Are Coldplay Big Fakers???
Filed under: Music Minute > ColdplayFolk rock legend turned devout follower of Islam, Cat Stevens, is claiming Coldplay ripped off one of his tunes!
Stevens, who now goes by Yusuf Islam, thinks Chris Martin & Co.'s Viva La Vida was heavily 'inspired' by his 1973 song, Foreigner Suite.
"If you listen to it, it's mine! It's the Foreigner Suite it is!" claimed Stevens about the popular Coldplay song.
Although Cat isn't seeking any sort of monetary compensation, he wants the credit (he thinks) he deserves!
What do U think????
Check it out above!
Sure, it sounds similar, but we think it's a freaky coincidence more than anything!
This is the SECOND person to accuse Coldplay of plagiarizing. Both claim Viva La Vida is the offending song!
Posted: May 5, 2009 at 3:15 pm
um…these songs BARELY kindasortaslightly resemble each other. They BARELY kindasorta have the same chord progression, other than that i see no similarity.
he isnt suing because it ISNT similar. it has the same type of jingle to it but they are totally different songs. totally. this is bogus.
WRONG!!! This is the THIRD person to accuse Coldplay… Luv it! Coldplay suck and they should be soon forgotten!
Are you kidding? They sound nothing alike. Cat Stevens is amazing and has had much success on his own….why is he making accusations? Annoyed.
coldplay Vs. Cat stevens-wow- and i thought Hasselbach vs. Rossie was lame.Pleaseeeeeeeeeee-NEXT!
Hmmm, while I love Coldplay and Cat Stevens.. I can only hear a few similiar notes in there. Why is everyone saying Viva la Vida is stolen from them?? lol
uhm, doesnt sound like it at ALL! p.s coldplay doesnt suck, they are awesome!
errr…really?
WAY more than the second person. For years now I've been seeing videos from angry artists who saw Chris Martin in their shows one night, and heard their songs on the radio the next. He is the Robin Williams of music. A complete hackery.
Totally not bogus! The chorus is very similar. Coldplay blows that can't come up with anything new. Who else is coming out?
nope!! i dont hear it!!
Obviously some songs are going to sound the same… there are only so many musical notes!!
basically its a melody that sounds like a lot of shit. i will love cat stevens forever more than coldplay. coldplay wishes they were radiohead.
Umm… that would be a big fat NO. Not even close.
sounds pretty close to me. I went back a few times and it was not hard to spot. Looks like coldplay "borrowed" something…
THIS SOUNDS NOTHING ALIKE..
cold play has copied sooo many people.. If you listen to Kraftwerk, computer love. You'll hear clocks, they are such a rip off
It is clear they heard a melody and then ripped it off…
no wonder his fugly 'goop' gwenyth & beyowulf are such tight friends.
i bet there's so much adoration in that 'den o' thieves'.
fuggin shame!
********************
"you know how i know you're gay…you listen to coldplay."
stupid. Viva la vida is not a rip off, coldplay are awsome. And this video is shit. the songs barely resemble eachother. LAME
They BARELY sound the same.
We all know coldplay sucks for a long time.
are they fucking serious?
that other song sounds NOTHING like Viva La Vida!
are these people seriously trying to sued their way back into the lime light?
that other guy that sued them, now those songs were very similar but this?
get the fuck out of here.
So should Cat be talking to Joe Satriani as well?
NOpe - not similar really at all… All songs have the same notes in them for the most part - However, it is all about the way those notes are arranged - and these are not arranged anything alike… Sorry Cat - you got nothin' and I am not even really a Coldplay fan…
like duh! i wrote that song wayyy back before them! >.
Okay! Its not the same song and get over it already. Sure there are song that have almost the same tune but its not the same bloody song with lyrics and all. I'm fed up already with this crap and leave my Coldplay alone!
ARE YOU SERIOUSE!!!!
WFT
THERE SOOOOOO NOT THE SAME…… LOL
GO COLDPLAY =)
CHRIS IS A TRUE MUSICIAN HE WOULD NEVER "plagiarizing"
Re: YooMegs – YES! Kraftwerk! That totally just made my day.
