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Did Coldplay rip off Satriani?

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#82
PBass101 said:
...You kind of just became my hero a little bit.
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Not mine. Insulting other people's artistic expression has never been something I've admired. I guess it's remotely humorous if it was tongue-in-cheek. The reasons I have little love-loss for Coldplay has nothing to do with their music. But if it comes out they really did intentionally do this, it'll seem a bit like vindication for all the other things I think about them.

What mostly bugs me now is what they're saying about Satch's music. It lacks originiality? Talk about adding insult to injury.
 
#84
You see, I'm not one of those people who thinks music has to be original either. I mean, truthfully how much of it is? Very, very little. What is most important to me is emotional expression and conviction. That can happen in an age old jazz standard. Doesn't matter. For them (or more likely, their lawyers) to feel the need to resort to this kind of thing makes them look very childish to me. Satch is more of a normal guy making the music he loves in the way he loves, even though he knows it's not designed for the masses. I respect that. Coldplay is the group that has publicists and PR/Image consultants to try and make them look "appealing and original", and to make sure they stay popular and in the limelight. The music aside, that part of what they do is all vanity, so for them to then turn around and insult Satch's musical expression is the lowest of all lows to me. I have no use for them.
 
#85
I just listened to the Satriani tune. I agree, the melodies and chord progressions are similar. I don't agree that Satch's music is widely heard to the point where one would reasonably assume Chris Martin had heard that tune.

It's also not an unlikely melody against the chord changes in either tune. There are certain notes that sound good over chords, and if Satch and Coldplay had managed to arrive upon a very similar or identical chord progression, which is not a stretch at all, their development of a similar melody is somewhat a function of musical mathematics.

I don't think it was purposeful.
 
#86
Eublet said:
You see, I'm not one of those people who thinks music has to be original either. I mean, truthfully how much of it is? Very, very little. What is most important to me is emotional expression and conviction. That can happen in an age old jazz standard. Doesn't matter. For them (or more likely, their lawyers) to feel the need to resort to this kind of thing makes them look very childish to me. Satch is more of a normal guy making the music he loves in the way he loves, even though he knows it's not designed for the masses. I respect that. Coldplay is the group that has publicists and PR/Image consultants to try and make them look "appealing and original", and to make sure they stay popular and in the limelight. The music aside, that part of what they do is all vanity, so for them to then turn around and insult Satch's musical expression is the lowest of all lows to me. I have no use for them.
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I concur.
 
#87
f'nar f'nar said:
A lot of people have been saying they are in the same key but I don't think they are, to the best of my knowledge Satch is in Bm whereas coldplay is in Fm. Both minor keys but not the same key.
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Maybe there was some key manipulation by the guy who did the YouTube overlay. I don't have the original tracks to compare. It's kind of the most irrelavent part of it anyway.


Nino Valenti said:
I saw a video on youtube that had both songs layered on top of each other and, IMO, they're the same song.
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Yup.
 
#88
This might be a bit off topic, but check out these two album covers. There was an article in a wide local newspaper when Coldplay's album was out regarding the similarities in both album covers... one is coldplay, the other is by a very popular argentine artist, released in 1969... both albums have the same title...
Just like with the song, I don't think it was intentional, but definetely it seems a ripoff...
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#90
I have scrapped a song because the groove was identical to a black keys tune. i do not think i had ever heard of the keys let alone there music until a friend let me borrow their disc & i was amazed to hear the opening track start with my groove. amazed/disappointed whatever.
 
#91
I once wrote a song called Big-boobed Girl. I later heard the song Brown-Eyed Girl, and was shocked at how similar they were. So I scratched the song also, and now I just sing it to myself whenever the situation warrants.
 
#92
PinkFloydDan said:
The song wasn't widely distributed. Neither was the album.
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I guess you never heard of iTunes, Amazon, Napster ad infinitum.

PinkFloydDan said:
I cannot find it anywhere.
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Completely anecdotal but *hot DAMN*, what a COMPELLING argument! Maybe you can become a celebrity lawyer!

PinkFloydDan said:
And it is god awful.
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Excuse me as I pick up my jaw from the floor -- I'm stunned by this completely relevant argument. My god, the album was *awful* -- you can surely leverage this incredible legal knowledge into a career in law, or at the very least as an 'expert witness.'

Lol Dan, thanks for the good laugh. Seriously! :)
 
#93
I've never heard either song before...

I just checked out the youtube theory vid...here's what struck me

1) and this is IMPORTANT: The melody is familiar...it's not a melody that is unique to my ear... I've heard dozens of similar variations in other songs before... it's not dissident at all it's and follows the chord changes quite closely along the trail of roots and perfect intervals

2) the verse and choruses are EXTREMELY similar...


but I can't say for sure that Satch didn't rip off someone else (dozens of others) ...

hence, if I were judging on the lawsuit, I'd say this...

They are EXTREMELY similar, no doubt. However, given the familar/common nature of the phrases in question, I could not, in good conscience find for the plaintiff...

case dismissed :)
 
#94
PilbaraBass said:
I've never heard either song before...

I just checked out the youtube theory vid...here's what struck me

1) and this is IMPORTANT: The melody is familiar...it's not a melody that is unique to my ear... I've heard dozens of similar variations in other songs before... it's not dissident at all it's and follows the chord changes quite closely along the trail of roots and perfect intervals

2) the verse and choruses are EXTREMELY similar...


but I can't say for sure that Satch didn't rip off someone else (dozens of others) ...

hence, if I were judging on the lawsuit, I'd say this...

They are EXTREMELY similar, no doubt. However, given the familar/common nature of the phrases in question, I could not, in good conscience find for the plaintiff...

case dismissed :)
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This is where I'm at too. The choice of the melody over those chord changes is less than random, that melody makes sense. And it's a simple one, it's not like someone copied Flight of the Bumblebee.
 
#95
This thread reminds me of Invalid Link Removed article I read a few years ago. It talks about the 6-4-1-5 chord progression and its prevalence in popular music in the last few decades. Viva La Vida does not use this progression, but the article does indirectly explain how you could end up with songs that sort of sound the same.
 
#99
Funny how you can't find the album PinkFloydDan and yet I went down to my local JB HIFI (music store) this morning and found no less than 5 copies of the Satch CD, one of which I bought out of sheer impulse.

Sorry Dan but, no offence, you're arguments are thin, not very compelling and completely ignorant of how the legal system operates.
 
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