Cat Stevens Accuses Coldplay Of Plagiarism

Before you say it; yes, we realize articles about Coldplay stealing songs from other artists are becoming a tad bit redundant… And with that said, we can move onto the story.

Yusuf Islam (also known by his former stage name Cat Stevens) is claiming that the melody that runs through Coldplay’s hit song "Viva La Vida" was actually stolen from his song "Foreigner Suite," which was released in 1973. You can listen to both of the songs, side-by-side, here.

"There’s been this argument about Coldplay stealing this melody from Joe Satriani, but, if you listen to it, it’s mine! It’s the ‘Foreigner Suite’, it is!" he tells The Sun.

As you’re probably well aware of, this isn’t the first time Coldplay has been accused of plagiarizing this very song from other artists. The first accusation came from the band Creaky Boards, an unsigned band in New York City who claimed that Coldplay frontman Chris Martin attended one of their shows in 2007, heard their song "The Songs I Didn’t Write," and subsequently used the melody to write "Viva La Vida." Coldplay denied stealing the song and even proved that they had "Viva La Vida" written and demoed months before the Creaky Boards show which Martin allegedly attended (the band’s spokesperson proved this to be false as well). A comparison between the two songs can be heard here.

The second, and much more serious, accusation came from acclaimed rock guitarist Joe Satriani who claimed that "Viva La Vida" incorporated "substantial original portions" of his 2004 song "If I Could Fly." Satriani has since sued Coldplay and the proceedings are still on-going. Coldplay has formally denied in a court of law that they stole any part of Satriani’s song. You can hear both songs here.

There is no word on whether Yusuf Islam plans to pursue legal action at this time.

Report by David Lowe-Bianco.

Comments

[Gui_Tar_God]

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

[Jet_Black88]

Why is he just suing Coldplay? Shouldn't he also be suing Satriani?

[Gui_Tar_God]

Creaky Boards, anyone??

[HyperBoy2519]

This is becoming a cluster****.

[shoebox_of_lies]

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

+1. But I think he'd make a hell of a lot more money of Coldplay

[shoebox_of_lies]

p.s. anyone noticed how we haven't heard the term "Coldplagiarism" yet? and the cat stevens song sounds nothing like it.

[AEnima18]

shoebox_of_lies wrote:

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

+1. But I think he'd make a hell of a lot more money of Coldplay

+100 Haha. Oh dear who will sue who?

[Mass_debator]

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Why is he just suing Coldplay? Shouldn't he also be suing Satriani?

Note the headline "Cat Stevens ACCUSES Coldplay of Plagiarism".

And this:

"There is no word on whether Yusuf Islam plans to pursue legal action at this time."

Not everyone is trigger-happy in the legal department.

[Phoenix1744]

Could it be that random artists are taking stabs at Coldplay just for the hell of it. I mean why not, the whole Satriani thing has made Coldplay one of the biggest punching bags in the business.

[grimms]

haha

cool.

[psychokiller99]

haha, gotta love the sun.

[webbtje]

Haha, I'm hoping this is more of a joke than anything else.

[NemX162]

I really don't think a successful band would be dumb enough to think they could steal a melody and get away with it. It's probably a coincidence. All three of these songs are boring anyway. I'd be glad to see somebody else take the blame for junk like that.

[jannick]

When i heard Satrianis song and coldplays i was sure that they ripped it off joe's song. Now i really hate coldplay but this could very well just be a mistake. Satrianis was stolen by coldplay. But this could just be a coincidence...

[jannick]

hopes the guy wins suing them though...

[Butthead]

I hear a lot of similaritys between Satriani's and Coldplays, the others are just stupid.

[isabiggles]

Coldplay keep ripping off all my tunes too. It's disgusting frankly.

[EchoesOfTheMoon]

If people can sue others over chord progressions then every artist out there is lucky that Pachelbel died 300 years ago and cannot sue everyone for copying his Canon in D

[Bloodshed]

The only one thats actually striking is the Satriani one. The rest are just chord progressions that are similar.

[FilipHz]

oh look! i farted and it sounded like viva la vida, i better sue coldplay for plagiarism!

[CTFOD]

If you look at it, it's a fairly common melody. Cat Stevens used it, Satriani used it, Creaky Boards used it, and some other spanish band used it too. And honestly, for the Satriani vs. Coldplay thing, Chris Martin would NOT have Satriani on his iPod.

[Emberwolf06]

lol people are just pissed 'cause Coldplay has a good song.

[Deflection]

This is fun.

[BenRaah]

It must be a good melody...

[luvmygibby]

Bloodshed :
The only one thats actually striking is the Satriani one. The rest are just chord progressions that are similar.

IMO the melody isn't the same at all, just the chord progressions, but like Bloodshed said, Satch's version is really similar in melody as well as the progression.

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

Yep. Leave Coldplay alone Mr. Yusuf Islam! Satriani is the man you are after!

[Anthony1991]

He tells the SUN? Anyone else smell bullshit from an OAP wanting some more cash?

[Robert I.]

GO CAT STEVENS, the guys a god (although he might call me a blasphemer for saying that) kick those pussies' asses!

[demonsheep]

It's all silly.
Also, You racists = Pricks, No reason to say stuff like that..
Cat is a legend, anyway; But this whole coldplagiarism thing is ridiculous, It's got to the point now where most people here are gonna be like "Whateverrrr", when they see them!

[Lil' Pookie]

Satriani wins the lawsuit and Cat Stevens uses the case to set precedent and successfully sues Satriani for stealing his song, and in a surprise Twist Beethoven rises from the grave to sue Cat Stevens for ripping off the tune from his one of his B-sides

[willy_99]

Powerpro wrote:

He could have an argument...if he wasn't a terrorist.

theres no need for that at all. try learning about what yusuf does with his time these days and you will see that he is far from a terrorist. im guessing you were probably only joking, but still inappropriate

[Jett Diamond]

Proof that this is a common recycled melody that doesn't warrant law suits? I think so.

Cat Stevens And Satriani need to get the hell over it. I hate Coldplay, but honestly, haven't we seen enough people using the same melody / progression now that we can acknowledge this as NOTHING MORE than a coincidence?

[bassmannick]

o.k., whats the story, STEVENS IS AMERICAN! he just practices islam. secondly, who the hell cares?!?!?! if you look at a jazz tune that came out in the 1940's, you could find that exact same chord structure, melody, and what have you DECADES before that tune came out. miles, coltrane, all the jazz greats just rip off each others tunes to NO END!!! why are todays artists so paranoid about someone "stealing their melodies"? you're still making money from these songs even if you're not making money from the c.d.'s or albums sold physically or digitally. joe, coldplay, cat, GROW UP!!!

[dreamtheater91]

Another artist jealous of Coldplay's success. Get over it.

[howrylak1]

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

Both should sue Coldplay. The verses in the coldplay song sound like the Cat Stevens song. While the chorus in the Coldplay song sounds like the Satch song.

[Zebadee]

why dont they settle all this out, yousef, martin, creaky boards and satriani, with a big pillow fight.. Or maybe handbags at dawn... It befits them

[benjibreeg]

nono Cat should sue Coldplay first, then Joe and Cat can battle it out!

[Year Zero]

I laughed so hard when I read this heading.

[LifesSweetDrug]

I wrote that song! Coldplay give me all your money.

[Eirien]

They're all a bunch of pansies. They should be arguing about who gets the blame for that tediously dull melody that's in about 12 different songs. I sure wouldn't own up to it.

[webaldo]

leave those poor people alone

[koyak]

"Coldplagiarism" hahahaha

[Somnambulance]

NemX162 wrote:

I really don't think a successful band would be dumb enough to think they could steal a melody and get away with it. It's probably a coincidence. All three of these songs are boring anyway. I'd be glad to see somebody else take the blame for junk like that.

While I disagree with you thinking all three songs are junk, I think this is the most obvious comment that could be made. Coldplay is quite possibly the biggest band in the world right now, you have to be quite smart to stay in the spotlight through four albums, so I doubt they're dumb enough to steal a melody.

[ZeppelinruleZ]

This is ridiculous. Musicians "borrow" from each other left and right every day. Tons of punk rock songs have the same chord progression in them, and yet Green Day is not out there tyring to sue Blink 182 or anything. Hey Yusuf, I love your music man, but on this one you need to just shut the **** up.

[Birchall17]

I listened to both parts a few times and I could only just barely make out the resemblance, nothing like the whole satch/coldplay version.

[Darkoblivion319]

I'm not a coldplay fan, but i think this works to their advantage. Since all four songs sound alike i doubt they are all ripping each other off, the melody is just overly simple and unoriginal.

[koyak]

LifesSweetDrug wrote:

I wrote that song! Coldplay give me all your money.

hey I co-wrote it with you! 50-50 of Coldplagarism money!!

[ReiverOfSouls]

HyperBoy2519 wrote:

This is becoming a cluster****.

Of the Mongolian variety? Indeed.

