According to a newly filed infringement lawsuit, Ed Sheeran totally Melania Trump’d Marvin Gaye. For anyone who hasn’t heard Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”—and please, let me know how you avoided hearing Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”—the ballad bears more than a passing resemblance to Gaye’s iconic track, “Let’s Get It On.” This is not news. “Thinking Out Loud” has already spent a full year in the U.K. top four and has been streamed more than one billion times on YouTube. The track, Sheeran’s first No. 1 single, is probably the reason why the British singer’s name sounds vaguely familiar. It also won Song of the Year at the 2016 Grammy Awards. And let’s be clear: since it came out, “Thinking Out Loud” has been consistently linked to “Let’s Get It On.”Of course, Sheeran’s homage pales in comparison to the original love anthem. In 1973, “Let’s Get It On” became the prince of soul’s second No. 1 hit. The track, which combines gospel and funk influences to maximum aphrodisiacal effect, is downright legendary. And then there’s Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” The 2015 song seems to be about Ed Sheeran and his girlfriend growing old together, which is probably the last thing you want to think about when you’re about to get it on. In contrast to the Motown legend’s aural seduction, Sheeran has all of the raw sexual power of a buttermilk scone.Without One Direction defector Zayn Malik’s cheekbones or Harry Styles’s joie de vivre, it makes sense that the 25-year-old singer turned to Gaye’s discography in search of a hit. According to the newly filed complaint from the estate of Ed Townsend, who composed and co-wrote “Let’s Get It On,” the “defendants copied the ‘heart’ of ‘Let’s’ and repeated it continuously throughout ‘Thinking’…The melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic compositions of ‘Thinking’ are substantially and/or strikingly similar to the drum composition of ‘Let’s.’” Ed Sheeran fans (crickets) will note that this isn’t Ed’s first suit of the summer. Sheeran also stands accused of cribbing a track sung by Matt Cardle, the 2010 winner of The X Factor.While Sheeran’s Brit status might be enough to constitute diversity at Taylor Swift’s Fourth of July party, he’s only the latest white dude to apparently jack Marvin Gaye’s swag with disastrous results. In 2015, a Los Angeles jury ruled that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’s “Blurred Lines” was a rip-off of Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” The months-long copyright infringement trial was plagued by mini-controversies, like when Thicke testified that he was too high to have played a substantial role in the writing of his own hit. As penance for the date rape song of the summer, Thicke and Williams were ordered to hand over $7.3 million to the Marvin Gaye estate. Additionally, the historic verdict set a precedent for a more cerebral sort of sonic theft. While “Blurred Lines” doesn’t directly quote Gaye’s classic lyrically or melodically, it shares an overall vibe and feel. Of course, Thicke’s entire catalogue is an ode to Marvin Gaye, so it’s hard to say exactly which homages cross the line into infringement, and what this new precedent will mean for musical swag-jacking across the board.Conversely, Ed Sheeran’s case seems relatively devoid of complexity. Sheeran himself has blended “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get It On” in live performances; listening to a mash-up of the two tracks, the overwhelming overlap becomes undeniable. Now, why Sheeran would want to call even more attention to his own cultural crime remains a mystery—is Ed Sheeran really ballsy, or is he just a little simple? Unfortunately, I refuse to learn anything about Ed Sheeran on principal, leaving me with more questions than answers.Suffice to say, Sheeran’s ill-advised mash-up does not help his case. Adding insult to injury, he’s actually encouraged other artists to perform this ungodly hybrid. As if Sheeran’s mangling of Marvin Gaye’s legacy wasn’t enough, Little Big Town and Luke Bryan decided to take on the medley themselves. So now a country Marvin Gaye cover exists—and that’s on all of us. Black culture hasn’t been this whitewashed since…well…all the time. But it would be nice to think that at least Marvin Gaye is sacred.Unfortunately, it seems that we have collectively failed to posthumously show the prince of Motown the respect he deserves. “What’s Going On,” Gaye’s groundbreaking protest of police brutality, has become the go-to anthem for every cause ever, from HIV/AIDs awareness in 2001, to gun violence at the 2016 Teen Choice Awards. While these are inarguably important issues, they dilute Gaye’s original message, which is unfortunately as relevant today as it was in 1971.Still, the award for greatest legacy perversion has to go to Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor, the duo behind the 2015 single “Marvin Gaye.” According to Puth, a YouTube sensation turned Ellen DeGeneres Show guest, the track is “an effort to spark romance and get that special someone in the mood, just as many Gaye slow jams have done for millions in the past.” This effort is summed up by the song’s opening line, “Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on.” “Marvin Gaye” was a worldwide hit, peaking at No. 1 in New Zealand and No. 4 in Australia. While we appreciate Puth’s selfless efforts to spark sexcapades across Oceania, it’s hard to imagine any couple bumping this track when they could just be listening to Marvin Gaye.So while this new lawsuit is certainly bad news for Ed Sheeran, there’s a lesson to be learned for the rest of us. From British pop stars to Robin Thicke, and from American country crooners to singing competition contestants—please, for the love of God, leave Marvin Gaye alone.
