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Joe Satriani speaks about Coldplay lawsuit
A MusicRadar exclusive interview
Joe Bosso, Sun 7 Dec 2008, 9:58 pm UTC
As previously reported on MusicRadar, Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay, claiming the UK band's Grammy-nominated song Viva La Vida uses one of his melodies.
In court papers filed on 4 December 2008, Satriani's legal team alleges Viva La Vida, the title track of Coldplay's current album, copies "substantial original portions" of his song If I Could Fly.
Satriani's song was included on his 2004 album Is There Love In Space?
Speaking exclusively to MusicRadar on 6 December, Joe Satriani recalls the exact emotion he felt when he first heard Coldplay's Viva La Vida.
"The second I heard, I knew..."
"I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much," Satriani says. "The second I heard it, I knew it was [my own] If I Could Fly."
As it turned out, Satriani wasn't the only one who noticed the similarity between If I Could Fly and Viva La Vida.
"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." Joe Satriani
"Everybody noticed the similarities between the songs. It's pretty obvious. It's as simple as that - when you listen to a song and you say, 'Wow, that's a real rip-off.'"
What makes the situation especially painful for Satriani is that If I Could Fly isn't just any song. It's a composition he'd been laboring over for well over 10 years before he recorded it.
"I started writing it on the Flying In A Blue Dream tour back in 1990. But because of the way I write, sometimes songs take a while, as this one did. In 2003 I started demoing it in earnest. I played it on the acoustic guitar on a demo so I could sing the melody, then I demoed it on electric to get the sound. And the performance turned out to be so spontaneous, so right and so emotional, that it wound up being a keeper."
Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay, alleging Viva La Vida uses his melody from If I Could Fly
Satriani feels "really hurt"
Since If I Could Fly came out in 2004, Satriani has been gratified by the reaction it's received from his fans, many of whom have called it one of his most captivating songs.
"That was the intent all along," he says. "It was a love letter to my wife, Rubina – a simple, direct expression of feeling.
"That's what really hurts about this whole thing. That I spent so long writing the song, thinking about it, loving it, nursing it, and then finally recording it and standing on stages the world over playing it - and then somebody comes along and plays the exact same song and calls it their own."
"Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away." Joe Satriani
Since it was announced on 4 December 2008 that Satriani is suing Coldplay for alleged plagiarism, seeking a jury trial and "any and all profits" connected to Viva La Vida, his life has been turned upside down.
"This has been the weirdest thing I've ever been involved in," he says. "The media attention has been bizarre and surreal. I really can't explain how I've felt over the past day or two."
User comments (107)
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I would normally view this objectively and dismiss my likes and dislikes of the parties involved however, I too have spent years agonizing over a non-conventional love song, not for a spouse but "the one that got away" and I know that if I'd found out some mediocre "rock" band had ripped off a section I would sue them for their fingers. More power to Satch
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I never bought a Coldplay cd, but I just ordered Joe Satriani's "Is there love in space?" CD! I'm going to add it into my iPod Nano and listen to it while I walk to school. Hell yeah!
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I've heard both songs, and i am neutral. Joe's is more complicated and the melody is similar, Coldplay's is straight forward and just repeats, even though there are similarites, I don't think Coldplay should have gotten sued. Joe has been making music for more than 30 years, sueing the biggest english band in the world over a short bit of music that is similar, is it reall worth all the hassle?
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Neutral, let me tell you, not to brag, but I have quite an ear for music (doesn't mean I can write it well) and to me that Coldplay song is almost EXACTLY the same melody as Joe Satriani's 'If I could fly'.
The main melody of the rhythm guitars in the background used in 'Viva La Vida' is the same melody as the rhythm guitars in Joe's song from 0:53 seconds in the song. Also, the notes that Chris Martin sings in the beginning of the song are VERY similar to the notes played by Joe on lead guitar also at 0:53 seconds.
There is one difference between the melodies of the two songs, and that The Coldplay key is one note below the Satriani one. Also worth noting is that the melody in Coldplays version is played over and over, with no deviation, whereas that melody is only PART of the whole song in Satriani's version. So to say that Coldplays version has SOMETHING MORE in the melody is COMPLETELY FALSE, Joes song is much more complicated, beautiful, and just plain skillful. Joe is a guitar master, Chris admits he can barely play a note on the guitar, so to compare Joe and Chris is like comparing Beethoven with your sons piano performance (and yes, Chris is your son in this example).
If you try and claim that Coldplay is way more successful than Joe Satriani, that is because Coldplay is WAY more mainstream, and therefore gets more of an audience than Joe, as his music is more of a niche genre. Its like saying Britney Spears is better than Motzart, (and yes, again, Coldplay is Britney Spears).
So in closing, give Joe ALL the profits to the song, rename the song to 'If I could fly 2 - the simpler crappier version' and move on. -
I'm a very neutral person and so I'll try to show you guys here the situation from BOTH sides:
Mr Satriani: hearing of this whole plagiarism thing, I came across a few of his songs and I must say, I like them. He's a VERY talented guy and I don't know anyone else who can play the guitar like he does, so it might be true that he is a lengend already. His playing fascinates me, since I'm trying to learn to play the guitar on my own. I can understand how he feels. You write a song, YOUR song, and put so much WORK, so much TIME, and so much LOVE into it. And then you hear it on the radio or wherever and I would be surprised too.