Um yeah! That's a total rip off. They just picked up the tempo.
chris martin wishes he was thom yorke
Negative. I don't hear it and I've always been good at spotting things like this.
hmmm.. I really admire Cat Stevens and I don't think he would make this accusation unless he tuly felt that Colplay has copied his work. I can barely hear the similarity as the songs are so differnet in rythm, however, I suppose if you are musician you can note the same notes etc.
Joe Satriani has a much stronger case, IMHO. Outside of some cosmic coincidence, it would be hard to believe that Coldplay was not influenced by Satriani's song. Can't say the same for the Steven's song, but at least he isn't asking for money–just wants Coldplay to stop being such assholes and give credit where it's due.
7 notes, just 7 notes in a scale, thousands upon thousands of songs. of course songs are going to sound familiar and it is not on purpose.l
whether they ripped off joe satriani (whose melody sounded exactly like VLV) or cat stevens… i think the point is… the world is finally recognizing that coldplay… are… not… original.
Re: YooMegs – Yes, they took that riff from Kraftwerk, but they give them credit on the album… they paid for the rights to use that beat.
and actually perez, this is the third time the band has been accused. watch the clip on yahoo.
Sort of. If you are really reaching, and I mean reaching behind the fat lady and over the tall man.
Maybe Cat Stevens should clean his ear more often…..they don't sound alike at all.
must be running out of song idea funny ha i dont listen to them…ha
I love Cat Stevens music, and I think that Viva La Vida sounds nothing like it. People need to stop causing drama over chords in songs. Everyone rips everyone off at some point anyways. No idea is new anymore.
Cat Stevens is nuts.
Not even close. It's not like this melody is unusual or unique…it's simple and pretty, and I'm sure there are a ton of other songs that share it.
this guy is smoking crack. sounds nothing alike
Don't sound alike to me.
I hear a very slight resemblance in part of the song, but not enough to say it was copied. Cat Stevens must be hard up for publicity–his best years are behind him.
I'm siding with Cat. Those definitely sound similar. I doubt Coldplay deliberately tried to rip him off - Viva la Vida is just one of those songs that sounds familiar.
whos next cindy lauper. these songs sound a tiny bit similar in the beginning.
if this song wasnt a hit then nobody would be claiming shit.
as much as i loveee cat stevens, i think this is more of a freaky coincidence. i love coldlplay too but cat stevens is SO classic
so why doesn't cat stevens sue joe sitriani or the other way around, this obviously shows they both just want money from coldplay because they are popular right now!!!
Ok, Viva la Vida has 4 chords. A 3 year old could come up with that progression.
Yes, the songs sound similar, but Cat Stevens should just get off their tip if he thinks he can claim such a simple melody.
I like Foreigner Suite better, Coldplay is SOOOOO overrated.
yer the rhythm of the two songs is kind of similar but thats it.. viva la vida is a much stronger song.
thats dumb. they don't even sound alike!
it does not sound the same. The only comparison is that the coldplay song is waaaay better!!
cold play sucks!!!!!!!
They may sort of have some similar sounds in them but come on…music has been around a very long time and by now every combination has been played out in some fashion or other, WE are bound to have a few songs that resemble one another on occasion…This barely even merits a blink….
what? they don't even sound similar.
god, viva la vida is a fucking good song.
and lets just leave it at that.
I don't think they sound anything alike . . .freaky music people . . .
uhhh no.
hahah you cant be serious,
i dont see how they sound similar.
maybe its my blond roots,
but i dont see it. there both very different songs.
its not at all a coincidence, it is totally a rip.
ummm….no?
i dont hear it..
There's a third band on youtube accusing Coldplay of plagiarism, and there's sounds the most like Coldplay's lame ass song. I was offended when Coldplay wore those fake Sgt. Pepper's outfits and then went up to Sir Paul McCartney and said, "Sorry we copied you." What assholes! I saw them live at Coachella a few years ago, and they sucked hard!
i dont hear any similarities at all
NO WAY! Cat's crazy!!!
It has some similar notes but they are totally different, I think islam is playing brain games with Stevens
Coldplay TOTALLY ripped it off…they SUCK!!
Well, if anything, this just strengthens Coldplay's argument that Joe Satriani's song is "unoriginal."
