The Magic of Coldplay
Their heart, humanity, and celebration of life
They are, globally, the most listened-to band of the 21st Century and one of the most successful musical acts of all time. We can look at their 100 million albums sold, their nine songs with more than one billion listens on Spotify, and the similar number of songs with more than one billion views on YouTube.
And for me personally, Coldplay rivals Peter Gabriel and Enya for the number of songs I find personally meaningful and listen to regularly. (With OneRepublic and Alicia Keys close behind, forming my Big Five.)
Coldplay’s genius is found primarily in the moods they convey. Often in one song, the band conveys our angst, fear, doubt, confusion, isolation, loss, pain, sadness, or longing and conveys our hope, positivity, gratitude, happiness, joy, human connectedness, and even transcendence.
And that, fundamentally, is the band’s message. “Everything that happens to you is okay,” says frontman and lead singer Chris Martin. “Accept the negative with the positive. Every feeling that you have (is) a gift. Self-doubt and depression, as well as all the joyful feelings, are all useful if you can harness them.”
Through the darkness, the band is telling us, keep communicating and connecting and uniting with other people, stay inspired and resilient, continue to follow your passion, and never strop pursuing your dreams. The band wears their heart on their sleeve — and Coldplay’s soulful, tender, vulnerable and yet vibrant and celebratory vibe soothes us even as it renews or even deepens our love of life.
Most of us find that Coldplay speaks directly to our heart and feeds our soul. They can pull us out of a depressed state. They can kill off the pain. They can change our thinking, mood, and outlook for the day. Again and again, their songs reach us as some kind of heavenly breeze, reminding us that the world is a good place to live in and that we can make it even better. They open us to life’s beauty, happiness, and joy and guide us into celebrating that we are alive. That is the Coldplay magic.
So it’d be an understatement to say that I deeply appreciate the band members, all four of whom are named the songwriters for every Coldplay song: vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland (whose riffs generate the atmospherics, texture, mood, and emotional depth of many of the songs), bassist Guy Berryman (laying the rhythmic foundation of many of the songs), and percussionist and backup vocalist Will Champion (best known for supporting each song by letting it breathe or making it thunder, or both).
And the earnest and humane vibe of these four guys is more than a vibe. Most of us also admire their commitment to human rights, poverty alleviation, migrant aid, cancer immunity efforts, and ocean cleanup (especially the cleanup of plastics), among other causes.
I’m going to look at 14 great songs by Coldplay, but I regard 23 of their songs as great.
There are five songs that are exclusively love songs — five of the most popular love songs of the 21st Century: “Yellow”, “The Scientist”, “Sparks”, “My Universe” with BTS, and “Something Just Like This” with the Chainsmokers.
There is the great dance song “Higher Power”. And there are the three songs that double as great dance songs and highly popular love songs: “Adventure of a Lifetime”, “Hymn for the Weekend”, and “A Sky Full of Stars”.
However, not everyone enjoys dancing. And love songs are for two people to sing to each other. So, as with my assessments of all other musicians, I am setting aside the dance and love songs and counting the exceptional songs that are for all of us. I’ll focus here on the other 14 great Coldplay songs.
(I include “Fix You” because while it is a beautiful love song — and usually thought of as the desire to help heal a lover after they’ve suffered a bad experience — the lyrics don’t limit it to an intimate partner. It could be the promise of healing with a close friend or a close relative — a sister, a brother, a cousin.)
I’ve decided not to create a playlist for these songs. Here are the 14, which I do my best to rank from 14 to 1:
“One World”
A moving new song from 2024, this anthem opens our mind and heart to the wonder of the cosmos and the light that unites humanity and can bring healing and peace to the world.
“Speed of Sound”
This 2005 alternative rock song has 242 million views on YouTube. Martin calls it “kind of a Kate Bush song about miracles”, but Martin no longer likes the song and the band rarely plays it. It’s a great song about being uncertain in life but choosing to keep discovering and growing and tasting all that life has to offer before it slips away.
