The Coldplay Vida la Vida controversy gets curiouser by the day. Now Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) has commented on the similarities between the Grammy-winning Song of the Year and his own 1973 recording Foreigner Suite. Foreigner Suite is a twenty minute piece and the section in question is about sixteen minutes in.
Islam finds that Vida la Vida "definitely" sounds like his song. He is not taking any action now while he awaits the disposition of Joe Satriani's suit against Coldplay over the same song. Recall that Satriani sued Coldplay in December claiming that Vida la Vida infringes the copyright of his 2004 instrumental If I Could Fly.
Here's a You Tube clip comparing Vida la Vida and Foreigner Suite:
Coldplay drummer Will Champion has responded to Islam's charges with a denial, using the shopworn "there are only so many notes" arguement. Champion is correct in his claim that the fact that the album Vida la Vida was the best-selling album in the world in 2008 is not incidental in the plagiarism claims being made against the band.
Coldplay will probably have an easier time defending against potential legal action by Islam than they will fighting off Satriani. To my ears Vida La Vida sounds very similar to If I Could Fly while the connection with Foreigner Suite is not as pronounced.
Readers of Sounds Like Teen Spirit will recall that Stevens successfully sought publishing royalties for the Flaming Lips song Fight Test because of its similarities to his 1971 song Father and Son. More on that case in a future post.
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