Coldplay is one of my favorite bands. It’s true that Chris Martin became even more famous when he married Gwyneth Paltrow (and gave odd names to their children), but I’ve adored him ever since I first heard Coldplay’s nearly flawless Parachutes album. Here are my top ten Coldplay songs:
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 10: “Yellow” from Coldplay’s Parachutes album. Such a sweet love song! This is the first Coldplay song most of us ever heard. And, boy, we heard so much of it, we may have decided that we hate “Yellow” (I prefer pink, personally). Give Coldplay’s “Yellow” another listen here. Now that I don’t hear this song fifty times a day on the radio, “Yellow” charms me all over again. I see the stars, and, yes, they’re shining for me! And they’re all yellow!
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 9: “Cemeteries of London” from Coldplay’s Viva La Vida album. This song snuck onto my top ten list very unexpectedly. I like Coldplay’s latest album, and I assumed “Viva La Vida” or “Lost!” would end up on this list, but “Cemeteries of London” really stood out when I was re-listening to Viva La Vida. “Singing la, la, la, la, eh…”-I’m swept away! Gorgeous! Listen to Coldplay’s “Cemeteries of London” here.
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 8: “Talk” from Coldplay’s X & Y album. Obviously, “Talk” is about a giant robot speaking in backwards English to Chris, Guy, Jon, and Will. Why are they wearing 3-D glasses? Let’s ignore the bizarre music video and just listen to this song. I absolutely love the main guitar riff. And you’d have to staple my mouth shut to stop me from singing along when Chris belts out “How do you fee-ee-ee-eel?” Honest communication is tough. Especially with robots who want to eat your spaceship. Listen to Coldplay’s “Talk” and watch the goofy music video here.
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 7: “The Scientist” from Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head album. Nobody said it was easy to listen to this song without crying your eyes out. “The Scientist” is about loss and regret, about wishing we had the power to go “back to the start.” But even scientists don’t have the power to turn back time. Nobody said it was easy…Where’s my Kleenex box? The music video for “The Scientist” is excellent, by the way. Watch and listen to Coldplay’s “The Scientist” here.
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 6: “White Shadows” from Coldplay’s X &Y; album. I wish I could convey just how cool I think this song is; words fail me! Please go listen to “White Shadows” here. I get goosebumps at this part, a little over two minutes into the song: “Maybe you get what you wanted / Maybe you stumbled upon it / Everything you ever wanted / In a permanent state.”
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 5: “Moses” from Coldplay’s Live 2003 album. “Moses” was my favorite Coldplay song for quite awhile. Like Moses had power over sea, this song has a power over me! I’ll always be a sucker for a good love song. I’m not usually a fan of live recordings, but Coldplay nailed this one. Beautiful guitar work. Listen to Coldplay’s “Moses” here.
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 4: “Trouble” from Coldplay’s Parachutes album. The ultimate “I’m sorry” song, “Trouble” is lovely and piercing, lyrically and musically exquisite. Whenever Chris Martin plays the piano, I melt. Maybe he can sing this song to Gwyneth when he leaves her to marry me: “Oh, I never meant to cause you trouble / Oh, I never meant to do you wrong.” Listen to “Trouble” and watch the video here.
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 3: “Don’t Panic” from Coldplay’s Parachutes album. Everyone who missed this song the first time around found it when it was included on the brilliant Garden State soundtrack. “Don’t Panic” takes my breath away every time I hear it (and I’ve heard it many, many times). Chris sings, “We live in a beautiful world / Yeah we do, yeah we do / We live in a beautiful world.” One thing’s for sure: this song is beautiful! Listen to “Don’t Panic” and watch the video here.
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 2: “Easy to Please” from Coldplay’s Brothers and Sisters. “Easy to Please” is the most haunting Coldplay song I’ve ever heard. It has a very stripped-down sound-whooshing ambient noise, reminiscent of Radiohead; gentle acoustic guitar; and a simple, sad piano melody that joins Chris just when you think this song can’t break your heart any more. Brace yourself, and click here to listen to Coldplay’s “Easy to Please.”
Top 10 Coldplay Songs, Number 1: “Clocks” from Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head album. And nothing else compares…and nothing else compares…to this perfect song. Chris is playing the piano again-he must know how much I love that. “Clocks” gives me goosebumps and chokes me up. If an evil music snob (the type of person who hates every popular, wildly successful band) held a gun to my head and told me I could keep only ONE Coldplay song out of my entire collection, “Clocks” is the song I would keep. Make sure your Kleenex box is handy, and listen to Coldplay’s “Clocks” here.
Please let me mention some other Coldplay songs that I dearly wanted to include on this top ten list: “Fix You” and “Speed of Sound” from Coldplay’s X & Y album, “Lost!” and “Viva La Vida” from Viva La Vida, and “Shiver” from Parachutes. I could easily swap numbers 8, 9 and 10 on my list with any of those songs. “For You” and “I Ran Away” are Coldplay B-sides worth seeking out.
Parachutes is my favorite Coldplay album, but I think all of their albums are great-I never find myself wanting to skip songs just so I can listen to all the big hits. Even the songs that aren’t hits are good. Coldplay’s albums and individual songs can be purchased at www.amazon.com, iTunes, and countless other music stores. My husband buys most of his CDs for $6.99 apiece (and free shipping) at www.yourmusic.com.
I’d love to hear what your top ten Coldplay songs are! Let me know in the comments section below.
Sources:
Dan Roth and his iPod (I’m lucky to be married to a man with an outstanding music collection!)
Music lyrics by Coldplay: Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin
http://www.youtube.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldplay
