Cat Stevens: Coldplay Ripped HIM Off

Well, it's not exactly "Tea For the Tillerman" quality, but...

By Fred Mills

Cat Stevens, aka Yusuf Islam, is talking to the British press, an when that cat talks, folks listen. Specifically, he's accusing Coldplay of ripping off one of his songs - in fact, it's the much-maligned C-play tune "Viva La Vida" that's once again causing trouble.

Said the songwriter, "There's been this argument about Coldplay stealing this melody from Joe Satrianai, but, if you listen to it, it's mine! It's the ‘Foreigner Suite,' it is!" According to Britain's The Sun, Stevens "claims it incorporates ‘substantial original portions' of his song and is seeking ‘any and all profits' from the track."

Shit, by the time we're done with this there won't BE any profits - every songwriter on the planet, from Satch to Stevens to that nobody band called Creaky Boards will be getting a piece of the Chris Martin pie.

Stevens added that there's a plausible connection for all this too: he and Coldplay have in common mixing specialist Michael H. Brauer, who has worked with both artists.

Actually, this is all getting kinda ridiculous. If you have to rip off THREE different bands to create a song, by the time you're finished, it probably qualifies as an original composition!