[theotherguy7145]

Naaa, Cat Stevens isn't much like it.

Satrianis song however sounds almost exactly the same! Coldplay have simply added lyrics to the same melody that the guitar plays!

[Deep*Kick]

Somnambulance wrote:

NemX162 wrote:

I really don't think a successful band would be dumb enough to think they could steal a melody and get away with it. It's probably a coincidence. All three of these songs are boring anyway. I'd be glad to see somebody else take the blame for junk like that.

While I disagree with you thinking all three songs are junk, I think this is the most obvious comment that could be made. Coldplay is quite possibly the biggest band in the world right now, you have to be quite smart to stay in the spotlight through four albums, so I doubt they're dumb enough to steal a melody.

but not talented enough to compose complete originals.

[Delexo]

How to become a successful band/musician rule #1: Sue Coldplay

[Haunted Boy]

random artist, "well, I have those same chords in my song..... WAIT if I cry loud enough people will listen to my song more so my popularity won't die!!"

Checked.

[GuitarSymphony]

I think Cat Stevens should be sueing Joe Satriani and not Coldplay.

[Vauxite]

I laughed quite hard upon reading the title.

[JakkSatch]

Hey, that's my song LOL!!
The original verses are: "I used to sue the world..."

[Badmotorfever]

Yeah I mean, I remember playing my guitar out of my window really loudly in 2007 and then Chris Martin walked past my house and I was like, yeah, y'know, like, playing this song, and then Chris went off and copied the melody for Viva la Vida.

Jesus Christ. People need to stop jumping on this bandwagon of suing. Seriously, I bet in between 1973 and last year, there was at least one song that sounded exactly like Cat Steven's pile of crap. Drop the Coldplay bashing...seems like Steven's is just doing this because Coldplay are young talented and successful, and he isn't any of those. Not anymore anyway.

[Tbannuz]

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

But Joe is a GOOD musician(according to my opinion), of course Cat didn't sue him.

[jetfuel495]

This is becoming more awesome by the minute.

[FunkyMetalHead]

Uhmmm. Wow. They stole MY song. 1968 I wrote the same melody. Jesus....

>_>

[josbroek]

i dont like coldplay, so im with Cat

[Scissortooth]

this is just getting stupid IMO. It's pretty easy for a fairly generic melody to sound like something else. I'm surprised a bunch of techno or synthpop bands haven't sued yet. Leave Coldplay alone ffs.

[Momentosis]

Cat Steven's song sounds nothing like the other two...

And there's just that one similar part between the coldplay and satch songs.

They need to lighten the **** up.

[pigmaggots]

Those songs sound nothing alike...this is just silly

[Haunt3dAng3l]

People seriously need to get over this stuff. The songs aren't total copy pastes of each other. This kind of stuff happens ALL the time and no one really cares! So why does it have to be so important this time around? I mean we got just twelve notes to work with and if you're using a certain scale you might have only 7 or 5! You can take ANY two songs and you will be able to find similar melodies etc. in them.

[MABnificent]

i can see the similarity but only because i was looking for it, i wouldn't have picked up on it otherwise and i dont think Cat Stevens would have either without seeing the satch case in the news. i wouldnt say there enough of a similarity to accuse them, but with if icould fly i would say that is copied.

[Year Zero]

Joes song sounds way closer to Coldplays than Cats.

[darkl64]

UG...
ABUNDANT not REDUNDANT.

I swear they'e getting worse at this every day.

[littleguitar]

I should go write some stuff that rips Cat, Satch or Coldplay. Right now. So I can get sued. Because I don't know what it feels like.

[littleguitar]

darkl64 wrote:

UG...
ABUNDANT not REDUNDANT.

I swear they'e getting worse at this every day.

I totally agree. THEY'E do :P.

[iplayguitar666]

the best part is radiohead havent accused them of stealing their shit, and coldplay even admits that they steal radioheads stuff... i almost hope radiohead comes out and says this so everyone finally knows that coldplay are in fact a bunch of hacks.

[twowheels]

Its pretty unfair on Coldplay to be honest, the songs sound noticibly different. At this rate soon all Coldplay will be able to record is silence, which they would also get sued for as I remember hearing The Wombles (of all "bands") were sued for recording a minute of silence by someone who wrote an orchestral peice which was four and a bit minutes of silence.

[iplayguitar666]

Haunt3dAng3l wrote:

People seriously need to get over this stuff. The songs aren't total copy pastes of each other. This kind of stuff happens ALL the time and no one really cares! So why does it have to be so important this time around? I mean we got just twelve notes to work with and if you're using a certain scale you might have only 7 or 5! You can take ANY two songs and you will be able to find similar melodies etc. in them.

any two songs?

ok find me two radiohead songs that sound similar off of 'in rainbows'.

you just got al capOWNED

[Andragon]

Oldplay [as mistyped by UG's first article] is becoming a source of lulz. The rhythm is almost the same. It takes a few listens for the average ear. However, it's not a blatant rip-off.

[godzilla_lives]

isabiggles wrote:

Coldplay keep ripping off all my tunes too. It's disgusting frankly.

+1

[Badmotorfever]

erm...or not, as thats majorly specific.

[Strat132]

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.
hahahahahahahah +100000

LOL

[Warheart1188]

No one even knows who Cat Stevens is anymore. So, he tells The Sun, a bogus tabloid newspaper, this story to garner some fame since more people were introduced to Joe Satriani because of his lawsuit. It's all a scam for fame. Poor Coldplay. I'm not a fan but that just sucks for them.

[Like I Is]

Is this becoming a trend?

[Gui_Tar_God]

I just put all three songs on my iPod, then I used the Genius to create a list for Viva la Vida...neither Joe's or Cat's song was on the list...

iTunes is so flawed LOL

[Nathan_393]

...
Sooo ridiculous.
Neither Satch nor Cat have a case.
Satch stole his exactly solo from some Mexican band too; look it up on Youtube. So really, there's no case. These chords happen to bring out this melody and to be fair, the melody is plain generic. Good melody, but very predictable.

[Schneemil]

Emberwolf06 wrote:

lol people are just pissed 'cause Coldplay has a good song.

Doubt that,Coldplay sux unholy ass on a daily basis

[FireBirdKing]

d d b b z z wrote:

[quote]Somnambulance wrote:

NemX162 wrote:
.Coldplay is quite possibly the biggest band in the world right now.

ok.....

No bro, metallica is. get over that if you dont like them.

[ray1322]

the fact is: somebody MUST have "stolen" that melody, maybe even cat stevens himself.

[FireBirdKing]

Nathan_393 wrote:

Sooo ridiculous.
Neither Satch nor Cat have a case.
Satch stole his exactly solo from some Mexican band too; look it up on Youtube. So really, there's no case. These chords happen to bring out this melody and to be fair, the melody is plain generic. Good melody, but very predictable.

Satch stole nothing. He wrote that himself for his wife, inspired maybe but no he did not steal it.

[Rhoads_1096]

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Why is he just suing Coldplay? Shouldn't he also be suing Satriani?

This

[visiofx]

clearly coldplay ripped somebodys music...satch or cat?they must be ranning out of ideas thats for sure

[Kastöm]

Rhoads_1096 wrote:

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Why is he just suing Coldplay? Shouldn't he also be suing Satriani?This

technically it would be pretty much the same thing, except Coldplay are a bunch of asshats. Cat Stevens realizes this and would obviously rather hunt them down than go after Satch.

Both Coldplay and I own toilets. They must be sued!

Also, checked.

[joshgrwk]

anybody notice that all the bands claiming coldplay ripped them off are nowhere near as famous as coldplay? (sorry satch fans, its true.)

[dooley182]

hey i think i'm gonna sue coldplay too!!!

[joshgrwk]

correction, not bands, artists.

[SG Man Forever]

Wow. I'm just waiting for Lars Ulrich to try to cash in on this.

[ctb]

Meoww.
S'gonna turn into a Cat fight.

[nosaj89]

just fight and get it over with!!

[sav46e]

Id sue all of them. I deserve a few million before they do.

[swyg2]

coldplay has been accused so freakin much. there has to be a case where they actually have plagiarized. i mean honestly, come on.

[RHCP94]

Once you become completely irreverent as an artist, you have to sue a famous band to get back in the news, apparently.

The Cat Stevens song sounds NOTHING like Viva La Vida.

[maneatingbrick]

This kind of backs up their claim that the melody wasnt very original.

[Thyrfing]

I still say Coldplay stole the intro of Viva La Vida from Alizee's [i]Jen ai marre[/i.

[David_Bowie=GOD]

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Why is he just suing Coldplay? Shouldn't he also be suing Satriani?

Satch's song still sounds dramatically different than that. Either way, theres no denying that Viva La Vida sounds a lot like both of those songs.

[chordios]

Just another plot for another artist to get more attention *rolls eyes* sue a big name and big attention ensues

[joshgrwk]

SG Man Forever wrote:

Wow. I'm just waiting for Lars Ulrich to try to cash in on this.

