Kelly Clarkson Is "Already Gone" But She Can Also See Your "Halo"

It's been brewing for a while now, and I guess as the most Kelly obsessed music blog I know it's time for me to discuss it. "Halo" vs "Already Gone"

It's the epic pop debate of 2009, is Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone" a rip off of Beyonce's "Halo"? Kelly thinks so, and she is pissed. She told Canadian radio "No one’s gonna be sittin’ at home, thinking, ‘Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyoncé and Kelly the same track to write to.’ No, they’re just gonna be saying I ripped someone off."

Here's the thing, both songs were written and produced by producer of the moment Ryan Tedder. So some similarities can be excused. I can usually smell a Max Martin/Dr Luke collaborative prod/writ credit a mile away, the tend to have a rah-rah pop-rock sound. In fact, Kelly's own "Since U Been Gone" and "My Life Would Suck Without You" have a very similar flow and instrumentation, both produced by that team. Max by himself is a little harder to pin down. Lady Gaga producer Red One has a distinctive electronic sound, and his work with Enrique Iglesias sounds very much like Gaga's, while the song he produced for Sean Kingston bears only a slight resemblance.

But while a producer may pull the same trick out out of his bag twice, is that all the similarities between "Halo" and "Already Gone" are? I've been listening to both a lot, and I find more than just a passing resemblance. The verses have very similar melodies, the beat is identical. The same strings show up at different volume levels. There are some differences, "Halo" doesn't have a bridge like "Already Gone" but it's a lot closer than Tedder's previous productions like Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" or his own band One Republic's "Stop And Stare." In fact, until I heard "Halo" and "Already Gone" I didn't think Ryan Tedder had a specific production style. Which is why the similarities strike me as lazy production, a chance to do about half the work for the same pay.

However, Kelly's emotional connection to her own lyrics (she co-wrote the lyrics with Tedder) makes "Already Gone" vastly superior to "Halo" so she should have had the upper hand in this battle. But since "Halo" has played for a long time before Kelly's single was released, it will sound like a copycat. And with Kelly distancing herself from the song, it will be hard to promote. I think Tedder really screwed up here, but in the end savvy listeners will love whichever song they connect with. Radio may be less accepting.