May 5, 2009

Coldplay accused of more plagiarism

Cat StevensCat Stevens (via last.fm)

Coldplay has often been referred to as U2 Wanna-Be's, or copycats. Many U2 fans will argue on both sides of that. Regardless of the band's intentions, they have been under the spotlight lately. Today, I found an article on People.com about Coldplay's newest controversy. Cat Stevens is accusing them of plagiarism.

Here is the article. You can also click here to read it on People.com.

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By Pete Norman

British rocker Chris Martin is under fire again, this time over claims that his band Coldplay has plagiarized another musician's work.

Yusuf Islam, better known as '70s' rocker Cat Stevens, claims his song "Foreigner Suite" is behind the band's recent hit, "Viva La Vida," reports Britain's Sun.

"There's been this argument about Coldplay stealing this melody from Joe Satriani, but, if you listen to it, it's mine!" says Stevens, 60, who now goes by his Muslim name. "It's the 'Foreigner Suite.' "

This is the third similar claim made against the band. Guitarist Satriani initiated legal action against Coldplay after claiming the group pilfered chords from his 2004 song "If I Could Fly." And last June, the New York act Creaky Boards alleged the song was close to their tune "The Songs I Didn't Write."

No Comment

Contacted by PEOPLE about the various accusations of plagiarism, a rep for Coldplay would only say: "We have not commented previously about the claims, and there will be no comment about this one."

Online, fans of Coldplay and Satriani have battled over the songs. After researching possible similarities, Creative Guitar Studio was forced to delete strongly worded viewer comments from a YouTube video comparison.

Meanwhile, another YouTube user has uploaded a morphed remix juxtaposing Coldplay's song onto Satriani's early work, as well as listing quotes from Martin admitting to borrowing from other artists.

The Sun, too, notes that Martin, 32, has previously made comments on plagiarizing.

"We're definitely good, but I don't think you can say we're that original," he also told Rolling Stone. "I regard us as being incredibly good plagiarists."

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1 comment:

  1. I haven't heard the songs Coldplay's being accused of plagiarizing, but I doubt that they're actually *stealing* the melodies or lyrics... it's probably more a case of being maybe a bit too influenced by them. Every band has to find inspiration somewhere. Even Bono's said that U2 was "The Clash in baby clothes" during their early days. As for Martin's quote about being "incredibly good plagiarists" I think it's in the same spirit as U2's "Every artist is a cannibal/Every poet is a thief" (from The Fly). I just hope that Coldplay can find their own musical feet, so to speak, because if they do, I think they'll go far.

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