Coldplay's Best Lyrics: Their Most Serious Lines

Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Another Coldplay album, another collection of songs with lyrics that could easily serve as self-empowerment mantras. Or painted on antique plates and sold on Etsy. Or, if we need a break from cynicism, further confirmation that Chris Martin has achieved a level of sincerity that we can always rely on.

Since the band's fourth album in 2008 Viva la Vida or Death and all his friends, Martin introduced established themes in his lyrics: birds, water, space, whatever it is Really means being human, man. This is all easy fodder for Coldplay critics, but aside from the fact that the approach clearly works on a commercial level, I'll boldly say: Martin's predictable anti-pessimism is actually pleasant. I'm going to make two more albums like this! Vanilla tastes good!

Sometimes it is like that simply good to hear a song about how one day you will persevere against haters, experience the magic of love and look at stars like Oscar Wilde. In honor of the recently released Coldplay MOON MUSIC, Let's take a look at some of Martin's most insanely heartfelt, hideously serious lines. As the man himself once sang, “Every siren is a symphony.”

Everyone aims

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain

I'll get back on my feet

Because I am a mountain

“iAAM” ticks a lot of Coldplay boxes – a track that reads like the declarative “I am,” a lyric about the sea, a defensive stance – while also sounding like something it was explicitly written to do Minecraft. Equating yourself to a mountain is quite bold; I'm pretty sure one of the most majestic structures on Earth doesn't care about humanity. (If anything, mountains probably hate us for all the trash we keep leaving on them.) Still, this mix of meteorological and geological references is assertive and hopeful. Has Martin thought about moving on? The summit?

And if you asked me

After all we've been through

“Do you still believe in magic?”

Oh yes, I do

Martin often portrays love as a mysterious transformation that defies the rules of reality. These lyrics are “Hallmark card that a husband took for his wife after forgetting their anniversary,” but it's still pretty charming. Doesn't everyone want to believe that their relationship contradicts the established laws of time and space? (Also, could someone please attend a magic show with Martin and record his reactions? This man would probably lose his mind at a simple sleight of hand and collapse in gratitude during such a show Prestigious-style scenario.)

Written with a felt-tip pen on a factory plate

“I struggle with the feeling that my life doesn’t belong to me”

It's so cold, it's so cold

It's so cold, it's so cold

Here Chris Martin plays a flimsy Bruce Springsteen cosplay and writes about the discontent of the working class. Given the overall sentiment, we have to include it, but “written in sharpie on a factory plate” is surprisingly vague. Is the sign In the factory? Is it a sign? for a factory? This is not your lead, my man.

Do you want to talk about it?

Oh, you'll get there eventually

Is something missing?

Is no one listening?

That's more like it. Existential loneliness, which reads like a therapist's call, is Martin's shine. Do you want to talk about it? Do you feel like something is missing? Do you think no one is listening? You're not alone! “How You See the World” has so many serious lines that it’s reminiscent of a Philip Jennings EST reunion.

Because when I think about it, my head just hurts

The things I shouldn't have done

But life is for living, we all know that

And I don't want to live it alone

Life Is to life, Chris. So true!

Give me time and give me space

Give me real, don't give me fake

Give me strength, keep control

Give me heart and give me soul

Viva la Vida or Death and all his friends That's when Coldplay started to really lean into self-help messaging, but the first signs were apparent as early as 2002 A rush of blood to the head. The album contained one of the band's definitive wistful love songs (“You don't know how lovely you are” in “The Scientist”), some early metaphorical waters (“Tides that I tried to swim against / Have brought me down upon my knees ” in “Clocks”) and a push to emphasize authenticity. What works so well about “Politics” is the way Martin ties together simple ideas in a way that feels defining. time and space; real, not fake; Heart and soul – these are all well-worn concepts, but in “Politics” they seem both new and insightful. Martin's ability to distill a seemingly obvious idea into an insightful and original thought will dominate the top half of this list.

The verdict of this court is: We need more weapons

Stop

Everything has become so crazy

Okay, “Guns” doesn’t best reflect Martin’s particular talent. The mood is respectable – gun violence Is bad – but the satire of the song seems half-baked because Martin simply doesn't have the necessary sarcastic flair. Paired with “Hurts Like Heaven,” the limits of Martin’s powers of observation become clear.

When you fly, right?

Don't you want to take me with you too?

In this world so cruel

I think you're so cool

Rhyming “cruel” with “cool”…Chris Martin’s opinion. Any middle schooler brave enough to give their crush a Valentine's Day in front of their classmates and open themselves up to judgment deserves their own anthem, and “Birds” is it.

We are only human

But we are capable of kindness

That's why they call us humans

The urtext of Martin and Coldplay's “Can't Everyone Just Get Along?” ideology, a line that would sound right at home in a smoke-filled freshman dorm, coming from Bill and Ted's mouth or uttered by a precocious child. A pun so self-indulgent in its whimsy that it is appealing, even delightful, in its innocence. Everyone who bought the Coldplay “Everyone's an Alien Somewhere” merch t-shirt sang these lyrics at the top of their lungs.

Just because I lose

That doesn't mean I'm lost

I'm still a little surprised that JRR Tolkien's estate didn't sue.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Coldplay's “iAAM” sampled a Maya Angelou poem. It was actually “ALIEN HiTS/ALIEN RADiO”.