Song written and recorded by the American band Primus on their 1995 album ‘Tales From The Punchbowl’.
The lyrics are about the tendency to plagiarise other artists’ music, hence the title of the song. The line “I’ve seen the likes of Kate Bush / And Van Morrison / Teaching the parrots to sing” appears in the lyrics.
Lyrics
In the year of our Lord
Call it 1994
A fine vintage of mimicry
There are those that take their sound
From someone else’s toil
Liking to parrots you see
I’ve seen the likes of Kate Bush
And Van Morrison
Teaching the parrots to sing
Take a Zeppelin riff
And you alter it a bit
And make lots of money
It’s called plagiarism
You want some of that cheese
Just take a big ol’ bite
Careful not to choke on it please
Now here we go
It’s called plagiarism
