The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 382

Number 382

Coldplay

"Yellow"

(2000)

................Genre: Brit Pop...............

Coldplay, for whatever they are, a bag of liquorice all-sorts. People either idolise them, tolerate them or chastise them as "non rockers" or non musicians. Which, in all honesty, is a bit harsh as they do play all their instruments, as in: guitar, rhythm guitar, bass and drums. But i guess to them, not in a conventional way, as say, the Rolling Stones do. But in all honesty, Coldplay are better than just being [rapped] as a smooth pop band, they can rock just like the best of them and their last studio album [Viva La Vida] put away any of those thoughts to the "un" musician Nay-Sayer's. Personally, I like [Parachutes] as compared to Viva La Vida, just as much as I prefer Incubus's [Morning View 2001] as compared to the much heavier [A Crow Left Of Murder 2004]. Why bands feel they have to prove a heavier side musically always has me perplexed. I don't think I have ever heard Radiohead trying this.

At least you can never accuse the band Muse of tinkering with their sound radically .. as it is to hard to categorise in the first place and i don't mean that as an insult whatsoever.

Guess whats in this box Jack?

The Br it-rock quartet Coldplay are Chris Martin (vocals), Jon Buckland (guitar), Will Champion (drums), and Guy Berryman (bass). Forming at the University College of London in early 1998, Coldplay are heart-rendering like Travis, passionate like Jeff Buckley, and as fresh as Oasis when they first burst onto the scene in 1994. Coldplay independently released The Safety EP in 1998, with the Brothers and Sisters EP being picked up by Fierce Panda and released a year later. Both releases saw only 500 pressings. Their sweet melodies and swooning lyrics landed Coldplay a UK deal with Parlophone in April 1999, and the limited edition five-track 'The Blue Room EP followed that fall. With endearing nods from the media, the dream-pop foursome were hailed as the next Travis thanks to their simplistic acoustics and charming personas. Two more EPs, Shiver and Yellow, arrived in spring 2000. Their full-length debut Parachutes, which earned the band a Mercury Music Prize nomination, was released in the UK shortly thereafter. In November 2000, Parachutes saw a US release with Nettwerk; a month later "Yellow" was chosen as the theme song for all promo spots for ABC. The well-received hype surrounding the band continued throughout 2001 as well, taking on three Brit Awards nominations and a sold out ten date tour of the U.S. in February. To date, Coldplay have sold over 50 million albums. ~ [Source: MacKenzie Wilson]

Yellow [yellow?]

It's ah .... it's ah ... It's ah

"Yellow" was written in a Rockfield studio in Wales called the Quadrangle, where Coldplay began working on their debut album, Parachutes. One night after finishing recording "Shiver", the lead single of the album, the band took a break and went out of the studio. Outside, there were few lights on and the stars in the sky were visible and "just amazing", according to the song's co-producer, Ken Nelson. He told the band to look at the stars; the band did, and feeling generally inspired the song's main melody, consisting of a chord pattern, popped into the head of Chris Martin, the band's vocalist. At first, Martin did not take it seriously "as he relayed the tune to the rest of the band in his worst Neil Young impersonation voice". Martin has said, "The song had the word 'stars' and that seemed like a word you should sing in a Neil Young voice." The melody "started off a lot slower" according to Will Champion, the band's drummer, and sounded like a Neil Young song. Not long after, despite not taking the song seriously, Martin's idea worked out when he had developed the tempo of the verse. When Jonny Buckland, the band's guitarist, started playing it and supplemented it with his ideas, they had created the riff, "and it sort of got a bit heavier".
serious munchies!

While composing the song's lyrics, however, Martin could not find the right words. He was thinking of a specific word, which he deemed a missing key word in the lyrics, to fit the song's concept. He looked around the studio and found the telephone directory Yellow Pages, which happened to be situated nearest to him. Martin later titled the song "Yellow" as a reference to the directory. But according to him, "In an alternate universe, this song could be called 'Playboy.'" The lyrics progressed from there with the band collaborating. The band's bassist Guy Berryman came up with the opening line "Look at the stars". That night, having quickly composed the song, the band recorded it. The music video for "Yellow" was filmed at Studland Bay in the county of Dorset, South West England. The video is minimalistic, featuring only Martin singing the song as he walks along the beach. He is wearing a raincoat with his hair wet, suggesting that it had just rained. The video is one continuous shot with no cuts. The entire sequence is in slow motion.

Coldplay have already been anointed heir to the Brit-rock throne." The song has since been regarded as the centerpiece track on the album. "Yellow" has inspired British singer Liam Gallagher of the rock band Oasis, as he has told Coldplay, to write songs again. Following the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, "Yellow" was the first video played on MTV once normal programming resumed. ..... more ~ [Source: Wikipedia]

For more Coldplay see Number 769

For Travis see Number 523

For Jeff Buckley see MM Vol 2 #125

For Oasis see Number 574

For Neil Young see Number 391, #417, #479, #677 & #938

For Rolling Stones see Number 396, #689, #767

And so, what does RS think?

Who will be the next Radiohead? Or the next Verve, or Travis? In England, the answer on everyone's lips is Coldplay. On its debut album, Parachutes, this youthful quartet resembles each of the above bands. Coldplay make straight-ahead, melodic Brit pop that strives for significance with a capital s, even as it has a hard time shaking its influences -- you can also hear the ethereal guitar chime of U2, a bit of Dave Matthews' breathy folk implosion, even a misting of Roger Waters-era Pink Floyd. More than anyone, however, the ghost of Jeff Buckley lingers here, as the go-anywhere falsetto on songs like "Shiver" demonstrates. Parachutes ultimately rises above its influences to become a work of real transcendence: On songs like the unrepentantly romantic "Yellow," the band creates a hypnotic slo-mo otherworld where spirit rules supreme. When frontman Chris Martin moans about "skin and bones/Turning to something beautiful," he could very well be talking about his own band. ~ [Source: Rolling Stone]

For Radiohead see Number 415, #641, MM Vol 1 #137

For Verve see Number 462

For U2 see Number 661, MM Vol 1 #038, MM Vol 1 #129

For Dave Matthews see MM Vol 1 #066

For Folk Implosion see Number 900

For Pink Floyd see Number 497, MM Vol 1 #138

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '382nd Song of all Time' was "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve. The Verve have appeared in The Definitive 1000 @ #462

Other songs with reference to Coldplay #428, #462, #601, #640, #672, #712

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (We have no idea who you're all talking about!) and the Album ranked at (No wait ... we don't know what we are talking about)

This song has a Definitive 1000 rating of 79.5 out of 108