And she admits the song similarities could have blown up into another rights battle - like the one between 'Blurred Lines' hitmakers Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke and Marvin Gaye's kids.
Gaye's family successfully sued Williams and Thicke over the similarities between their hit song and the late soul man's 1977 hit 'Got To Give It Up', winning a US$7.3 million settlement earlier this year.
Clarkson says, "I felt so bad for Pharrell when he got sued - he's a huge fan of Marvin Gaye, and you know he didn't mean to rip him off. And he's the sweetest guy ever. It sucks."
Ironically, in the same issue of Rolling Stone, Taylor Swift names Jimmy Eat World's 'The Middle' as one of the songs that inspires her, stating, "I remember listening to this on the bus to school. I felt comforted by it.