It must be pretty embarrassing to be accused of plagiarism. Not only does the accusation charge that you are a thief, but the implication also exists that you are either too untalented or lazy to create original work. Basically, you are a cheater. And possibly, you are making money by cheating.

Charges of plagiarism are precisely what Chris Martin and his merry band of Coldplay dudes are experiencing at the moment, thanks to sharp-eared fans of guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, guitar teacher to the stars (Metallica's Kirk Hammett, among many others) and successful musician in his own right. Satriani has filled in with bands such as Deep Purple, in addition to recording many albums of instrumental rock that makes guitarheads drool all over their Ibanez six-strings and Peavey amps. Satriani claims that Coldplay's Viva La Vida sounds like his song If I Could Fly.

He's right; it does. And he's pissed: he claims to have written If I Could Fly for his wife, and that hearing Viva La Vida was like a "dagger to the heart." Alright, alright, Joe, we get it, you love your wife, fine. But what does Coldplay think?

Until yesterday, they were mum, but now there's a statement to peruse. But what does said statement mean? Let's look:


If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him.

Oh sh*t.


Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write the song 'Viva la Vida.' 

We wrote Viva La Vida, which we copied from Joe's song If I Could Fly.


We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavors.

Non-legal endeavors, that is.


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