Coldplay Rips Off Joe Satriani?
by Editor
on December 05, 2008
Reuters reported this morning that rock guitarist Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay for incorporating "substantial original portions" of his 2004 instrumental song "If I Could Fly" in their 2008 single "Viva La Vida." Satriani is seeking a trial, damages and "any and all profits" that might be attributable to the copyright infringement. This could all serve the 52-year-old guitar virtuoso quite well considering Coldplay were just nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals at the 2009 Grammys.
A very crafty YouTube user spent a little time weaving the two songs together so that listeners can be the judge. What do you think? Did Coldplay rip off Joe Satriani?
--Renata Sadunas
suny on December 13, 2008 at 06:54 PM
i think that it all depends wether it was done intentiannlly..
hm, im a great fan of coldplay, but i think this bad publicity is unfair, because if it werent for Coldplays' wealth i dont think he would have cared, but yes he is a very good guitarist. actually, hes amazing. but lets see wat happens!
Coldplagiarism on December 10, 2008 at 11:37 PM
No doubt Coldplagiarism happened here. Coldplay’s arrogance will bite them in the ass. Get the shirt!!
http://www.zazzle.com/coldplagiarism_viva_la_fraude_t_shirt-235701356821717844?gl=monkeyclown&rf=238266558925436073
Kate on December 08, 2008 at 12:40 PM
I agree with Flap Jackson's comment. Of all the music that has been created in the years this is just an unintential similarity that is all. It would be a non issue if Coldplay weren't nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals at the 2009 Grammys!
Hugo on December 07, 2008 at 01:53 PM
Yes - that Youtube 'sandwich' is pretty damming. Although whoever put it together doesn't put all their cards on the table. They had to mess around with the keys these songs are in (Satriani = A major, Coldplay = A flat), to make them identical.
joe merritt on December 06, 2008 at 08:54 AM
This is very strange and interesting. Like alot of people, I like both artists alot. I really believe that Coldplay is creative enough to not have to rip off songs. I also believe in a thing called "the collective sub-conscious" , or "zeitgeist". It's an idea that somehow humans share ideas with each other unintentionally. Ideas or inventions come about that are almost identical, sometimes people on different continents. It's entirely possible that these two artists came up with the same melody. It's not that complex or original.
Dan on December 06, 2008 at 05:13 AM
I think Coldplay should re-release with Joe playing lead. Might improve their sound. I am not a fan of Coldplay but I am a big fan of Joe Satriani. There are many Pop songs being rip off, always have been. Coldplay should just admit they did it, pay some cash to Joe, and move on. Don't waste time in court.
MGarrett on December 06, 2008 at 12:00 AM
My question is, would he be suing if they weren't outrageously famous and wealthy? Doubt it. He ought to just piggyback the success of the tune and make something out of it for himself rather attempting to gold dig. I saw another artist claiming the same thing about the same song.
Flap Jackson on December 05, 2008 at 08:46 PM
I don't think you can accuse people of plagiarism in music anymore. If you have the amount of music that's been pumped out for the last sixty-odd years, then you're bound to have a few that thought the same chord progression sounded good. Do you credit the guy for maybe putting it out first?
I don't think they intentionally ripped the guy off. Unintentionally, maybe.
Chomchom on December 05, 2008 at 08:27 PM
Melody is the only thing that counts and it is the hardest part... Why do you thing that bands and singers from different countries use some of the most famous melodies and write lyrics in their own langage....
If Coldplay wins something with this song then Joe S. would deserve 75% of it. Go Joe, you are the Best!!!!
on December 05, 2008 at 07:10 PM
NO they did not. If you want to hear a rip off. Listen to Iggy Pop's Lust for Life and then Jet's Are You Gonna Be My Girl. I agree the melody is similar, but Coldplay sings the melody and Satriani plays it.
Jeff on December 05, 2008 at 07:06 PM
WOW. I'm a fan of both Coldplay and Satriani, but I haven't listened to much of Satriani's music in recent years. So I didn't put this together. But that is undeniably identical in melody and chord progression and even overall sound...
This reminds me of George Harrison getting sued for a similar thing. The court found he unintentionally copied a song; the thinking is that he heard the song and forgot about it and then wrote My Sweet Lord without realizing it was musically a virtual duplicate of the other song. Should be interesting to see how this pans out.
Here's some info on the George Harrison thing in the "Legal Controversy" section midway through: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sweet_Lord