December 8, 2008

• Limits of Creativity?

  Does Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" sound like Joe Satriani's "If I Could Fly?"  Here's part of an explanatory article from the Chicago Tribune:

  "A day after hauling in seven Grammy nominations, the members of Coldplay should've been celebrating. Instead they were served with a copyright infringement lawsuit Thursday that claims they ripped off guitarist Joe Satriani to write one of their biggest hits, "Viva La Vida."
  
  The song, nominated Wednesday for song and record of the year by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, incorporates "substantial original portions" of Satriani's 2004 instrumental "If I Could Fly," according to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court."
  

   

   

  The overall melody does sound similar, although the style is very different.  I've never composed a song before, but it seems like it would be hard to come up with a new melody.  Is there a point where mankind has come up with so many melodies that there are no new ones to be composed?  I doubt if we've reached that point yet, but eventually, in a hundred years or so, won't we start recycling melodies and arranging them in different ways?     

  • 10:27 pm
  • 1 Comment