The Coldplay Trope

The idea for this post came to me while sleeping, I don't know if this will be anything.

I very much have a love/hate relationship with Coldplay. I love their first album and it's one of those albums that reminds me of an era. But from their first album onwards, I liked them less and less while they simultaneously became more and more popular and I've come to despise them (though I still enjoy that first album.) Same era and pattern in music as Dane Cook was for comedy.

That first album is Parachutes, and I've noticed a common pattern that happens over and over throughout the album. Over and over in the lyrics there are the words "singing," "calling," "saying" without any connection to the rest of the lyrics. And a large percentage of the time the word "singing" is followed by vocalization (lyricless singing) for example:  "sayin' ooooohhh, oooohhh". It's almost as a verbal aside, perhaps just for rhythm, like Michael Jackson's non-verbal sounds. As if they have extra syllables to fill and instead of coming up with lyrics it's easier to just add "singin' out" etc.

Here's the breakdown track-by-track:

1. Don't Panic - Nothing of note.
2. Shiver - "sing it" (3 times).
3. Spies - Nothing.
4. Sparks - "I say, oh" - (twice); "I said, oh"; "I cry, oh"; "sing it out <vocalization>."
5. Yellow - Nothing.
6. Trouble - "singin' that."
7. Parachutes - Nothing.
8. High Speed - Nothing.
9. We Never Change - Nothing.
10. Everything's Not Lost - "singin' out <vocalization>" (3 times)
11. Life is for Living (Hidden Track) - "sing <vocalization>" (3 times)

The pattern continues into the second album. "In My Place" - "sing it out"; "Clocks" - "singin'."

So that's it. Is this anything? I'm going to have to talk to my unconscious self, he just doesn't fit in anymore.

Tonight Show - Spit Takes and Space Rock

Each of these is like half a video so the two of them together warrant a post.

First up is the Point Pleasant Police Department sketch. Is there a more threadbare conceit for a comedy sketch anywhere? I don't know of one. But the "writer's strike" clip is a good wink to the audience that they know that we know.



Oh, hey look who it is, it's Coldplay! Life on Mars.



Today I learned that the piano player on the original Bowie version was none other than Rick Wakeman. Nice.

Apparently Coldplay once asked David Bowie if he would sing on one of their songs. Bowie turned them down saying the song wasn't very good.

Fix You (The Old Version)

I came across this performance a while back on tv and after I got past the initial "WTF?!" moment (really, I didn't ever get past that) I found it strangely affecting. I think I like it better than the Coldplay version in fact.

See it here.

Apparently this is a group that does regular concerts of all different types of music and this was supposed to be a duet but the other guy passed away.