"coldplay! stop stealing our music off of napster!"

[aaciseric]

Didn't Satch accuse him of stealing a different part of the song? I thought Satch sued because of the chorus and Cat Stevens is talking about the verse.

[jcool2003]

Yusef doesn't need money, he'll just give it to terrorists...again.

[Spartan101400]

Wow, I love watching chaos ensue in the music biz

[Phoenix_24Leas]

EchoesOfTheMoon wrote:

If people can sue others over chord progressions then every artist out there is lucky that Pachelbel died 300 years ago and cannot sue everyone for copying his Canon in D

you win

[Phoenix_24Leas]

FireBirdKing wrote:

d d b b z z wrote:

[quote]Somnambulance wrote:

NemX162 wrote:
.Coldplay is quite possibly the biggest band in the world right now.

ok.....

No bro, metallica is. get over that if you dont like them.

I sure hope that's sarcasm

[Draconey]

HOLY BALLS, how many people have to claim they stole the song?

Like hell, there is alot of similar songs, they are all a bunch of wimpiscles.

Satch had a bit of right to start the first hearing, but now Stevens?

[satchboogieman]

viva la vida rules
totally > both songs as much as i love satch

[LarsHamfield]

Theres a limited number of musical notes an even smaller amount that go well together and there are only a handful of keys for a song to be in, all these factors make it pretty easy for somebody to write something that they think is completely original there is like 2 chords from the stevens song that are similar this guy is over the hill and way out of popular culture looks to me like hes jsut trying to get money for old rope

[BeerChurch]

I wouldn't put my name on any of them. All three songs totally suck.

[destöroyah]

i think im going to sue coldplay as well because

[nate_dogg083]

Everyone should sue coldplay for randoms rifs they wrote

[TwistedGuitars]

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Why is he just suing Coldplay? Shouldn't he also be suing Satriani?

Satch was suing Coldplay because "Viva la Vida's" vocals sound just like the lead guitar of his song,

Cat Stevens is suing because of the guitar.

[sixstringsteve]

"There’s been this argument about Coldplay stealing this melody from Joe Satriani, but, if you listen to it, it’s mine! It’s the ‘Foreigner Suite’, it is!"

He sounds like a prospector who just struck gold hahaha

[burndttoast]

Mass_debator wrote:
"There is no word on whether Yusuf Islam plans to pursue legal action at this time."

Not everyone is trigger-happy in the legal department.

Thanks for being level headed.

[littleleo88]

is it just me or do these two sound nothing like each other...
sure coldplay and satriani's sound almost identical, but coldplay and cat stevens tracks sound nothing alike.

[Indiemad]

Phoenix1744 wrote:

Could it be that random artists are taking stabs at Coldplay just for the hell of it. I mean why not, the whole Satriani thing has made Coldplay one of the biggest punching bags in the business.

oh wll its only coldplay

[MacDizzy]

I guess this doesn't have anything to do with Cat's album that got released today. Oh wait...

[mack attack]

Holy shit, I could maybe see if Viva La Vida was some crazy complex song but this is a pretty simple melody. I was pretty dissapointed that Satch sued them over it. The chords and melody of the song all go togeather in a key. Coldplay knows this and used it to write a song.

[caught22]

I love Cat Stevens, but the 2 don't sound identical at all...

[damo13]

Phoenix1744 wrote:

Could it be that random artists are taking stabs at Coldplay just for the hell of it. I mean why not, the whole Satriani thing has made Coldplay one of the biggest punching bags in the business.

Well Satch is only doing it cause it is his ****ing melody. the others doing are ****s, but you cant say 'If i could fly' doesnt sound like it.

I dont really like satch or coldplay, but in fairness satch has the right to sue, i mean, id be pissed off if it was me.
Also, satch doesnt hate coldplay at all, he even said that the song suited coldplay more than it did him!! he said he wasnt even pissed off at the fact that they won a grammy or wateva it was.
so Fairplay Satch!!!!!

[guitardudezach1]

they dont really sound the same. just because they use the same chord progression doesnt mean theyre the same. Thats like Charlie Parker suing everyone whos ever written a blues in F.

[jannick]

Road to succes: Sue Coldplay.

Thats about the only rock'n'roll about coldplay... struggle with the law...

[AVIDFANOFSOUNDS]

Coldplay stole yellow from me

[TK1]

so i didnt realize chord progressions equalled stealing. wtf just leave them alone.

[-tempest-]

HyperBoy2519 wrote:

This is becoming a cluster****.

:haha this definately

[StewieSwan]

When are they gonna understand that it's a completely unoriginal melody and chord progression.

[Teen Spirit]

HAHAHAHAHA ROFLMAO
coldplay getting bashed by everyone now xD

[radioplay]

I love Coldplay...but this is getting to be too much. If Coldplay stole not 1 song but 2,why would they release the subsequent song as a single? Dumb move,Coldplay.

[IRONMAIDENTLICA]

well its about time i admit.....I WROTE THE MELODY FOR VIVA LA VIDA BACK IN 1918 AS A CELEBRATION OF THE END OF WWI.....expect my story up soon, im sueing all 3....but mostly coldplay

[Randaman]

I wish I was a lawyer of today. Fuck knows I'd be richer than the artist I'd represent.

[stratocasta21]

I say cat stevens needs to **** off, and joe satriani needs to fight chris martin. sorry pretty boy, satch would drop you like a brick. see? then everybody's happy, satch gets his revenge, and chris martin goes away forever! now to deal with the jonas brothers...

[Yeti60]

This is getting pretty ridiculous.

[stratocasta21]

and just to point out 2 more interesting cases of songs sounding alike, listen to the intros of buckcherry's sunshine and motley crue's hell on high heels. also, listen to the outros of crooked x's nail in the coffin and lamb of god's now you've got something to die for. the world of music is getting less original every day

[[x]Huffy[x]]

If he is suing, he should sue Satriani too.

This is just getting stupid now.

[b-rock34]

This one's ridiculous! I see Satch's point (but still side with Coldplay). Cat Stevens has been smokin' too much hooka at his terrorist meetings. Those songs sound vaguely alike, but like the one guy said... it's not a very original chord progression. I'm sure I must have written something pretty close to that at some point. Thank god I didn't release it as a single! I'd be getting sued and accused all over the place.

[seek_&_destroy]

this is NOWHERE as close as the comparison with satch.

[b-rock34]

b-rock34 wrote:

I hope nobody patents an A or E chord. Cuz, most of us are ****ed if they do.

[izzy_dan]

bassmannick wrote:

o.k., whats the story, STEVENS IS AMERICAN!

Just wanna point out that he's British...

[jrcsgtpeppers]

I personally think COldplay is a good band. Obviously people are getting jealous of Viva La Vida. It is a great song. I don't care what anyone says. Joe Satriani went anal on them for "stealing" his song. Now we have another guy accusing them.. I'm sure they didn't take the same chorus from two different songs.

If Satriani came up with this melody, Stevens came up with the same melody... Why can't Coldplay come up with a similar melody? I do not think they stole anything.

[pyritmann]

lol this is getting so ridiculas,Melodies get repeated, it happens, GET OVER IT, there is no such thing as originality before, you cannot write a melody no one has written before so why should just this one band be sued, why dont punk bands sue each other for the 3 chords they all use? Just let people write music.

[pazzle]

..I WROTE THE MELODY FOR VIVA LA VIDA BACK IN 1918 AS A CELEBRATION OF THE END OF WWI.....expect my story up soon, im sueing all 3....but mostly coldplay

+1

[bearcat25]

I don't care who you are it takes ALOT of talent to rip off 4 songs into one!

Seriously...this is rediculous. Here's to the downfall of music. cheers.

[Kotie]

Hell why don't we all just say Coldplay stole our song and file lawsuits? I feel the allegedly plagiarized parts aren't so much stolen as they are cliche.
Though, I will jump on the bandwagon and say that I don't really care for Coldplay's music.

[cmstrike]

Cat Stevens FTW!!!

[Fred1000000]

I seriously laughed aloud at this. What next? Nickelback sue Coldplay for stealing diversity similarities?

[soadguitarfan]

to me, it seems like for every person that comes out and says coldplay stole that song, doesn't it just continue to prove the commonality of the melody? this is 4 ARTISTS who claim to have the same unique melody. get over yourselves.

p.s. epic mashup of all four songs, anyone?

[Bamitchell]

Oh not THIS again...Seriously, is this just the cool thing for musicians to do now?

[therealtater]

I dont think his song sounds anything like Viva la Vida Satchs on the other hand does

[darth awsome]

Lesson to Coldplay: Stop writing shitty generic songs.

[kaptink]

I think we should give up and declare the melody public domain

[thedarkblues06]

Seriously after watching that video, Satriani sounds like he has more of a case than Cat Stevens does, but I refuse to rant on this old stuff.

Cat Stevens = human copypasta.

And reading the forums on this matter really makes my day bright and shiny lol.

