Satriani feels "really hurt"
What makes the situation especially painful for Satriani is that If I Could Fly isn't just any song. It's a composition he'd been laboring over for well over 10 years before he recorded it.
Since If I Could Fly came out in 2004, Satriani has been gratified by the reaction it's received from his fans, many of whom have called it one of his most captivating songs.
"That was the intent all along," he says. "It was a love letter to my wife, Rubina – a simple, direct expression of feeling.
"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."
"This has been the weirdest thing I've ever been involved in," he says. "The media attention has been bizarre and surreal. I really can't explain how I've felt over the past day or two."
"I did everything I could to avoid a court case"
Satriani stresses that his motives are ruled by artistic purity and an overriding sense of right and wrong.
"Everybody's assumes I'm trying to go after these guys in Coldplay, as if I'm doing this with malice," he says "That's the furthest thing from my mind. I'm just doing what I need to do as an artist, to protect what's mine, to protect those feelings I put down in song.
"I did everything I could to avoid a court case with this situation. But Coldplay didn't want to talk about it. They just wanted this whole thing to go away. Maybe they figured this little guitar player guy will leave them alone after a while, I don't know.
"But we're talking about a piece of art that I created, and that's something I feel is important. I think everybody should feel that way."
o) and I hadn't heard it... its not exactly a 'greatest hit'.
