Brooklyn Band to Coldplay: That's My Melody! Isn't It?

Let’s say you’re in a band, a struggling band, of course, that is happy simply to play a gig not in your mom’s garage. Let’s say you’re not exactly the most original band there ever was, no revolutions here. Let’s say in your lack of originality you lean towards a less epic version of Coldplay with a more pretentious name and a scruffier singer with the same pretty voice. It’s gonna be damn hard to make it when your Coldplay’s ugly duckling little brother, isn’t it? So you flip the situation, you make them your little brother (no, your band is not U2). How? YouTube!

Brooklyn-based band the Creaky Boards has accused Coldplay of stealing the melody to one of their songs via a passive-aggressive video on YouTube. In the clip offered below, Creaky Boards songwriter Andrew Hoepfner compares his band’s “The Song I Didn’t Write” and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.” Although the two songs do sound related, that is not enough for a solid accusation. Thinking himself quite smart, Hoepfner includes footage of the Creaky Boards performing their song at the CMJ Festival in New York last October. He also adds that he believes Chris Martin may have been in the crowd. Murky waters indeed!

Unfortunately for the brainy Brooklynites, Coldplay wrote and demoed “Viva La Vida” in March of last year. It seems your sucker punch has landed in your own groin, Andrew. Too bad lad. But to be honest, you don’t have much of a point. Elvis stole plenty of his early music according to the late Bo Diddley whose trademark beat is one of the most used in rock. And doesn’t Bon Jovi copy themselves on every song they make? Besides, Andrew, what are you really mad about? That Coldplay and Brian Eno stole your little melody or that you may never be more than that band that sounds like Coldplay? Don’t worry, these days, I’m sure that’s enough to get signed.