[P.B.Y]

I am asking this because I recently did a remix of the song "Mill Fever" from Donkey Kong Country 3 so I wanted my mom to critique the song & had her listen to the original DKC3 version & she said "They took this song from a song in the '60's called Fever"! So I want to honestly know if any VGM at all is truly without a doubt 100% original without being based off of other songs because I am slowly starting to lose respect for not only David Wise but the entire genre! Thanks in advance!

[arthurgolden]

Yes, in the way you mean it. But also no. Influence is far more complicated than "being based on something else" or "not being based on something else." Homage, parody, and innovation all require some initial influence. The more you listen, the more you hear influences. That doesn't mean the music is without merit. The artistic temperament inherently requires two simultaneous attitudes: (1) Anything I create will be attached to a tradition and considered a variation on something else and (2) I don't care.