[mitchellator]

Cat is one of my favorite artists EVER, and foerigner suite is my favorite

[ReiverOfSouls]

MacDizzy wrote:

I guess this doesn't have anything to do with Cat's album that got released today. Oh wait...

This.

[Andy2k64]

This is what I think is needed...a cage fight with Cat, Chris Martin & Satriani not like a WWE cage fight but Thunderdome style. Who ever lives keeps their songs rights. Simples!

[Zell182]

I hate Coldplay so anyone suing them is a good thing

[TheKube with K!]

wwooaah...coldplay stole alll my music....their first album parachutes...I wrote the same songs back in 1756...oh come guys that's stupid....

nobody bought the rights for this chord-progression: C-D-G-Em or the melody martin is singing in la vida...

all music is for everyone, if they would copy the lyrics I would understand it, but this is bullshit

by the way: I listen to both artists

[couch002]

Cat's doesn't have a chance, not even similar

[Andy2k64]

worst thing is; if coldplay have robbed this whole song...what else have they stolen!?!?!?

[joeymaxx]

Coldplay also stole my bike.

[Astaldo]

"Coldplagiarism" great

[ElThomas]

Case and point: right now, anyone could get away with suing coldplay. seriously guys, go write a song that has a similar sound, say you wrote it back in like 2002 or something and sue Coldplay

[busway27]

Gui_Tar_God :
He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

The part of the song that was stolen from Stevens was the backing melody though. Satriani was just the rhythym of the lyrics.

[Flying Afros]

Every song off of their album "A Rush of Blood to The Head" was stolen from me. I wrote them all back in '96.

They also stole my car, dog, and my favorite t-shirt.

[maximumrocker]

hahaha
THEY STOLE SONGS I WROTE TOO DAMN U COLDPLAY!

[James_Het_Rules]

Maybe... just maybe Satch and Stevens are secretly plotting the end of Coldplay :O

Muahahahahahaha

[CrippleBastards]

No offense to viva la vida fans but that song isnt even that great. I dont see why its so popular. I like a lot of coldplay songs but that isnt one of my least favorite...Im starting to see coldplay in a different way now...maybe they do plagerize

[Abudabbi]

The song Chris Martin allegedly got the melody from by the Creaky Boards was called "The Songs I Didn't Write"? I had to go back and read that a number of times, the irony is just crushing.

[stopshank]

Robert I. wrote:

GO CAT STEVENS, the guys a god (although he might call me a blasphemer for saying that) kick those pussies' asses!

A lesson in anatomy or geography maybe required. A vagina cannot have an anus.It can only be a neighbour

[masterchief44]

Nathan_393 wrote:

Sooo ridiculous.
Neither Satch nor Cat have a case.
Satch stole his exactly solo from some Mexican band too; look it up on Youtube. So really, there's no case. These chords happen to bring out this melody and to be fair, the melody is plain generic. Good melody, but very predictable.

Agreed.
Completely.
I like Cat Stevens,
and I don't care for Satriani,
but neither of them have a solid case here.

FilipHz wrote:

oh look! i farted and it sounded like viva la vida, i better sue coldplay for plagiarism!

Flying Afros wrote:

Every song off of their album "A Rush of Blood to The Head" was stolen from me. I wrote them all back in '96.

They also stole my car, dog, and my favorite t-shirt.

+OVER 9,000 to you all.
This is one of my favorite articles on UG at the moment.

I feel awfully alone when I say that Coldplay are pretty much one of my favorite bands. >_<
(But no, that's only from their first two albums. I've only heard the singles off Viva la Vida so far.)

[Electric Pluto]

for the cat stevens song, the similarities are in Foreigner Suite part II from 5:15 onwards for a bit.

if you didnt listen to it otherwise lol, sounds like stevens is a crazy old man interested in publicity. but it's only slightly similar.

[stopshank]

I rote every song for them and I didnt even get a credit, but I won't sue, cos I cant prove anything. Not even three notes in the same order and rythm.

[kurtshapedbox]

Joe Satriani has no business suing Coldplay. everyone knows they're a large sack of unoriginal rubbish without his help.

[din_blix]

LOL 4 artists/bands lay claim to the same lame-ass song? coldplay=fail.

[Wesseem]

looks like satriani stole it from stevens.

Checked

[severed-metal]

Just watch, NOW Cat Stevens is going to take all the money Satriani earned from suing Coldplay :S

[lopezmetalmunky]

Well, I'm going to sue everybody on planet earth for poisoning my air, drinking my water, creating technology, insisting that there is evolution and most of all egging my house.

F**k humanity.

12/21/12: I welcome you.

[qurazy]

Lol I wonder what band is going to steal it next

[jxmxaxn]

Why would coldplay get sued for this? If anyone it should be satriani. I respect him but he deserves it after all the bs he pulled with coldplay. In reality no one should be sued anyway, they should all just drop it.

[Shamanic Rhythm]

You know, Cat Stevens probably didn't make these comments because he's planning to sue Coldplay or anything. In fact, he probably made that comment as a rather joking observation of just how popular a melody it is, and some reporter has taken it way out of context.

[Mutant Corn]

This is just ridiculous...I'm not a big fan of Coldplay, but my thoughts go out to them for having to deal with all of this.

[CrimsonRoc]

Satriani's I can see, but this guy is nowhere near as close. this is just ridiculous

[kid jesus]

so, if all 4 of these songs have this same (or very similar) melody, doesn't that kinda render the entire issue pointless?

[12345678910]

If you even point out the fact that it'

[scarfacesuit]

Yeah, the Creaky Boards one is the only one that sounds similar really. The Satch one kind of does too, but the Cat Steven's song is waay too vaguely similar to even consider accusing them of stealing it.

I would not be surprised if he did steal form the Creaky Boards, but not Satch or Cat Stevens.

[Calvero]

Hold on, let me find a melody I wrote that might sound a like Viva La Vida...

[againsteternity]

Ok here is my theory Cat Steven and Satriani are both tired of listening to Coldplay so what's the practical thing to do, you sue.

[frantic_saint]

they stole my songs. ****ers.

[Kor-Ryal]

A common chord progression, Don't get me wrong, I cringe when I hear cold play and virtually orgasm when I hear Satch, but I think Satch and Cat Stevens are a little butthurt by the mere chance they used the same chord progression. You think that's bad, how about the chord progression in Don't Stop Believing, Let it Be, 90% of all techno songs, Glycerin by Bush, Canon by Pachebel, the list goes on.

After this, it seems like just coincidence to me now.

[BSM123456789]

NemX162 wrote:

I really don't think a successful band would be dumb enough to think they could steal a melody and get away with it. It's probably a coincidence. All three of these songs are boring anyway. I'd be glad to see somebody else take the blame for junk like that.

they were successful BECAUSE they stole the melody

[23dannybhoy23]

I would love it if someone else used that melody before any of them and sues them all.

[Beakwithteeth]

This shit ****in' proves no one stole the melody.

[Supernaut82]

This is just plain good fun!

[Fearnohamsters]

Serves them right for even considering a rave*Shudders* album.

[joker_thief]

BSM123456789 wrote:

NemX162 wrote:

I really don't think a successful band would be dumb enough to think they could steal a melody and get away with it. It's probably a coincidence. All three of these songs are boring anyway. I'd be glad to see somebody else take the blame for junk like that.

they were successful BECAUSE they stole the melody

no they weren't. whether or not you like them, they had achieved huge success on thier past three albums.

[k.i.k.e.]

there are more bands with that sound...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLt_Hu8bHFc&feature =related
this is getting kinda...annoying

[angus_young_32]

When are people finally going to realize that no one wants to hear this shit, we just want to hear music?

[necrosis1193]

Satch sues Coldplay, Enanitos Verdes sues Satch, Cat Stevens sues Enanitos Verdes. I suppose Les Paul will be suing Cat Stevens soon?

angus_young_32 wrote:

When are people finally going to realize that no one wants to hear this shit, we just want to hear music?

I agree wholeheartedly.

[k0r105]

BSM123456789 :
NemX162 wrote:

I really don't think a successful band would be dumb enough to think they could steal a melody and get away with it. It's probably a coincidence. All three of these songs are boring anyway. I'd be glad to see somebody else take the blame for junk like that.

they were successful BECAUSE they stole the melody

oh yeah, they weren't famous for 'yellow' or 'the scientist' before this ordeal at all...

[Ackj]

i wrote that riff back in '66!!

i'm suing cat, satch, and coldplay!!!

[Darkshade666]

My dad actually wrote all 4 songs back in 746

[dudebud]

This is getting ridiculous. The claim against Satriani was legit but this is hardly plagiarism.

[l)ragonForce]

haha i don't hear the similarity, I hate coldplay but you can't just accuse plagiarism on anyone it's bullshit.

[LP4EVR]

who the hell is this fruitcake trying to sue coldplay?
i have never heard of him

[gibson9009]

they're all close but if i could fly is amazingly close, and coldplay sucks

[LazyLatinoRocke]

"No its mine"
"no its MINE!"
"Wrong its mine!"

