Phil Coulter talks through the similarities between the Ireland Eurovision entry 'Dreamin' and the Julie Felix song 'Moonlight'.
Songwriter and pianist Phil Coulter has co-written three Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) entries: the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest winning song 'Puppet on a String', the 1969 runner-up 'Congratulations' and ‘Toi’, which took 5th place in 1975.
He provides an expert opinion on the plagiarism accusations surrounding Ireland’s Eurovision Song Contest 1995 entry ‘Dreamin’’, written by Richard Abbott and Barry Woods, and performed by Eddie Friel. The Irish entry bears a resemblance to the Julie Felix song ‘Moonlight’, released in 1971.
Phil Coulter thinks the similarities are not premeditated.
It’s probably an unhappy and unfortunate accident.
He plays sections from both songs on the piano, leading Gerry Ryan to conclude,
There’s a remarkable similarity.
Phil Coulter explains how easy it is to write a song, only to realise it sounds like an existing song. It is difficult to prove a copyright infringement in a court of law. At least four bars of music must be exactly the same. Also, it must be proven that the writers of the later song were exposed to the original song, and a suggestion that there was an intent to plagiarise.
It may be the case that an original song sounds like a song that predates it. For example, 'Moonlight; sounds similar to 'The Harry Lime Theme' written by Anton Karas for the soundtrack to the 1949 film 'The Third Man'. Phil Coulter also thinks the chord progression for ‘Moonlight’ is commonly found in Latin American rumba music.
In conclusion, Phil Coulter does not think the writers of 'Dreamin’ have intentionally copied ‘Moonlight’ and should not be swayed by the controversy.
This episode of 'Gerry Ryan Tonight' was broadcast on 3 May 1995. The presenter is Gerry Ryan.
'Gerry Ryan Tonight' (GRT) was an Irish chat show hosted by Gerry Ryan that aired live for three series on Network 2 between 1995 and 1997.
