Coldplay have posted a new Q and A with lead singer Chris Martin on their website, in which the high-singing Brit discusses the lawsuit brought against the band by Joe Satriani, who claims their single “Viva la Vida” rips off his instrumental “If I Could Fly.” The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens has also suggested that the melody comes from his “Foreigner Suite.” Chris Martin is unbowed.
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“Yeah, some people are suing us at the moment and although it was initially a bit depressing, now it’s become really inspiring,” Martin says. “You think, ‘Right, if everyone’s trying to take away our best song, then we’d better write 25 better ones.’ And so just at the point where I was thinking about getting fat and becoming complacent, I’ve been finding more inspiration. Now we’ve got more to prove than ever before.”
In the interview, Martin talks about his current fascination with Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska and Born in the USA, and R.E.M.’s Murmur. He also attempts to stave off future lawsuits, by linking to British indie dance act Delakota’s “The Rock”, which he says partly inspired their newest single, “Strawberry Swing”:
[Strawberry Swing is] Arguably the best song on the album.
That’s what I think! And we should also say that if you like that song you should listen to The Rock by Delakota. That song had this amazing backwards guitar loop going all the way through. And although Strawberry Swing doesn’t have that, the Delakota song was definitely inspirational.
Your move, entertainment lawyers.
i think coldplay has ripped off a lot of songs