Music
We hope Coldplay plays some of these classic songs at the Super Bowl (with Beyonce and Bruno Mars).
Coldplay turns 20 this year. There is no reason to think they are going away any time soon. Coldplay is forever.
Coldplay is like the TV show "Friends." Safe, immortal. The band, helmed by the amazing Chris Martin, specializes in coupling contagious melodies with particular tales of love and loss and hope and joy that feel universal. They burst into the world with "Yellow," back in 2000, and they've been bursting even bigger and even brighter ever since, crafting songs that make people like Monica, Chandler, Ross, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel and even Richard Burke cry their eyes out.
"A Head Full of Dreams," the British band's seventh album, was released in December of 2015. It might not have been a huge smash like their previous records, such as Grammy Award winners "Parachutes" and "A Rush of Blood to the Head," but Coldplay remains one of the biggest pop bands in the world.
That's why, on Feb. 7, Coldplay is playing the Super Bowl 50 halftime show, the perfect way to spend the break between the matchup of the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. (Martin and the boys are supposed to be joined at the Bowl by Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, so that's perfect too.)
To prepare for the big game, and in celebration of all things Coldplay, we took a close listen to the band's discography and put together a list of their 10 best songs.
10. “Magic”
This lead single from 2014’s “Ghost Stories” album is light and airy, like many of the best Coldplay songs. But it thumps, too. There’s a hard beat and Chris Martin sounds more soulful than usual as he sings about how the best love is the kind of love that feels like magic.
9. “Hurts Like Heaven”
This tune from 2012’s “Mylo Xyloto” shows Martin and the band in total joy mode, which is rare for Coldplay. It’s playful and energetic and, when it came out, critics rightfully compared it to LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” for it’s anthemic strut.
8. “Strawberry Swing”
Remember when Frank Ocean covered this song on his “Nostalgia, Ultra” mixtape and transformed a basic nostalgic love song into a song about the apocalypse and spaceships? If not, you should go listen to that after listening to the original version from Coldplay’s 2008 album, “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.” It’s uplifting such that you can almost feel yourself swinging, suspended in midair, nibbling on strawberries, while listening.
7. “Speed of Sound”
This massive single from 2005’s “X&Y” album was nominated for two Grammys and won none. Tragic. But the song was literally inescapable when it came out, which makes sense, because it was the perfect musical accompaniment to a ball game, a haircut, a trip to the grocery store, a bubble bath, you name it.
6. “Shiver”
This single from “Parachutes,” Coldplay’s debut album, shows the band rocking harder than they have ever rocked since. Seriously, dig those wild, distorted electric guitars, because it's an uncommon sound on Planet Coldplay.
5. “The Scientist”
Love is hard and Martin knows this more than maybe anyone else in the world. “The Scientist,” from 2002’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” is one of those Coldplay songs you just want to sob to when loves gets too hard. Science, like love, is too hard, get it? Love is literally rocket science. “Nobody said it was easy.”
4. “Yellow”
It has been 16 years since “Yellow” came out and still nobody knows what the heck Martin is singing about. His absolute all-time favorite color? Yellow. He loves the stuff. All. Yellow. Everything. OK, so we don’t know what’s got the guy hooked on yellow, but 16 years later, the song still sounds so pretty.
3. “In My Place”
Another one of those Coldplay tunes — namely the Grammy-winning lead single from “A Rush of Blood to the Head” — that will make you want to sob your brains out. It’s about being lost, and being found, and how this perpetual back-and-forth-ness is built into the ontology of “my place.”
2. “Clocks”
This piano line will be with us forever. Inspiring — this song is like a motivational poster — it will help you through your darkest days and remind you that love is possible and that the world is beautiful. Clock's ticking and we’re all trying to make it home before it’s too late. What are you waiting for? Don’t just stand there. Go.
1. "Sparks"
A gorgeous, soft, dizzy, moonlit love song that sounds like what crawling through a world made of warm blankets probably feels like. The type of love that's a blazing, raging fire is great, but perhaps the only thing better is the sparks that come first. This song takes us back to those beginnings of love in a way few others do.