If I was in coldplay I'd probably throw all the money from that song into a fire and go "There! We made no money from this song!! GET OFF OUR BACKS!"

[FiveStarMotel]

The creaky boards song and viva la vida are eerily similar, but they're both terrific and well written and even though the melodies sound alike the songs are different

[Altered_Carbon]

Why are people fighting over such an ambiguous, generic melody?
Eurgh.

[GuitarJunkie]

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Why is he just suing Coldplay? Shouldn't he also be suing Satriani?

He's not suing anyone...yet...way to read.

[Kortu]

Now I understand Creaky Boards' case: they're an indie band, had suspicion, and probably made a few bucks off the whole ordeal and got some recognition. I understand Satch's case: His was an instrumental, sounds more similar to Coldplay's than the other two cases, and I do respect him as a musician (most of the time).
But besides loving a rainy night, I'm not down with Cat. Err, 'Yusuf'. The songs don't sound very similar to me and it seems like 'Yusuf' was just jumping on the bandwagon.
Conveniently, in the background of my typing, "Viva La Vida" just came on the radio. Very nice job, local radio deejays.

[Ricky4635]

This article makes me lol. I don't really like Cold Play but, I don't think they stole the song. I think it's funny how everybody is sueing after the song has been a success for over a year almost.

[buckethead91120]

they dont sound anything alike

[TaylorGuitarist]

Wow, you guys really can't hear the similarities? I've been listening to Cat Stevens(Yusuf Islam) for a while now and as soon as Coldplay came out with their "Viva La Vida" song, I knew that it was a rip-off. It's easy to tell and sadly, they don't have a great recording of the Foreigner Suite but on his new Cd that he just put out, the song "Love/Heaven" is on there and sadly enough, it's very, very, very close. In fact, Coldplay moved the capo down a fret and transposed the chords to even fit. I guess so if anyone said they used the same chords, they can say no. Now, if they moved the capo up, they'd have to use the chords found in the Foreigner Suite.

[Ricky4635]

Wow, those two songs sound nothing alike. Joe did a little but, Cat Stevens is getting a bit greedy if he sues and just rude for acusing Cold Play for copying.

[SlyDevil13]

the reason that he is sueing coldplay is because they suck. if he sued satriani, the whole fiasco will end up will satriani claiming that he wrote every song ever, then dave mustaine will get in on the fight blabbing about writing every metallica song, then lars ulrich will show up with tommy lee and nikki six chasing him, and axl rose's ego will appear and the world will end

[Kortu]

After hearing about all of these lawsuits, I wish I was the first guy to use the G/C/D/Em chord progression because I'd be completely rich in lawsuits.

On the downside, music goes pretty far back into society and I'd probably be long dead by now.

[JimBonJovi]

When will it end. Most people here dislike bands suh as Coldplay and Nickelback, bands whom write infectious hooks within their tunes. Let me know when any of you that dislike many rock bands with proven track records, write as good as songs as them. If it's a case about individuals within the band then so be it, because for me it's about the music not what go's on outside that realm. Viva La Vida is an integral part of the definition of Music: an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
any agreeable (pleasing and harmonious) sounds. Again this is a world that lives in a monetary system where even the artists whom started music for the love of creating it have crossed over to it only being about the money. All of this is absolutely ridiculous as many have mentioned. If anything everyone should be angry at the "fans" of these bands. Most of which are little teenage girls (yes the same girls who like Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers). Anyways I'm beginning to,so...Well...there it is.

[HostileFTW]

Okay, now I'm just finding the situation hysterical.

[flatulentmatt]

b-rock34 wrote:

I hope nobody patents an A or E chord. Cuz, most of us are ****ed if they do.

Wait... Oh no! If chord progressions or chords are rights for plagiarism then bands like Blink 182 are gonna have to start suing themselves! They only use the same chord progressions in 90% of their songs...

[Bassman 561]

hay man blink is da shiz man don be hatin

[apimpinsnoman]

WOW their not close at all...

[boratian]

sorry cat stevens, you fail. it sounds barely, BARELY anything alike.

and lol @ that chain reaction of satch->axl

[m0o]

okay im wondering if could dig up an old recording. match it with viva la vida. and sue coldplay as well?

[xicetraex]

This whole "they stole this, they stole that" situation is being blown way out of proportion. I'm sure Joe Satriani had no intentions on suing coldplay if it weren't for people on his ass about it. And this Cat Stevens guy should go **** himself, his "melody" is barely reminiscent of Joe's or coldplay's.

[RedHotCPeppers]

Everybody who's heard If I Could Fly (Joe Satriani, Viva La Vida (Coldplay), and on youtube you need to look up the song Heaven by Cat Stevens. I looked at the Foreigner Suite and it was totally different. I guess Heaven is like an offshoot of it or something. lol Anyways, listen to Frances Limon by Los Enanitos Verdes. Sound exactly like it too (Satriani and Coldply's). But their's came out before Joe's did. hmmm.. Stevens in 73, Verdes in 02, Joe's in 04. It all just keeps piling up on Coldplay. haha

checked

[Just_Matt]

This is pretty dumb, it doesn't sound like it and besides it's such a crappy melody to fight for.

[Pantallica17]

Heaven sound alike, but not enough for a law suit. Now Satriani's "If I Could Fly" on the other hand, sounds nearly se-metrical.

[Life Is Brutal]

shoebox_of_lies wrote:

p.s. anyone noticed how we haven't heard the term "Coldplagiarism" yet? and the cat stevens song sounds nothing like it.

GOLD.

[swyg2]

flatulentmatt wrote:

b-rock34 wrote:

I hope nobody patents an A or E chord. Cuz, most of us are ****ed if they do.

Wait... Oh no! If chord progressions or chords are rights for plagiarism then bands like Blink 182 are gonna have to start suing themselves! They only use the same chord progressions in 90% of their songs...

[swyg2]

true

[MTVget0FFtheAIR]

Just_Matt wrote:

This is pretty dumb, it doesn't sound like it and besides it's such a crappy melody to fight for.

exactly what i was going to say.

I see satch's gripe, but this doesn't really sound very close. they should all just shut the hell up now, nobody cares.

[bellrowe]

Coldplay are shit, like a worser version of Radiohead
Joe Satriani is ok, but boring
Cat Stevens is like a God to me
Sue the shit through both of them Yusuf

[MrFetzer]

yeah Cat Stevens is a tool. they don't sound alike. Coldplay deserves a break they've become a musical scapegoat

[Filip413]

its becoming a game of Sue-Opoly, who's next?

unfortunately I don't see a close resemblance, but hey Cat Stevens wrote it not me so yeh I can see where he is coming from, a tad lame though

[vinnym86]

who cares. no one cares that Pappa Roach ripped off "Prowler" AND "Hallowed Be Thy Name" by Iron Maiden. No one cares that Behemoth ripped off "Be All, End All" by Antrhax. They should just say yeah fine, we ripped em off but we're not paying shit. All this litigation takes away from actually enjoying music. money loving *****s.

[GreekRockr9]

Wow, I really hope this whole suing frenzy doesn't carry over into the blues genre. Then we're all ****ed.

[TriviumFan717]

Joe only used the chord progression. thats going to happen, theres only so many chord progressions. The melody could be argued though. thousands of meloies could be written but thats not the case with chord progressions.

[DeathzMetal666]

satriani...now this guy? wtf is going on

[michelle420]

satriani's is the closest but cat stevens sounds not even close

[Kill'emall 83]

Cold play should just learn how to write there own music.

[Soul Power]

Maybe Coldplay came up with the most unoriginal melody in existence, I mean there's a website that features songs from the 40's that sound similar to Viva La Vida. That being said, I actually like Coldplay, but I think it's a really weak song.

[gwitersnamps]

Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh. . .

This is a stretch at best.

[a7xf@n43v3r]

joshgrwk wrote:

SG Man Forever wrote:

Wow. I'm just waiting for Lars Ulrich to try to cash in on this.

"coldplay! stop stealing our music off of napster!"

:haha:

[identityxcrysis]

Sorry, no I don't hear it.

[NightBladeXx]

this just gets better and better XDDDDD

[faint_spirit]

I'm sure he was just joking. Maybe it's just me, but the way I read his quote, it seems that way.

[BassGuitar Hero]

joshgrwk wrote:

anybody notice that all the bands claiming coldplay ripped them off are nowhere near as famous as coldplay? (sorry satch fans, its true.)

You might think so, but Joe Satriani also taught a lot of famous people. Just to name a couple, Kirk Hammett (Metallica) and David Bryson (Counting Crows). Look how famous those people became!

And also a little note about plagiarism. If you do it unintentionally, it is still plagiarism. Therefore Coldplay did actually rip off Joe's song, on purpose or not.

[Rajah]

The hate for Coldplay is as redundant as the hate for Nickelback.
So called articles like this get posted to stir trouble.

