So it seems that Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” has been plagiarized from guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani’s “If I Could Fly.”
“Satch” has filed suit against the members of Coldplay for copyright infringement, and I think that the suit has legs.
Listen to this youtube video that plays portions of both songs, then layers Coldplay’s vocals over Satch’s guitar.
Two things to note: the chord progression is the same and Coldplay’s rip-off is boring as hell.
Satch gets my support on this one because he’s right, a crazy guitarist, an excellent composer, and a fellow geek.
The Geek Whisperer 
I agree with both of your points…Coldplay’s is boring (though before I heard Satch’s, I thought it was OK).
And yes, he crazy.
I’ll take your word on the geek part.
Satch’s albums and song titles are filled with a myriad of sci-fi references. Most notably, his debut album “Surfing with the Alien” is a direct reference to Marvel Comic’s Silver Surfer. The album art is a depiction of the character: http://www.satriani.com/discography/Surfing_With_The_Alien/Surfing_With_The_Alien-legacy.jpg