Coldplay: they haven't been around a long time, and by the way, they became "big" with Viva La Vida or Death and all his Friend, they weren't "big" at all (I did hear of them some years ago but it wasn't something that I'd call "big", and believe me, I ususally hear of anybody who is supposed to be "big", and CP just weren't).
And they write their new album, putting a lot of WORK, TIME and LOVE into it. It's THEIR song they have written. And then they hear somebody claiming, it's not their song.
Well, I KNOW that it's possible that two (or, as there already are four) people create the same melody in their heads. It happened to me 5 years ago when I created a melody to a song I was working on (please, I was 13 that time...). A few weeks later I was standing in the bathroom listening to the radio and MY song came up - it was Michael Jacksons "Man in the Mirror", and I can tell you, I have never heard of that guy or his song that time, because that time I wasn't listening to music at all (due to a very...stupid thing somebody in my family did, so that I just said: "I hate music" x_X - fortunately I found back to music due to a band *hugs the five guys*).
So, it IS possible that two people write the same melody, with the same rhythm and notes, because mine was not only similar, it WAS almost Michael's song.
What I want to say by this: even if I can't imagine Chris Martin ripping off (why would he? And why NOW?), because this is so...not him, let's just SAY they ripped off:
They obviously added something to the melody that made it become a world hit. Now, this LITTLE SOMETHING is the reason, why I think, Mr. Satriani went a little bit too far.
If he had his song for so many years, why did nobody hear of it? Because this LITTLE SOMETHING is missing. He wrote HIS song, and Coldplay wrote THEIR song, and obviously they are extremely similar, no question, but they are also a lot different. Why? Because of this LITTLE SOMETHING (oh god, I feel so stupid saing that the 3rd time xD).
Satriani's work didn't end up in a worldwide known song about a King, but Coldplay's did, because, let's say it like this to make the understanding easier: they made THEIR version of the song, which was, obviously, just better than Mr. Satriani's one (and I mean better in the respect of success;)).
I can't say that Coldplay didn't rip Mr. Satriani off, nor I can say they really did, no one will. And that's why I think this whole discussion is so senseless, because nobody will ever find out - exept they attach Mr. Martin to a lie detection software and ask him about Mr. Satriani's song.
I see both of them as great artist, everyone in their own way, and you just can't say: "He is better" or "They are better" because both of them are in their own, very different, way.
I still hope that a compromise will be found and that the lawsuit is not needed to take place, but in case, I wish both sides good luck, as I can understand both of them.
Love & Peace from Austria - sorry for my bad English ._.
PS.: Somebody named "Jimmy Valentine" posted here too (yes, I went through all the pages...) - I hope, it's not the JV from Maroon 5 lol -
Anyone who wants to put shit on Satch, is a wanker.I have followed he's career from the start.Got everything he's ever put out and seen countless interviews on him.Anyone who know's him or knows of him will say:apart from being one of the greatest inovative guitarist of the 20-21 century.He's shares all of his knowledge with the world.Taught just about anyone who's anyone.he is one of the most humble guys i seen,he always likes to have a laugh and have fun on tour and is very graceous and giving.
As for the song:other people have explained it here good enough for you dumb asses that dont think its a rip off.IT'S A NOTE FOR NOTE RIPOFF.Anyone who cant here that,muso or not,i'd go off to my G.P to get my hearing checked if i were you.
I just hope we here whats happens if it's settled out of court.
LONG LIVE SATCH -
Nice try with the "frances limon" by Enanitos Verdes bigbrova, but these two songs aren't anywhere near as similar as Satriani's and Cold Plays songs. The melody, chords and feel veers off right after the first chord change.
If you hear Frances Limon and If I Could Fly as the same song, then you're clearly too tone deaf to speak intelligently about the overwhelming similarities in the actual two songs in question.
The only thing I know for sure is that if Joe's song had come out after Viva La Vida, you can rest assured everybody would be calling it a direct rip off of Cold Play. -
JoeSatIsLiar, satriani will die couse you are not his fan anymore!!!
we who likes real music, know how is satriani's, vai's, petrucci's music and we as musicians and those who listen real music know that they have been influenced by some musicians and that is different to stealth music from some one else like martin did. -
All you stupid Satch heads download this song "frances limon"by Enanitos Verdes you can find it on you tube.Now Satch has the hide to sue coldplay!!!This song was recorded in 2003 and realeased in august 2004.Satch says it took him 10 years to write the song so he doesn't get sued buy this band.Joe I love you but you stuffed up here .Who REALLY copied who??? I rest my case.BOOM!!
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Rubbish! They didn't rip him off! Joe Satriani Ripped Cat Stevens Off!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De3lvudmOAw
Check that link!
Also they are common chords, I have no idea why Joe would be doing this! He must be a real prick, I'm no longer a fan!
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