[X-face]

IMO coping parts of other people music and modify, reconstruct and building on to other people work is a massive part of music making.
No musicians are truly original

[kevlarmusicmojo]

i find it interesting how they (the accusers) all decide to sue coldplay since they're really successful right now when each of each others' songs have been around for a while now...

[stevster890]

ok come on this is a little ridiculous. satriani i believe has a pretty legitimate case, but cat stevens has nothing. yes the chord progression is similar, but thats not enough. its impossible for people to find original chord progressions (for the most part). in fact, jazz musicians do it all the time, taking the progressions from one song and turning it into a new one. so claiming that they stole a chord progression is just plain stupid. the melodies in the songs are different, so cat has no case. satriani has a case though because the chord progression AND the melody are similar if not the same.

[EpiDot]

I really don't think we should listen to anything Cat Stevens says due to the fact that he is Taliban affiliated.

[masterchief44]

lopezmetalmunky wrote:

Well, I'm going to sue everybody on planet earth for poisoning my air, drinking my water, creating technology, insisting that there is evolution and most of all egging my house.

F**k humanity.

12/21/12: I welcome you.

Agreed.

jxmxaxn wrote:

Why would coldplay get sued for this? If anyone it should be satriani. I respect him but he deserves it after all the bs he pulled with coldplay. In reality no one should be sued anyway, they should all just drop it.

Agreed.
Except I never liked Satriani's music, and don't respect him after this plagiarism charge. :/

[waveningkan]

alizee should sue them all.shes hot.

[masterchief44]

So,
let's say I listen to the song "Hangar 18" by Megadeth, and get an idea for a song. (Remember, there are a plethora of different notes)

If I use a couple of the same notes in my song,
re-arranged in a completely jumbled up, different order,
I'm going to be sued, aren't I??

-_-

[soadrulesall]

While I' not a Coldplay fan, it is very obvious that even though Viva la Vida and Satch's song sound similar, they have stolen nothing. Joe Satriani is just sad because Coldplay has more fans and fame, the only things Joe Satriani is interested in, than he does and wants to sue for "stealing" so he can feel good about himself. He has made like 15 albums, and there is no good music in any of them. Also, Cat Steven being involved reduces Joe's creditability to almost nothing.

[jdjb57]

Zebadee :
why dont they settle all this out, yousef, martin, creaky boards and satriani, with a big pillow fight.. Or maybe handbags at dawn... It befits them

Lol thats a great idea.

[flintazra]

Why don't we just wait for another year-and-a-half? Coldplay said they are going to break up by then. I say let them and good riddance. We'll never have to deal with or hear about them again.

[sds5000]

MABnificent wrote:

i can see the similarity but only because i was looking for it, i wouldn't have picked up on it otherwise and i dont think Cat Stevens would have either without seeing the satch case in the news. i wouldnt say there enough of a similarity to accuse them, but with if icould fly i would say that is copied.

dude, i listened to that song a bunch of times and i couldnt hear the similarity at all.
If I could fly was definentally the same, but i dont think it was copied, probably just a coincidence

[edgarvanburen]

About a year and a half back, i made a shrt melody, all by myself on the bass and i was busy writing a song, with this as the hook. A couple weeks later, i bought a copy of brian eno's another green world. To my utter shock, my melody was quite similar to the verse of i'll come running which i had never heard before (i'm ABSOLUTELY sure of that)
This melody, whch is the bone of contntion, is rather short and simplistic and it wouldn't come as a surprise if many musicians came up with similar phrases (here, its satch, coldplay, cat and creaky boards). If it happned to me, it could happen to coldplay also, i guess... i am a far bigger fan of satch than coldply, yet i think his allegations are utter garbage

[HIM%(^]

can i sue for peoples use of the 12 bar blues? i clearly have many songs that sound just like it...

[Seventeen]

Phoenix_24Leas wrote:

EchoesOfTheMoon wrote:

If people can sue others over chord progressions then every artist out there is lucky that Pachelbel died 300 years ago and cannot sue everyone for copying his Canon in D
you win

Public domain.

[jetwash69]

Phoenix1744 wrote:

Could it be that random artists are taking stabs at Coldplay just for the hell of it. I mean why not, the whole Satriani thing has made Coldplay one of the biggest punching bags in the business.

Could it be that Coldplay is one of the biggest punching bags in the business because we've all been forced to listen to it on otherwise cool radio stations and in public places (elevators)? All it takes is hearing a couple of bars and I wanna punch out the speaker cone pumping it out :

[edgarvanburen]

BassGuitar Hero wrote:

joshgrwk wrote:

anybody notice that all the bands claiming coldplay ripped them off are nowhere near as famous as coldplay? (sorry satch fans, its true.)

And also a little note about plagiarism. If you do it unintentionally, it is still plagiarism. Therefore Coldplay did actually rip off Joe's song, on purpose or not.

woah!woah!woah!
somebody getting their english wrong here?
oxford dictionary: plagiarize- take the work or idea of someone else and PRETEND it's one's own
=> plagiarism is always intentional. In case you didn't know mr BassGuitarHero, there is a separate term for when you have similar sounding stuff viz not ripped off. It's called "COINICIDENDCE".

[EpsilonJSTC]

Haaaa, Coldplay made a hit song, now everyone wants a slice of that money pie.

[Shredder Guitar]

HyperBoy2519 wrote:

This is becoming a cluster****.

That is NOT a candybar. =D

[avafreak252]

The better question is did Satriana copy Cat Stevens?

[Acousticsninja]

Viva La Vida has enough parallel's to Satriani's riff to definitly raise eyebrows, but I think theres enough of a variance that there really isn't enough evidence to say without doubt that Coldplay plagiarized this peace. As for Cat Stevens, that accusation is just plain ridiculous. I noticed a slight similarity, but for every songs there are dozens that are similar. Wits all been done before.

My personal opinion: Viva La Vida is an original song and Coldplay deserves proper credit for it. The album as a whole I think is genius, even though I don't dig a lot of their previous stuff. In the modern world, if you consider this plagiarism, then there are millions of original songs that would fall into the same boat.

[the boogieman]

for those saying cat stevens should sue satch, thats beside the point

fact of the matter is that coldplay still ripped off both of them

[ZZZombieChomp]

1. Joe Satriani is NOT a musical God, although he would definitely like to think so. Joe Satriani is, in fact, a DOUCHE. Seriously...Satchafunkilus? Sounds like something a junior high goth/anime freak would have come up with.

2. Seriously, it's Cat Stevens...I mean...Yusuf Islam. What a joke.

3. I'm inclined to believe that the Creaky Boards sound even better than the other three, and I actually like Coldplay (somewhat). Plus, it's cool that Andrew had a decent attitude about it.

[slash=king]

ZZZombieChomp wrote:

1. Joe Satriani is NOT a musical God, although he would definitely like to think so. Joe Satriani is, in fact, a DOUCHE. Seriously...Satchafunkilus? Sounds like something a junior high goth/anime freak would have come up with.

hahah i think it sounds like some kind of bad STD, but hey
crap, you're not going to sue me for quoting you are you?

[TragedyGuide]

just goes to show satriani just wants some money, and that that simple chord progression may be used more than one time. crazy concept i know!

meanwhile i'm waiting for the ramones to sue the pants every punk band around for plagiarism.

virtuoso = overrated

[GoToSleep]

Viva La Vida has just a very simple, common chord progression, it's not surprising Coldplay is being accused of ripping people off, but I'm still not sure how I feel about all this.

[Sell Out]

The chord progression is the same, but honestly you can't sue for someone stealing your chord progression, because every progression ever has been used before.

[dillonjh41]

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

He probably didn't hear joe's version...everyones heard coldplay though.

[RockInPeaceDime]

What an awesome last name...

[hd7373]

Nathan_393 wrote:

Sooo ridiculous.
Neither Satch nor Cat have a case.
Satch stole his exactly solo from some Mexican band too; look it up on Youtube. So really, there's no case. These chords happen to bring out this melody and to be fair, the melody is plain generic. Good melody, but very predictable.

You mean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH4gaPHs9Hc&feature=rel ated

jannick wrote:

When i heard Satrianis song and coldplays i was sure that they ripped it off joe's song. Now i really hate coldplay but this could very well just be a mistake. Satrianis was stolen by coldplay. But this could just be a coincidence...

Honestly do you really believe that everyone musician owns all of Satriani's CD's or even actively listens to him. It is far more likely Chris Martin if he heard the progression from anyone it was from the Cat Stevens song because the Chris Martin is not a shredder but more of a songwriter which means he is much more likely to listen to Cat Stevens because among songwriters he is way more required listening than Satriani.

[hd7373]

Please For Gods sake anyone who thinks Satriani owns the debated melody watch video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH4gaPHs9Hc&feature=rel ated

[hd7373]

edgarvanburen wrote:

BassGuitar Hero wrote:

joshgrwk wrote:

anybody notice that all the bands claiming coldplay ripped them off are nowhere near as famous as coldplay? (sorry satch fans, its true.)

