Are Coldplay Really Copycats? Post by: Eddie Ruckus 5 May, 2009 - 7:25 AM

Coldplay vs. Cat Stevens - Watch the video and tell us what you think.

Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” is such a cool song that everyone thinks they wrote it.

We all know guitarist Joe Satriani is actually trying to sue Coldplay, saying "Viva La Vida" is basically a rewrite of his 2004 song “If I Could Fly” [oh yeah, everyone’s queuing up to rip off Joe Satriani songs].

There’s also another band from New York called Creaky Boards who reckon Chris Martin turned up to one of their shows one time and ripped off a song called “The Songs I Didn't Write” [oh, how ironic!] and turned that into “Viva La Vida”.

Now, the latest to join the queue is old folkie Cat Stevens, better known these days as Yusuf Islam, who says Martin actually ripped off one of his old songs called “Foreigner Suite” and used that as the foundation of  “Viva La Vida” (see the video above).

Which begs the question – why aren’t all these people suing each other rather than Coldplay?

Of course, it’s not helping Chris Martin’s case that he was quoted in Rolling Stone in 2005 saying: “I regard us as being incredibly good plagiarists.” Now that’s irony.

Put your hand up if you think you wrote "Viva La Vida". What do you think – is Chris Martin a plagiarist?

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• Starr says

  Hey Eddie,

  Stop having a go at Joe Satriani. The guy is a guitar god and he's released some of the greatest hard rock albums ever. What have you ever done?!

  As for Coldplay - I haven't heard the song but I bet you they have ripped him off.

  Posted Tuesday 5 May, 2009 8:44 AM
• Laura says

  Many Coldplay songs are basically the same chord progression, it's like saying the Beatles ripped off the blues guy who invented the 12 bar blues for Yer Blues.
  

  But while they're at it, they might as well sue for Clocks, Speed Of Sound and all the other songs that sound the same.

  Posted Tuesday 5 May, 2009 9:50 AM
• Lizzie says

  Hey! Coldplay is totally awesome - as if they're copy cats! Of course some songs are gonna sound the same as others - there are only so many chord progressions and riffs in the world. Yeaaah :)

  Posted Tuesday 5 May, 2009 10:47 AM
• Lizzie says

  Hey! Coldplay is totally awesome - as if they're copy cats!
  

  Of course some songs are gonna sound the same as others - there are only so many chord progressions and riffs in the world. Yeaaah :)

  Posted Tuesday 5 May, 2009 10:47 AM
• Bob says

  We all know Green Day is more awesome than Coldplay... but if they were to fuse together, then Green Play or Cold Day would totally dominate the charts! MUAHAHAHA!

  Posted Tuesday 5 May, 2009 10:53 AM
• Vic says

  Music is cyclic and everyone borrows from everyone else whether consciously or not (I'm excluding the sampled music in hip-hop and electronica here).
  

  Depends on what you do with the inspiration - if the song itself is half decent, it probably doesn't matter overall.
  

  Only when someone like that redneck peanut Kid Rock plagiarises wholesale does it become a glaring problem.

  Wolfmother have their seventies rock influences (ie: Deep Purple), Oasis their love of The Beatles and JET their love of Oasis.
  

  Moreover, Ladyhawke is indebted to many an eighties group and The Living End to The Clash and fifties rockabilly.
  

  And bubblegum punk like Green Day is the same airbrushed variation of three or four tired chords made famous by punk bands in the seventies who really had something to say.
  

  The list goes on. Coldplay may or may not be any different... For Joe Satriani, jury's still out I guess...

  Posted Tuesday 5 May, 2009 8:13 PM
• jenna says

  I would just like to say that this Joe Satriani guy is so annoying and naive as to even think VIVA LA VIDA sounds anything like whatever his song is.
  

  I honestly have nothing against Satriani, but i think he needs to get over his high horse and just understand that he is obviously jealous of Coldplays uniqueness and awesomeness!

  Posted Friday 8 May, 2009 2:37 PM
• stephen says

  Industry fact, can't copywright chord progressions. the melodies are similar but not identical so no1 is gonna get money from this lawsuit.

  Posted Saturday 9 May, 2009 6:03 PM
• bib says

  Coldplay are awesome... I love Coldplay so much and I reckon this friggen Satriani guy is so gay.

  Posted Tuesday 12 May, 2009 11:41 AM
• Sven says

  Joe Satriani may not be the best rock n roll guitarist. But he sure the hell does kick the arse of Coldgay.
  

  When will rock music return back to the 80s when it was good.

  Posted Tuesday 12 May, 2009 4:46 PM

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