Monday and quickly shot to the No. 1 spot on iTunes. Her new album is expected to be released March 15.

Tags: britney spears

Comments

(326)

Thursday 13 January

By rickj

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I think Mr. Bellamy would do well to remember that his "original" song title, and the line that "became" so famous was already a popular cheezy pick-up line before they ever used it as an idea for a song. It's a generic, pop phrase. It's been 30 years. Let it go.

By crow

I agree with you, rickj. It was an old pickup line when they stole it, so who stole what from whom? (I can't believe I am defending Britney, lol)

By joeswatzell

The Bellamy Brothers didn't say they "created the phrase". They turned it into a song. THAT hadn't been done before.
@ Slap Hillbillies Silly ... with your obvious charm, I can only IMAGINE what social circles YOU grace.

Friday 14 January

By mike

is this worth arguing about?

By Pete

Psst.. it's been 30 years since the FIRST time it was released.. but it was re-recorded with Dolly Parton 5 years ago. In reality she probably didn't steal anything, and that's why Bellamy didn't file a suit.

Cold Play definitely stole Joe Satriani's song - and I think Satriani lost even though the "coincidences" were so overwhelming.

By Chris

No, your wrong, "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me", was NOT popular untill after the Bellemy Brothers hit. If you look up that line, it tell you that it was made famous by the Bellemy Brothers in a 1978 country hit. As far as Brittney goes, think of something orginal for once in your so called life.

By steve

The line was made popular by Groucho Marx of the Marx brothers in 1950

By Ms Nolan

Hi Rick, is a million dollars worth talking about...or How about this, I can just copy your remarks and say those were my thoughts or maybe, were u around 30, 40, 50, 60 years ago. So now my real question...What makes you think this was not an original song from the Bellamy Bros???

By BTDT

The Bellamy Brothers are terrific, but this was one of their weakest efforts. Who would steal it? Oh, Britney would.

By Dwho is

I see no real resemblance to the old Belamy Bro. song! Let it go Brothers!

By JANE GRAY

I AGREE WITH YOU,,,, LET IT GO,,,,,

AND ,,,, I can also hear the tune of "You can't hide those lieing eyes", not sure of the title,,,,,,

"You can't hide those liein eyes, and thought by now, you'd realize, that there ain't no way to hide those liein eyes",

SONGS SUNG OVER THE YEARS SOUND FAMILIAR,, AS THE WORLD GOES ROUND AND ROUND,,,, BRITNEYS SONG SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE THE OLD SONG. LET IT GO.

By Phil

From Wikipedia: "If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body ..." (in some sources called "If I Said You Have a Beautiful Body ...")[1] derived its double entendre title from an old Groucho Marx quote. Songwriter David Bellamy told country music journalist Tom Roland that he regularly watched Marx's program, You Bet Your Life, where Marx sometimes used the quote while interviewing an attractive female contestant"

It's all recycled. She's entitled to use it as much as he was.

By i8mywheeties

I thik the Bellamy Brothers are hard up for money. It sounds nothing like their song at all....

By cc

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"you can't hide those lying eyes" is from an Eagles song and not everythiing found on wikipedia is the gospel of truth
Not a fan of either of these "singers"

By Kat

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I really think that the phrase "Hold it against me" in the original song contains a much more innocent meaning than the line in the new song. Could it be that now, with a woman singing this line, the writer's of Britney's song intentionally created a double entendre.

In that sense, the writers of the original song could hardly claim that the idea had been stolen.

Saturday 15 January

By Nick

It's very possible that Brittany heard the expression because it was popularized because of the Bellamy Bros. tune WITHOUT realizing the original source. Incidentally, even Howard Bellamy himself said the line was from Groucho Marx. Maybe Spears honestly was only doing something Bellamy did themselves. Take a sentence they heard and built a song around it. It's very plausible and won't be a lawsuit. Lastly, it's a very clever way for the Bellamy's to get their hit back into the limelight...which spells money.

By Brandon N. Bennetzen

Britney Spears= Fraud!!!!

By LARRY

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Mr. Bellamy, you should understand the people that like your song are not going to stop liking it and favor Britney's song. And you should feel good about the fact your kid thinks enough of your work to point something like this out to you. One more thing just think just maybe the writers of this new song may actully have heard your song, amazing. PS if you like Country your song is better, if your 14 and like MS. Spears are you going to ask Mommy for a dollar to down load The Bellamy Brothers????

By Dante

TREASON!!! Off with your head!

By crazy4coolin

Not just the words are duplicated but check out the beat. It is more like an Adam Lambert track. It could be stolen from "For Your Entertainment" or " If I Had You. " I am a Britney fan but I think it is time for her to spend some time being a mother to her sons so that they do not end up as screwed up as she is. Even though she has a poor excuse for a mother does not mean that she cannot break the chain and give her boys a better life, one that involves having a mom there unconditionally, not just for profit.

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