“A Head Full of Dreams”
Hey, hey, it’s a big, bright, beautiful world — open your heart and mind, celebrate life, feel the wonder, feel new inspiration and passion, and feel a vibrant and euphoric sense of freedom. This soaring 2015 anthem is the height of the band’s positivity.
“Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall”
With 240 million views on YouTube, this uplifting 2011 arena rock anthem puts a smile on our face, sends our heart soaring, and reminds us how exceptional we are. The song’s energy, happiness, and bliss guide us to stay hopeful and inspired and strong and resilient, to keep going, and to persevere.
“Paradise”
Written by the four bandmates and Brian Eno, this beautiful and expansive 2011 anthem with 1.9 billion views on YouTube is about struggle and despair and the longing to escape and have a better life and about thinking positively, fighting for your dreams, and never giving up.
“Atlas”
An alternative rock song written for the 2013 Hunger Games movie Catching Fire, this ballad has an anthem-like quality and almost-orchestral arrangement. This evocative and soaring song carries us into an inspired, empowered space. It’s a song of grandeur and glory that is somehow an intimate emotional journey. With its power and depth and its rich, expansive sound, “Atlas” stirs us to commit to survive, to endure every burden, to sacrifice, and to exhibit all the strength demanded of us to carry out our heaviest responsibilities in the epic adventures of our life.
“Miracles”
Written for the movie Unbroken about an American prisoner of war hero in World War II, this poignant and inspiring 2014 pop rock ballad is about the strength, determination, and resilience we need to meet and overcome adversity and hardship. And with Chris Martin floating above the world and hearing angels, it’s a spiritual song too.
“We Pray”
A second spiritual song. This epic 2024 alternative hip-hop anthem brings spiritually-inclined people together across our faiths and cultures. It’s a wonderful life-affirming hymn about adversity, about our fears and our hopes, and about uniting together in spiritual love and Divine Light.
“Up&Up”
With 235 million views on YouTube, this 2015 anthem motivates us to know that our time to shine will come, to take on more in life, and to rise above every challenge. It’s all about an inspired life of growth, transcendence, and reaching new heights. And it’s a magnificent music video — one of the best music videos of all time.
“Talk”
Berryman doesn’t like this 2005 song, so the band stopped playing it. But it’s a beautiful song about being vulnerable and confused and frustrated and filled with self-doubt, struggling to decode life’s messages, and yearning for communication. It’s about reaching out to that one person we can trust and fall back on — a brother, in the song — so that we can hear clarifying answers that will help us make sense of things, discover the missing pieces, find the meaning in life, and navigate our way forward.
“Viva la Vida”
This 2008 baroque pop / orchestral pop song has 2.5 billion listens on Spotify and 950 million views on YouTube. This song (technically about a king) is a poetic and majestic journey about a downfall from prior status, about loss, and about keeping our spirits up even if our life seems sad and no matter how much stuff we have to put up with every day.
“Clocks”
One of the band’s signature songs, this 2002 alternative rock song has 1.1 billion listens on Spotify and 500 million views on YouTube. This timeless, bittersweet song reminds us of the fleeting nature of life and urges us to make the most of our time on Earth. It’s a song of emotional release, rebooting, and uplift.
“All My Love”
Chris Martin has called this 2024 soft alternative rock ballad “the final Coldplay single”. The simple song is a beautiful gift. It’s a sweet, charming, and earnest celebration of life and of close, caring relationships. The loved-up vibes can be about any loving relationship, including a friendship or family relationship. The video is a voyage through treasured cultural memories, as 99-year-old Dick Van Dyke’s bright and beaming eyes remind us of a life well lived and our yearning to live out our whole life from warm, joyful, and selfless love.
“Fix You”
This 2005 rock song has 1.6 billion listens on Spotify and 500 million views on YouTube. Martin wrote it for his wife Gwenyth Paltrow after her father died. It’s the ultimate song of empathy, support, comfort, solace, and healing after loss and in the midst of grief or despair. No matter how deep your brokenness, no matter how big your personal battle, no matter how screwed up things are, even when things come crashing down and you hit rock bottom, I will help you through and everything will be all right.
I like Coldplay too!