That's Entertainment : Coldplay
Look at the stars...look how they shine for you...
Yep...you know it. That nice little song called Yellow. Back in late 2000, I remember being up on the Gold Coast and watching Channel V and Yellow was introduced and the VJ said this song was going to become a 'classic'. Sure, I thought. Whatever. But it did make me sit up. Yellow? Oh come on, you know the one: Chris Martin strolling along a rainswept beach, pleading all doe-eyed to the camera. Nice song. Anyway. It was by a band called Coldplay, that no one had heard of. So when I got back to work at Borders, I furtively checked out Parachutes, the album off which it came. Not a bad album for a debut.
Within a couple of weeks, I loathed Yellow. Detested the sound of it. Parachutes was dumped out of my collection and of the XXX million copies of the album sold in Australia, I bet I shifted half of those to customers. Have you got that Yellow song? Which album is it on? What is that band who... blah blah blah blah blah. JUST RACK OFF!!! The song was over played and I was over it. I began to despise customers who asked me to sell them a copy.
A couple of years later I was in London and A Rush of Blood To The Head was coming out. I kid thee not....every single billboard, bus side, tube station wall, thoroughfare, shop window was plastered in the album cover and 'coming soon' with the release date. Great! I thought they'd crawled up their own jacksie and disappeared. Of course, Cold Feet was finishing up and they used one of the songs for the emotional death scene ending and it was played everywhere. And a band I liked - Royksopp - remixed Clocks and I loved it and then had to have therapy.
Chris Martin went on to marry Gwyneth Paltrow, become the face of a 1001 charitable causes and lead the Band Aid 3 Do They Know It's Christmas? in 2004. And it's not like he's not a nice bloke and all that...but he was everywhere. Doing nice things. Funny thing is, I could run into any of his three bandmates and (official 5th member - their manager) and not know it. They don't do drugs, don't booze and split everything 5 ways. They're nice guys.
Come 2005, the music industry was in its final throes. CDs were yesterdays fish and chip paper. The whole music biz hinged on Coldplay's 3rd platter X&Y. Of course they saved the world. And I needed more therapy after very much liking Speed of Sound. People like me don't go for 'nice' stuff like this.
Then of course, the sheer wankery of the title of their next album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends gave me more opportunity to scoff...until I heard the song Viva La Vida. Man...it was a great song. Those strings, the tune and the rising vocal. Then it was alleged they'd plagarised it. HA! I cried scornfully. But they played innocent, saying they were influenced by Joe Satriani, [who in turn was probably influenced by Cat Stevens] and never set out to 'copy' anything. It was just a case of listening to a song and sometime later playing the lick and thinking 'wow, what a cool lick...we are so on to something here!'. I actually defended Coldplay; as someone who is constantly 'influenced' by film, music and TV, it's sometimes easy enough to do. And they were so nice about it - contrite, apologetic, embarrassed.
Come 2011, Coldplay dropped Mylo Xyloto on the world. This really rankled the Coldplay fans. It sounded different, had a silly title and was a bit arty out there. Just my cup of tea. Rub against the grain and you become my friend. And it still sold bucket loads but how many white-bread Coldplay fans are little WTF? with the title.
Then one morning I'm watching rage and Hurts Like Heaven comes on. It's all anime and anti-authoritarian and anti-fascism, celebrating the individual and liberation of expression and art and all that. I found it to be intoxicating. Here's a mega-selling band sticking two fingers up. Well, I guess, finally I was won. And they're such nice lads. Listen to it. It's got a chugging beat, a lovely key line, slightly altered/vocoder vocal and an ethereal, almost dreamy feel.
Use your heart as a weapon, and it hurts like heaven.
So now, I like Coldplay.
One thing they taught me is sometimes it's good to be a nice person. Personally, I find it very hard. I'm too cynical but I try. Coldplay is teaching me how to be nice because the world needs nice people. You knows those people - and I know a lot of them: the ones who make you smile or laugh. The ones who take time out to say 'hello' or 'good morning' or ask if you want a coffee. The ones who rub against the grain by doing their own thing and nobody really notices. The ones who do go out of their way to help, to volunteer, to lend a hand to the less fortunate. Those people touch you and sometimes, you don't even realise. In the world we live in, sometimes I think it's the nice people who are the real revolutionaries - those little flickering lights lingering in those radiant smiles and gentle words - a light that can shine out like a beacon amid the dross and drab.
Sadly, for some of us, one of those nice people - one of those little flickers of light - passed away last week. Narelle McIntosh had been ill for some time and had worked for the bank and she was a friend to many. I knew Narelle from my Burwood days. She used to chat to me about Doctor Who, back when it was just coming back on TV, and Star Trek. I remember her coming to work on casual Friday in her Star Trek outfit with Vulcan ears and being a genuinely lovely, warm and giving lady who was always happy to help. Her illness probably made it inevitable. Narelle fought the hard fight and is to be commended. Now, she can rest in peace. The insidiousness that took her might have won, but in the end, Narelle was a star, and she shines on.
So this weekend, be nice to your loved ones, your friends or a stranger. Maybe just look at the stars...and see how they shine for you.
Yellow
Trouble
In My Place
Clocks
God Put A Smile On Your Face
The Scientist
Speed of Sound
The Hardest Part
Talk
Lost!
Viva La Vida
Violet Hill
Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
Paradise
Hurts Luke Heaven
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