For What It’s Worth

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by pocofan, Aug 13, 2019.

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  1. pocofan

    pocofan Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Alabama
    Still enjoy that song but how many movies has it been used in ??? How much money has Stills made off that one song ???
     
  2. Elliottmarx

    Elliottmarx Always in the mood for Burt Bacharach

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    You just gave the elevator pitch of the book I'm too untalented to write.

    I would love for a forensic economist to trace all of the sources of revenue from
    just one song. From licenses, to sync rights, to publishing, ASCAP royalties from being
    played on jukeboxes, live performances, cover versions, etc.
    A song like For What it's Worth would be A) a great title for this book, and B) a
    great song for study.
     
  3. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    To think this was even used in beer commercials... :unhunh:

    I have heard that track in Forrest Gump, Tropic Thunder, Born On The 4th Of July, even on an episode of "The West Wing"! Almost as overused as Fortunate Son, if you ask me.

    (Both are great songs, of course. No doubt about that.)
     
  4. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    Yeah, it's interesting. I've thought about this too. Not writing a book but about how much a single song can make.

    Like, how much money has Jack Tempchin made off of Peaceful Easy Feeling? A whole hell of a lot obviously but how much?
     
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  5. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    some songs just seem like they will be sung for all time ... even though we know that isn't true, but some folks made an awful lot of cash off one nice idea that clicked with everybody
     
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  6. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    A prime example is "All Along The Watchtower", of course the Hendrix version. That one was even used in Vietnam-themed video games! People hear that opening riff and instantly think of choppers flying over the Mekong, machine guns, lots of bodies, etc... or at least it seems like that sometimes.
     
  7. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Unless there's some later "director's cut" or TV edit, "For What It's Worth" is apparently not in "Born on the 4th of July" - it's only in the trailer. This irritated Stills it seems, as he introduced the song for a while after this as "Now the nominee for best song in the trailer that's not actually in the movie".
     
  8. Elliottmarx

    Elliottmarx Always in the mood for Burt Bacharach

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    The gratuitous 1960's song used in films, seems to me is Spirit in the Sky. it has been licensed so many times, and it is ubiquitous.
    Since Greenbaum is a one hit wonder, tracking that revenue from that song would be easier, than say, looking at Dylan or Hendrix.
     
  9. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Yeah, that would actually make a great exposition for some serious research. One-hit wonders should be good for those kinds of work - you're right, that song is everywhere.
     
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  10. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    "Mandela effect" strikes again :laugh: strange it's in the trailer w/o being in the actual film. Yes, that happens quite often, but in this case I could've sworn it was in the film. Since there's no extended cut I know of, it seems the song really wasn't in the film, then.
     
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  11. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I probably haven't seen the film since it came out (I remember seeing it in the theater). I'm trusting Stephen on this one. :)
     
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  12. LeBon Bush

    LeBon Bush Hound of Love

    Location:
    Austria
    Definitely. He should know best in this regard :agree:
     
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  13. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    This song is up there with « Fortunate Son » for flagrant use in 60s, Nam, soundtracks....
    Must be filed as such in film libraries along with the Wilhelm Scream
     
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  14. edrebber

    edrebber Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    What kind of deal did Stills have for his publishing royalties? Seems like many artists of that era had notoriously bad deals.
     
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  15. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    One thing that I noticed about this song after the 1000th listen and can't unhear is how they took the "p" off of "people" the second time it's used (not "young people" but "a thousand people") I assume to avoid popping on the record.
     
  16. Socalguy

    Socalguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    CA
    Whatever it generates, he deserves every penny.
     
  17. carlwm

    carlwm Forum Resident

    Location:
    wales
    Well said! :righton:
     
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  18. vonwegen

    vonwegen Forum Resident

    TheWord magazine had a feature about 3 songs that made fortunes for songwriters in the UK. As I recall, two of them were: "Walking On Sunshine" (Katrina & The Waves (by Kimberly Rew)) and "Handbags and Gladrags"(Chris Farlowe, Rod Stewart, Stereofonics (by Mike d'Abo, of Manfred Mann). Both songwriters did quite well, collecting airplay royalties over several decades.

    d'Abo also co-wrote "Build Me Up Buttercup", but got sued in the US and only got royalties there after a prolonged court case.

    Too bad TheWord went under--they had a lot of good articles about artists who normally seldom get written about.
     
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  19. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

     
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  20. Platterpus

    Platterpus Senior Member

    Good song. I like the pre Spooky Tooth version by Art as well:

     
  21. Tom Daniels

    Tom Daniels Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arizona
    It’s like “happiness is a warm, yes it is, gu uh uh”
     
  22. elaterium

    elaterium Forum Resident

    Personally, I think it’s outrageous that someone can spend 15 minutes writing a song and never have to work again. Being a working stiff this naturally grates on me. But if any song is so deserving I guess it’s this one.
     
  23. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    I'm still amazed that a song allegedly about a riot can be so mind-numbingly dull.

    Expecting to Fly, On the Way Home -- now those are great songs!
     
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  24. Rose River Bear

    Rose River Bear Senior Member

    What a sound.....that Martin guitar and those harmonics. Ominous and awesome.
     
  25. edrebber

    edrebber Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    I thought I remembered Stills complaining when Young backed out of the Buffalo Springfield reunion tour that he was counting on the income from the tour. Seemed like he needed to work.
     
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