I'd Lie by Taylor Swift VS. The Girl Next Door by Saving Jane

I was stumbling across the internet and I noticed that I’d Lie by Taylor Swift and The Girl Next Door by Saving Jane have very similar cord progressions in their choruses. 

The song I’d Lie was first introduced 2006 when Taylor was 17, but it never made it onto any of her albums and isn't available on iTunes; the song is available on sites such as YouTube.

Girl Next Door was a song released on an album by the same name in 2005. The album made it as number 2 on the U.S Billboard Heatseekers when it was re-released in 2006.

I've looked over the lyrics and guitar chords for both pieces. 

Let’s start with the syllables. Most of the lines have close to the same amount of syllables in each line, which makes them sound alike. For example:

Saving Jane: She is the prom queen (5)

Taylor: And I could tell you (5)

Both lines in the choruses also end with an extended note on the final word, thus separating them.

SJ: I’m in the marching band (6)

TS: His favorite color’s green (6)

Both of them have 6 syllables since Taylor pronounces ‘favorite’ as 2 syllables as opposed to three.

SJ: She is a cheerleader (6)

TS: He loves to argue (5)

They’re off by one, but they’re still close enough together to sound similar when put together with the notes.

SJ: I’m sittin’ in the stands (6)

TS: Born on the seventeenth (6)

These last two lines are where the syllables start to drift apart…

SJ: She’s miss America (6)

TS: And if you ask me if I love him (9)

SJ: And I’m just the girl next door (7)

TS: I’d lie (2)

Now on to the chords. Observe the picture below.

Both songs have an eight line chorus and many of them have the same chords in the same places.

The second line ends in an A major chord (Saving Jane) and an A (Taylor swift).

                                 These may be two different chords, but they sound alike since  
                                           they both require the use of the G and D strings.

The next three chords are the same for both songs. E minor then the G chord and then the D chord. After this they split back to using A major and the A chord. After that, they both go into E minor. In I’d Lie the song goes quickly into a D/F# chord and then into a G chord in about the same placement as the final G chord in Girl Next Door. Both of the choruses end on different chords, I’d Lie ends on an A chord while Girl Next Door ends on a D chord.

                       

            I’m not really a music expert, but it’s just something I noticed. If I had to choose which song I liked the best I would have to choose the one by Saving Jane, because it deals with a girl who is dealing with jealousy for the perfect girl in school, yet she admits that she has nothing to hate about her; I find that interesting.