Roar (Katy Perry) | Sounds Like | Brave (Sara Bareilles)

Brave and Roar are lead singles from Sara Bareilles' and Katy Perry's respective fourth albums. Both artists were born and raised in California and have expressed mutual admiration. Brave was co-written by Bareilles and Jack Antonoff of the group fun, and released April 23, 2013. Roar was co-written by Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee and Henry Walter, and released August 12, 2013. Roar bears a strong resemblance to Brave, both musically and thematically. Similarities include: tempo (Roar 92 bpm, Brave 90 bpm), key (both are in Bb), chord progression (both move from Bb to G minor), keyboard part (staccato eight note chords during the verses) and theme (i.e. empowerment). In response to the critics (SEE buzzfeed, mashable, entertainmentweekly, latimes), Dr. Luke (@TheDoctorLuke) tweeted that "Roar was written and recorded BEFORE Brave came out." Check out the illustrative mash-up by portkey. Surprisingly, no one has mentioned the resemblance between Brave's keyboard part and co-writer Antonoff's (his group fun's) We Are Young, or for that matter the chord progression of Brave's chorus and Ace of Base's The Sign.