Brian May ruminates on Coldplay-Satriani controversy

Brian May posted his two cents worth about the recent Coldplay-Joe Satriani controversy on his website, brianmay.com. May was candid in responding to fan inquiries as to whether he sides with Satriani, who has accused Coldplay of stealing the melody of his song "If I Could Fly" for their Grammy-nominated hit "Viva La Vida" earlier this year.

May's post read in part, "Quite a few people have asked me this question. Since I have the highest regard for both parties in the dispute, it's probably better for me not to have an opinion! To be honest, I just don't know... We are all influenced by the world around us, from childhood to the grave, the sounds, the experiences, the images, the news, and by what comes to us via our friends, people we encounter in the street; and, of course, music, which reaches our ears in all kinds of ways."

He added, "If anyone tells me they have no influences, I don't believe them. It's what we DO with these influences which counts... when any of us write a song, when the initial blast of inspiration comes into the head, I know all of us have a moment of wondering if we really did hear it before somewhere. Once we've bounced it off a few friends and they don't say something like 'Oh that sounds just like Slipknot's first album, track four,' we begin to have confidence that the thought really did arrive on the wings of angels, rather than a half-remembered snippet heard from our neighbor's alarm clock radio."

May went on to say, "If you do find out later that something you wrote is very similar to something that someone else wrote, there may be various explanations, one of which is that you BOTH got influenced by something previous to it all! I think, as a scientist, that it's very difficult to prove causality! Lawyers, of course, can prove almost anything, given enough money (or so I am told!!!)"

He closed by saying, "Whatever the official outcome of this, I'm certain there was no intention of plagiarism here -- it reminds me of the George Harrison case some years ago (in which he was found guilty of subconscious plagiarism for copying the Chiffons' 'He's So Fine,' on his song 'My Sweet Lord') which I think upset him very much. I will probably continue to regard this as another one of those unsolved Mysteries of Rock! Cheers, Bri."

Queen + Paul Rodgers' recent album The Cosmos Rocks peaked at Number 47 on The Billboard 200. The group will head out on a North American tour in the new year.