Coldplay Drummer Responds to Plagiarism Accusations
It seems everyone and their mother thinks that the Coldplay song “Viva la Vida” resembles a song they’ve written themselves, and so with a plagiarism lawsuit already filed by Joe Satriani, and the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens rubbing his hands together in anticipation over the outcome of the case, Coldplay can do little more than defend themselves verbally.
Will Champion, the band’s drummer, spoke to HamptonRoads.com recently, and during the interviewer the musician spoke out against the most recent claims of plagiarism made by Cat Stevens, or Yusuf Islam, the singer-songwriter now refers to himself.
“It’s tough when people accuse you of stealing something when you know that you didn’t,” Champion says. “So, we accept that it’s part of the territory and know it is only for some reason, God only knows why, the successful songs that seem to be the ones are accused of being stolen. So, you go figure it out.”
Similarities, according to both Champion and the article’s interviewer, can be found among many songs if only you listen for them.
The drummer pondered: “There are elements of our music that I’ve heard in other people’s music but it’s kind of… I don’t know. There are only eight notes in an octave and no one owns them. And there are probably about 12,000 songs that feature the exact same chord progression. I think it lies on an intent to steal, which we certainly have never done and never would.”
Coldplay maintains no wrongdoing, and due to the rather generic nature of their work, it’s likely that this song sounds like many others out there.
Be the first to give your opinion on this story!