Thanks Cat Stevens for helping Coldplay's case against Satriani! *thumbs up*
i dont hear the similarities
ummm.. NOT!
DON'T MESS WITH COLDPLAY
actually this is the THIRD claim on the same song (and Indy band did and the video on youtube blew up) — I think so many claims help favor Coldplay's innocence. It's a nice melodic tune that almost any musician could come up with - apparently FOUR HAVE so far. Coincidence, for sure.
not so much
Coldplay SUCK, especially that lead singer HEAVE! Their music is over-hyped bullshit. Cat stevens is a million times more talented.
this just shows how terrible coldplay is.
what a terrible band.
they don't even sound remotely similar ! :L
It does sound similar. Coldplay just upped the tempo. I think they've been accused more than 3 times, there must be a reason.
Eh, not so much. I don't think Mr. Stevens has a very solid case.
Well it worked for the The Chiffons "He's so fine" against George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord'
Cat isn't chasing cash though
Can't believe noone here can here the similarity, few too many Coldplay devotees methinks, can hear the same tune straight away !!
Cat Stevens is definitely the bigger talent (ever listened to his music from the 60s? He wrote "First Cut Is the Deepest"). I like his approach here: this song sounds like Foreigners' Suite but he doesn't expect any money, just a nod. Every song is derivative of other songs anyway!
Re: YooMegs – Re: YooMegs –
they mention kraftwerk on the cover sleeve, they paid them to use the hook. just sayin…
YES I FEEL SIMILAR BUT NOT THE SAME CHORD PROGRESSION. THERE IS ENOUGH DIFFERENCE FOR THEM TO NOT BE THE SAME. WORST WORST CASE, HE COULD CLAIM THEY SAMPLED HIS TUNE. BUT EVEN THAT IS SKETCHY BECAUSE IT'S NOT AN EXACT SAMPLING.
Just because Cat Stevens was kicked out of the US (in Sept. 2004) does NOT mean it's okay to steal his music. Copyright law says in determining whether one song infringes on another, it is common for courts to look to whether the "heart" of the song was taken. The heart of a song may be a memorable melody, or an identifiable 2-chord guitar riff or just a few words taken from the chorus. As a result, there is NO truth to the rumor that sampling less than 4 bars is OK. HELLO_____ COLDPLAY STOLE CAT STEVENS BEATS!!
fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1sssssssssssssssssst!!!!!
perez, u shuda played the other alleged rip-off tune as well…it was a lot closer
but coldplay's track is far superior to cat's and that nobody band's songs…cat stevens wrote some of the best music in history, but he shouldn't remind us of that shizzy tune
lmfao not even close!
Hey, it's not that uncommon.
Aren't you forgetting the fact that your beloved Girls Aloud blatantly plagerized Oasis..?
I wouldn't take that to court. They hardly sound alike
This sounds nothing alike- maybe a few piano notes in the background? The Joe Satriani song sounds a lot like it but Coldplay added to it and made it a much better song- or if they did it coincidentally it still sounds better the way Coldplay did it. There are tons of songs that sound the same. As long as it isn't almost exactly the same it should be alright.
creepy creepy thiefs
I'm not hearing it.
Lots of songs sound a little similar, that doesnt mean they're being ripped off.
I'm on COLPLAYS side—for this one AND the other one.
Leave them alone, haters!
They're good, they've been good, and they'll continue to be good.
Let it go.
A very small similarity is in there. I had to listen to the damn replay 4 times to hear it.
But that is like saying that because someone took 1/8 of the notes in one song and turned them into another, it's the same song. I'm sorry, but even as a musician, I can't support his claims of plagiarism.
Are you guys DEAF?????? There IS a similarity. And a great one at that.
Those two songs sound nothing alike. Leave Coldplay the fuck alone.
its called a Muslim
They don't sound anything alike. Not even close. And please tell me why no fuss is ever made when craptastic "hip hop / R&B" performers blatantly rip off other people's work?
No deal!
Leave it to a dumbass Muslim to claim credit for someone else's work. Steven's music was good until he converted to Islam, then it went downhill quickly! When it was discovered he was supporting terrorists groups with his money his sales have declined significantly.
Not even… cold play is way better