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If it was a lesser artist who accused Coldplay of plagiarism, no one would mind. But no less than Joe Satriani is suing the band for allegedly copying some of the melody of his 2004 instrumental “If I Could Fly” for their Grammy nominated hit song “Viva La Vida”. Most of Coldplay’s fans probably do not know who Joe Satriani is, but to professional musicians Satriani is rock guitar’s living legend. Joe Satriani could not be dismissed as just another Creaky Boards.

A few months ago a video came out online, pointing out the similarities in a good portion of the melody of “If I Could Fly” and the chorus of “Viva La Vida”.  The video presents Satriani’s case in a very convincing manner. First, it lets you hear the chorus of “Viva La Vida” then the portion of “If I Could Fly” where Viva’s chorus allegedly was lifted. Anyone with a good ear will find very strong similarities between the two. But the video does not end there. After hearing the two songs separately, you will hear them played together in an overlap. It is a perfect fit, the chorus of “Viva La Vida” and a good part of “If I Could Fly” are identical, from the chord progression and the melody down to the tempo.

I am not saying that Coldplay is indeed guilty of plagiarism.  Probably Chris Martin, and whoever wrote the song with him, unconsciously copied Satriani’s melody. Every tune a person hears is tucked in his memory like any other experience he has. Those tunes are not forgotten, they remain in the subconscious and influence the artist’s creative process. It happened to some great artists before. Look at George Harrison and his song “My Sweet Lord”. It was an unconscious rip off of one of the songs of The Chiffons.

A rip off or not, I think “Viva La Vida” is one of Coldplay’s best songs. As to Joe Satriani, I have nothing more to say except that he is one of the best guitarists the world has produced and Coldplay’s guitarist,  Jonny Buckland is nothing compared to him.