Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Two songs -- "Love Story" and "Viva la Vida" -- are getting a Utah musician a lot of national attention.
One day, Jon Schmidt and his daughter were listening to her favorite song, which is "Love Story" from Taylor Swift. She told him to put it on his next album, but as he played it he noticed something.
"I did a slight rhythm variation on Taylor Swift's melody, [and] it turned into the exact rhythm of the Coldplay song," Schmidt said. So, he mixed the two.
Schmidt says he spent 100 hours working on it and actually got numb to it. "When I posted it, I kind of wasn't sure if it was a good song, to tell you the truth," he said.
Well, with over 1 million views in roughly six weeks, Schmidt says it has become the second highest-rated music video of all time on YouTube. He says a lot of credit for the arrangement goes to Steven Sharp Nelson, who plays cello and the bass drum, at the same time mind you. Schmidt calls him a "cellist/kick-drummer."
Schmidt doesn't anticipate any roadblocks in putting this song on his next album. Coldplay's attorney has already given permission, and he says Taylor Swift's attorneys are close to doing the same. The album, Bonus Tracks, is expected to come out in August.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
