The songs remain the same

It was only a matter of time before ``Dani" and ``Mary Jane" did the Web tango.

In the past couple of weeks, the music biz has been abuzz about the similarities between the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new single ``Dani California" and the 1993 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers hit ``Mary Jane's Last Dance."

First a Delaware DJ pointed out that the songs featured shared chord progressions, a likeminded lyrical subject matter, and swinging approach to the verses. Then the New York Post reported that the Florida-spawned Rock and Roll Hall of Famer might be considering legal action against his Warner Bros. labelmates.

Although Petty himself has made no comment on the matter, he, his copyright lawyer , and curious fans who want to investigate further can check out a handy-dandy mash-up called ``Mary Dani Janey, CA" by LA-based producer Dr. Deutsch that lays it all out. (The wags at the Atlanta-based blog Cable and Tweed have posted it on their website, cableandtweed.blogspot.com ).

Aside from the Petty track having a high lonesome harmonica and the Peppers track running at a faster tempo, the songs are definitely in the same family. If daddy wants to litigate, that's another matter, especially since the choruses are as different from each other as ``Give It Away" is from ``Free Fallin'." And as for the subject matter, well, they are both about girls.

But since we all know imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Petty's lawyers may want to hold off on the ``don't do me like that" cry and take a listen to the Jayhawks ' 1992 track ``Waiting for the Sun," whose ambling guitar intro might sound vaguely familiar. (There are probably another hundred songs that use these same chords.)

But that's not all this trio of tunes have in common, and perhaps it's producer-guru Rick Rubin who has some 'splainin to do. The Petty and Peppers tracks were both produced by Rubin. The Jayhawks album that spawned ``Waiting" was released on Rubin's American Recordings label, produced by his co hort George Drakoulias , and features the contributions of Heartbreaker Benmont Tench on keyboards. Perhaps all of this just goes to show that a good song, like a good girl, never goes out of style.

SARAH RODMAN