Feeling the need to react publicly to the allegations and legal claims that Joe Satriani has levied against the band, Coldplay posted an update on their website.

“If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental and just as surprising to us as to him,” the band said in a posting on its website. “Joe Satriani is a great musician but he did not write or have any influence on the song ‘Viva La Vida.’ We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavors.”

Meanwhile, Joe Satriani was being his usual emo self. “I felt like a dagger went right through my heart. It hurt so much,” Satriani says. “The second I heard it, I knew it was ‘If I Could Fly.’” He told Music Radar. “That’s what really hurts about this whole thing. That I spent so long writing the song, thinking about it, loving it, nursing it, and then finally recording it and standing on stages the world over playing it – and then somebody comes along and plays the exact same song and calls it their own.”

And then Chris Martin was interviewed by NME and said the melody is completely coincidental and that the song ["Viva La Vida"] came from “the middle of the night, on a piano. I just get embarrassed about having to talk about these things.” He also admitted feeling hurt by Satriani’s allegations, “I do feel a bit upset about it because I wrote the song. But, you know, these things happen. Whatever will be will be.”

All the squabbling aside, it will be interesting to hear what comes of the legal allegations. After all, even though the melodies are nearly identical there’s only so many ways you can arrange three chord pop songs. Too bad no one noticed the mash-up possibilities before this.

1. Not Again: Coldplay Now Accused By Cat Stevens Of Plagiarism
2. Coldplay To Stevens And Satriani: We Didn’t Copy You!
3. Coldplay In The Studio With Brian Eno But Not Chris Martin
4. Coldplay Accused Of Ripping Off “Viva La Vida”
5. Chris Martin Fought The Law & Chris Martin Won!