And also a little note about plagiarism. If you do it unintentionally, it is still plagiarism. Therefore Coldplay did actually rip off Joe's song, on purpose or not.

woah!woah!woah!
somebody getting their english wrong here?
oxford dictionary: plagiarize- take the work or idea of someone else and PRETEND it's one's own
=> plagiarism is always intentional. In case you didn't know mr BassGuitarHero, there is a separate term for when you have similar sounding stuff viz not ripped off. It's called "COINICIDENDCE".

LOL

[chris88kolate]

kind of similar but i don't think it was intentional in this case

[Rokkec]

I think Cat Stevens made it clear that they plagiarised from him just for the fact that he and Coldplay are probably mates and with him making an accusation like this, he just wants to make it so this whole thing becomes pointless, like some of you suggested in a way..and with more people accusing like this, doesn`t it really?=P
Thank you

[Metallica0717]

lmao i thought my eyes betrayed me when i read this. Fricken classic!

[bagpipemetal]

People need to lay off, I just listened to All three comparisons and here's what I think: Satriani/coldplay are Similar But honestly If I heard The Satriani I would'nt think of 'viva la vida.' Creaky boards suck so bad it's not funny. Cat Stevens need hearing aids.

[strikethree]

Dammit, another cocksucker complaining about the melody of this song. Only so many chords in this crowded music business, get the **** over it. Besides this fags version sounds nothing like coldplay's! WTF?

[klynch]

i don't think this one hold as much water as joe satriani's, but i do hear a few similar notes but this one isn't as obvious as the comparison between coldplay and satriani.

[no_thing101]

This might be coldplay's strongest argument. the fact that three seperate bands are all accusing them of stealing their own songs shows that the melody has come up by chance a number of times as well as confusing who copied who.

this looks like a blessing in disguise for coldplay. i think satch will have a hard time prooving that the song is his. in other words i think this will probably make satch loose the case. i was supporting him

[Mikey_or_Hunter]

All this is stupid, the chord progression im sure has been used half a dozen more times. Its very common in pop music. Leave Coldplay alone, they deserved their grammy and everything else Good they get.

[alt154]

viva la vida's a crappy song, they'd have to be ashamed to admit coldplay ripped it off from them.

[MetFan10]

FilipHz wrote:

Oh Look! I farted and it sounded like Viva La Vida, I better sue Coldplay for plagiarism!

Lmao! I laughed so damn hard.

[Left-Behind]

ya dont worry. satriani will sue soon lol

[Lion_Slicer]

First, lol.
Second, I think Satriani has the best case.
Third, Colplay is just a shitty fusion of U2 (pretentious and boring) and Radiohead (pretentious yet brilliant) and manages to come off as WAY pretentious, we're talking near-Oasis levels here, and the music sounds--IMO--boring as hell unless you are a moron.

Fourth--Regardless of whether or not Coldplay is found guilty or whatever, I like the term "coldplagiarism" a lot. Why can't it be applied to other bands? For example, Dani California coldplagiarized Tom Petty. Master of Puppets coldplagiarised Metal Church. It doesn't need to indicate any actual wrongdoing, music ocassionally repeats itself. I just think its funny.

[Mr.LeadGuitar]

HyperBoy2519 wrote:

This is becoming a cluster****.

just shoot them all. please. this is getting retarded, and that might be the only way to stop it.

[akhimakhi93]

FilipHz wrote:

oh look! i farted and it sounded like viva la vida, i better sue coldplay for plagiarism!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[queenslander47]

HyperBoy2519 wrote:

This is becoming a cluster****.

lol dane cook reference

these songs don't even sound that similar, he just wants to get attention

[queenslander47]

Shredder Guitar wrote:

HyperBoy2519 wrote:

This is becoming a cluster****.

That is NOT a candybar. =D

full of peanuts and ****! lol

soz for double post

[pizzanipple]

You'd think that all these artists, being accomplished musicians (especially Satch), would realise that with the infinite number of songs out there, eventually the same chord progressions will be used from time to time, sometimes all the time (I'm looking at you Blink 182). It's just unlucky for it to happen between two artists who are both still popular. I mean come on, how many times have we heard Sabbath or Zeppelin or Maiden stuff come up in newer songs?

[Silent_Terror]

hahaha...
this situation is so funny)))

[greenpic]

I'm tired of hearing about this
i mean there's only so many progressions you can use
and only so many notes that will work with the progression
with so many songs being written by so many people out there it's IMPOSSIBLE that 2 songs won't sound similar or exactly the same

and anyone giving shit to coldplay should remember The Beatles, perhaps the most respected musicians of our time were accused of plagiarism on many occasions

[radomu]

Seriously, Satriani and Stevens both should just shut up.

I don't think stealing a melody is a crime at all

[-Spectra-]

This is getting got damn ridiculous! Everyone just wants some ****ing attention so they accuse Coldplay like every other musician. Why don't Satriani and Stevens battle it out? If they both say Coldplay stole from their song, well then they must have stole from each other, or rather, satriani must have done it first from stevens, then started to complain like a little bitch when Coldplay in his mind did the same thing. Just get over it all of you ffs, leave Coldplay alone, they have done nothing wrong!

[nintendoeats]

That song ALSO sounds exactly like L.F.O. Mod by the Durutti Column. So perhaps we can agree that Coldplay is just incredibly generic?

[nintendoeats]

Actually, the Creaky Boards guy makes a compelling argument.

[meakel]

+1 to everybody who understands the melody and chord progression has been used OVER and OVER again.

Coldplay's just the only one that's made it into an extremely succesful song...

[muse77]

This should be on knowyourmeme.com. All we need is a gif to put all three songs to. Or a new Numa Numa guy.

[drtudor]

What I want to know is that if Cat Stevens really thinks they ripped his song off, why has he waited this long to say anything about it?

It's all a farce anyway...

[Linkerman]

After all this controversy, i started paying attention to some progressions on my own songs, trying to find similarities with famous songs, and i found some interesting stuff...
On one song, for example, i use the same chord progression as Ramones' "Pet Sematary", but in a different key, for the chorus, and the exact same progression as the end of Pearl Jam's "Black" (Em/D/C) for the solo break. And i did that unintentionally.

And if you hear my song, you won't say "Hey, you ripped off Ramones and Pearl Jam!", because the rhythm is different, the feeling is different, the tone and distortion is different... You just can't find the connection between the three songs unless you compare the songs structures on the paper. The similarities start there and end there.
It's inevitable that many chord progressions/note combinations are re-used throughout the times by different bands, and 99,9% of those re-utilizations are innocent. It doesn't mean that everybody is ripping off other people's songs.

That said, i think that Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" is way too similar to Satriani's, Cat Stevens' and Creaky Boards' songs (the guy from Creaky Boards and Chris Martin's vocals sound really similar...).
But who ripped off who?
Where do the coincidences end and the plagiarism begins?

This case is totally messed up.

[Hopdelker]

shoebox_of_lies wrote:

p.s. anyone noticed how we haven't heard the term "Coldplagiarism" yet? and the cat stevens song sounds nothing like it.

Hehehe, Coldpagiarism.... genius

[Setabominae336]

drtudor wrote:

What I want to know is that if Cat Stevens really thinks they ripped his song off, why has he waited this long to say anything about it?

My thoughts exactly.....

[Tomosaurus]

When I first saw the plagiarism on Coldplay thing last year, I thought it'd be from Cat Stevens.

This is seriously old stuff, even from Yusuf!

[guitaringsailor]

Seriously Satches song and viva la vida are almost identical in tempo, melodi, phrasing even the backing is very like.

But cat stevens song is actually really different in my ears... way faster and a completely different fell to it...

But thats just me, right?

[Kimera]

This is getting got damn ridiculous! Everyone just wants some ****ing attention so they accuse Coldplay like every other musician. Why don't Satriani and Stevens battle it out?

It s just a human atribute. You make something you re not famous.Someone comes, does something similar with the same core, REVENGE. sueing is probably very practic because you get money, you become famous and you have your revenge... if it succeds. It s also very rational because the "same melody" argument is very pertinent. We re just humans all pitiful. That s why playing progressive music SOULDN'T be that risky.

[Dio10101]

I see Coldplay in both those songs. I just hope this Cat Stevens guy doesn't wisen up and sue Satch.

[KingSquall802]

It would be funny if someone will also sue Cat Stevens for copying the same song. haha.

[patrick34page]

Hello,I Just Spent 15 minuites reading all the comments. I You Ask me they should do a colaboration
Coldplay Feat: Satriani and Cat

Peace!

[Kimera]

Also i find interesting at the Metal scene those kind of cliché names that you know well. Those kinf of two contradictory words such as Divine Heressy. After a certain time the names will get fewer and fewer. And many bands will have the same name. i know many bands called Death Angel or even more ridiculus: PATERAs.

