Coldplay Deny Joe Satriani’s Plagiarism Claims
December 10th, 2008
Coldplay have made a statement regarding recent accusations from guitarist Joe Satriani that they ripped off one of his songs for their hit ‘Viva La Vida’.
The musician is suing the Brit band claiming they plagiarised his 2004 song ‘If I Could Fly,’ saying in a recent interview with Musicradar.com, “I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much. The second I heard it, I knew it was [my own] ‘If I Could Fly’.
“Almost immediately, from the minute their song came out, my e-mail box flooded with people going, ‘Have you heard this song by Coldplay? They ripped you off man.’ I mean, I couldn’t tell you how many e-mails I received. Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It’s pretty obvious.”
Coldplay posted the following message on their official website on Tuesday (December 9) in response to the allegations:
“With the greatest possible respect to Joe Satriani, we have now unfortunately found it necessary to respond publicly to his allegations. If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him. Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write or have any influence on the song Viva La Vida. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavours. Coldplay.”
Compare the two songs by clicking here.
