One Direction fans have taken to Twitter to protest perceived attacks on the boy band's latest single, "Best Song Ever," which people have started to notice has almost the exact same intro as The Who's classic, "Baba O'Riley." You can compare the two below.
The online war against The Who started when an article on Click Music pointed out the similarities between the two intros. As news doesn't always travel well on Twitter, fans on One Direction began to believe that The Who were suing One Direction and trying to have the song banned. The fervent teens started an online protest with the hashtag #donttouchbestsongever to show their solidarity.
The only problem with all of this was that The Who weren't suing anybody. There was never any actual legal trouble for One Direction at any time. The internet rage grew to a point that Pete Townshend himself issued a statement on Uncut:
"No! I like the single. I like One Direction. The chords I used and the chords they used are the same three chords we've all been using in basic pop music since Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry made it clear that fancy chords don't mean great music – not always. I'm still writing songs that sound like Baba O'Riley – or I'm trying to!. It's a part of my life and a part of pop's lineage. One Direction are in my business, with a million fans, and I'm happy to think they may have been influenced a little bit by The Who. I'm just relieved they're all not wearing boiler suits and Doc Martens, or Union Jack jackets. The funniest thing is that in Canada this year I met with Randy Bachman once the leader of GUESS WHO who told me that he not only copied Baba O Riley for their hit You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, but he even called his band after us. Why would I not be happy about this kind of tribute?"
While saying that he likes One Direction may break the hearts of Who fans worldwide, Townshend seems to be trying to make peace and take the high road.
Unlike One Direction fans, who continue to rage against The Who, despite nothing being wrong:
I SWEAR TO GOD IF IT GETS DELETED YOU WILL BE IN LOTS OF DANGER YOU'LL HAVE 15M+ PISSED GIRLS AT YOUR DOOR #DontTouchBestSongEver
— THANK YOU LIAM ♡ (@flopyvalle) August 14, 2013
WHO THE HELL IS THE WHO EVEN?? Like wtf? No one even knows you #DontTouchBestSongEver
— I love Eleanor (@ilove_eleanorjc) August 14, 2013
At least one positive outcome of this has been that "One Directioners" settled their differences with "Beliebers" and enlisted their help in a fight to make sure that "Best Song Ever" doesn't get "deleted." Which, by the way, is not a thing that is possible. If Beliebers and One Directioners can get over their differences though, then surely we can solve more minor grudges such as the Koreas or the Middle East. There's light at the end of every tunnel.
Hopefully the rabid children realize there's no actual problem, but it's more likely that it will take a few more days.
Luckily something like this has never happened before. Just kidding.
Via: Uncut
