Yusuf Islam to Coldplay: We Cool!

It’s not such a wild world after all.

Coldplay’s hit single, “Viva La Vida,” has received much press coverage thanks to claims of plagiarism, but now the band can rest a little easier. Almost immediately after Coldplay released the Viva La Vida album, guitarist Joe Satriani claimed the song ripped off his 2004 instrumental track, “If I Could Fly,” going so far as to sue the band in a pending copyright infringement suit. Last month, Yusuf Islam claimed “Viva La Vida” resembled his song “Foreigner Suite,” written in 1973 when he went by the name of Cat Stevens.

Originally, Islam did not rule out legal action, but averted a direct answer, saying it all “depends on how well Satriani does.” But now, having taken some time to think it over, Islam is refusing to follow a similar route as Satriani. Speaking to the Daily Express, Islam said, “I stand by what I said, they did copy my song but I don’t think they did it on purpose. I have even copied myself without even knowing I have done it. I’ll write down what I think is a good melody and realize it’s the same as something I have already done.” Rather than delivering a suit to the band, Islam took a forgiving tone, commenting, “I’d love to sit down and have a cup of tea with them and let them know it’s okay. I don’t want them to think I am angry with them”

With his latest announcement, it appears that Islam has calmed since his 2002 suit against the Flaming Lips for copying his 1970 track “Father and Son” on the 2002 Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots track “Flight Test.” In that suit, the court eventually ordered Flaming Lips to split their royalties with Yusuf Islam.