[ninjafrets]

Coldplay might be the "biggest band" around, but they still majorly suck balls, and i mean MAJORLY.

Go Satriani! FTW!

[druMMaBoY69]

Tall poppy syndrome

[wicked_hobbit]

b-rock34 wrote:

This one's ridiculous! I see Satch's point (but still side with Coldplay). Cat Stevens has been smokin' too much hooka at his terrorist meetings.

Come on that's unnecessary. Still unclear if Yusuf gets so worked up about it and goes sue the band. And yep, it DOES sound similar, one can't argue with that. So let's just see where this goes

[BTponcho]

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

Yusuf Islam would never sue Satriani, because Satriani is a respected artist, where coldplay are a bunch of blokes who are annoying and self rightous

[qzuiilw]

why isn't Joe Satriani and Cat Stevens and Creaky Boards sueing eachother over the melodies? from what i have seen all of them are clamming over the same song, obviously cat's song came first, then joe's then creaky boards. SO.. cat should sue Joe, Joe Should sue creaky boards and creaky boards should show some sort of proof that chris martin was there at their concert before they go sueing anyone hahaha now i'm confused

[mcfreaki]

this raises a bigger question- who gives a shit? i mean this happens every other day, so...

[Scott_Rae1]

Think I might sue coldplay. They haven't stolen anything from me but they have consistently raped my ears.

[matosh.lee]

i dont even like coldplay but that aint no plagiarism

[pawnshopguitars]

Scott_Rae1 wrote:

Think I might sue coldplay. They haven't stolen anything from me but they have consistently raped my ears.

xD good one!

And Cat Steven's song doesn't neccesarily sound like Satriani's if they both sound similar to Viva La Vida. Probably do though.

[Elfraddor]

"No! I'm Sparticus!"

Seriously, this is getting out of hand.

[jtaylor]

Listen to flight test by the Flaming Lips and then like.. sons and daughters? or something by cat stevens. Direct plaugerism.

[metalaxxe11]

not again lol, every artist who has a similar riff to coldplay are going to start suing them just for the fun of it

[GS LEAD 5]

Viva's verses sound like Cat's song, but the chorus sounds kinda like Satch's lead in "Fly"....
If you ask me, Cat and Satch should split the money from the suit 50:50

[bfchead]

Ok obviously a chord progression will sound the same. I hate coldplay all the same, but to accuse someone of stealing a common progression is ridiculous. I mean im sure Mr. Islam, had probaly heard the progression somewhere, so these accusations are pretty funny and ridiculouse

[bfchead]

not again lol, every artist who has a similar riff to coldplay are going to start suing them just for the fun of it

Sorry for the double post, but i just saw that, and im prety sure thats whats going to happen

[Sir_Rowsty]

Guys, Cat Stevens 'hardly' complained. His statement is clearly tongue in cheek and if you can't see that then you are a fool. But with all the people on here just suddenly saying "OMG HE'S SUING!!", i'm guessing nobody actually read the article.

[UNIe]

This makes me think that there should be no copyright fines on music at all, because all music ultimately is 'stolen', you can't change that. Or there should be some clear restrictions on what you can copyright, because it's insane to sue people for stealing songs which have 4 chords, a melody line and a standard form. I mean, I understand composers who write complex pieces and don't want anybody to steal their art, but there should clear restrictions on what you can copyright (not the other way around like it is today).

[ihavenoname93]

accusing coldplay seems to be nothing more than the newest free advertisement strategy. i mean thousands of people probably got into satchs music just by knowing about this lawsuit, and im sure nobody heard of the creaky boards before the accusation. same will go for cat stevens

[agm_ultimatex]

in my opinion those two sound way different. similar timing and progression, but the notes played and all, not really. atleast satrianis solos can be played ontop of cold play's rythm.

[This1GoesTo11]

This is the same guy who swore to never return to the music business after God saved him from a riptide. Way to stick to your committments, Cat!

[GuitarJunkie]

LP4EVR wrote:

who the hell is this fruitcake trying to sue coldplay?
i have never heard of him

You've never heard of Cat Stevens? ...Kids these days

[againsteternity]

Wow next thing you know every heavy metal bands will sue each other for tremelo picking 0 on the low e string and using pinch harmonics where they have

[chickrawker]

now shouldnt he sue satriani as well??

[BornToRun]

Gui_Tar_God wrote:

He should sue Joe Satriani first. Chronologically Cat's song came out first, then Joe's, then Coldplay's.

LOL

yup

[We'realltoBlame]

Today's agenda: Sue Coldplay. Again. Who cares if someone lese could be sued first, just skip ahead to Coldplay.

[Metalmangini]

EchoesOfTheMoon wrote:

If people can sue others over chord progressions then every artist out there is lucky that Pachelbel died 300 years ago and cannot sue everyone for copying his Canon in D

+1

[08L1V10N]

koyak wrote:

"Coldplagiarism" hahahaha

That's my pun. I had it in a thread name a while ago

[Vendim]

I LOL'd as I read the title

[DeathAndMyDecay]

Eventually, Coldplay will sue Cat Stevens for writing it first...

[imills]

cool story bro

8 D

[farhan_zul]

haha..

[BugrahanGedik]

bassmannick wrote:

o.k., whats the story, STEVENS IS AMERICAN! he just practices islam. secondly, who the hell cares?!?!?! if you look at a jazz tune that came out in the 1940's, you could find that exact same chord structure, melody, and what have you DECADES before that tune came out. miles, coltrane, all the jazz greats just rip off each others tunes to NO END!!! why are todays artists so paranoid about someone "stealing their melodies"? you're still making money from these songs even if you're not making money from the c.d.'s or albums sold physically or digitally. joe, coldplay, cat, GROW UP!!!

But jazz is a totally different culture, when it comes to borrowing chod progressions and stuff..

I dont know..

[BugrahanGedik]

08L1V10N wrote:

koyak wrote:

"Coldplagiarism" hahahaha

That's my pun. I had it in a thread name a while ago

Don't worry, it really isnt funny..

[waranghira]

please, THERE'S NOTHING CREATIVE about the melody. frickin pop/westerncontemporary people.

[waveningkan]

alizee!!!she should sue them all.its her beat i tell ya!!shes hot!!!im routing for alizee!!

[D'sa]

this is getting ridiculous...

[DrPooh]

Hey, thats my song!

Hey, thats my song!

Hey, thats my song!

Hey, thats my song!

Hey, thats my song!

[D'sa]

and nobody does really care that the most of the metalcore riffs also sound VERY simliar, I mean, i love As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage and All that Remains, but you can her so often riffs which sound the same. But it doesnt really bother me, I mean, If Metalcore bands would be so succesful like Coldyplay , they would probably get sued too.

[Necro-cide]

I'm scared to write new music nowadays! xD

It's hard to be original as it is, 'cause practically everything has been done by someone somewhere.

If you can get sued for a mere f***ing coincidence, then the music industry has just reached a new f***ing low.

I bet if you scoured Satriani's discography you'd find a few melodies that have been used before him, someone should point that out to him, i bet he'd shit his pants.

This does my head in.

[joshgrwk]

anyone else notice there's a new article in the news section titled "cat stevens may sue coldplay"? this is getting ****ing ridiculous. no one besides Coldplay, Joe Satriani, and Cat Stevens give a shit.

[sock_demon]

Well... it is a nice progression.

I think bygones should just be bygones and the entire "kill coldplay for plagiarism" is just a greed issue with the plaintiffs.

[Necro-cide]

Sorry if anyone posted this link before, but it's worth looking at.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxSIAXGakuk

[mike1990]

Even if Coldplay did rip off part of his song Foreigner Suite, would it even matter? That song was released in 1973 that means its copyright would be voided, therefore it would be legal for someone to use parts of it in another song. Right? If Im right let me know if not, correct me where Im wrong

[ironmaiden_98]

SG Man Forever wrote:

Wow. I'm just waiting for Lars Ulrich to try to cash in on this.

Or Gene Simmons

[totti48]

who sue who?

[ctrlaltdestroy]

I'm a fan of satch but this is ridiculous. I do not believe coldplay "ripped off" satch because it's a very predictable melody. Take up some music theory and you'll find this melody isn't some magical composition. It's a fairly generic progression that anybody could make.

I also find it ridiculous that there are other satch fans who are so damn pragmatic about this situation. I respect coldplay as talented musicians but I've no taste in their music.

[Jiban]

1. What's the point of hating on a band? I really don't get it. If you don't like their music, you don't like their music, SHUT THE **&# UP, keep it to yourself! I don't see the point of offending so many people on account of that.
2. I see that there are quite a bunch of bandwagon jumpers over here. Ever thought of developing your own opinion?
3. I LIKE COLDPLAY. Maybe not their new stuff but their old albums were amazing! Why does everybody think they're terrible? And WHY do you compare them to Nickelback? They're COMPLETELY different.

I really hope there are some sensible people on this site, and also people who don't pretend to know something about music when they clearly don't.