http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1484768/20040202/index.jhtml?headlines=true

 

Coldplay's "Clocks" is one of the five tracks nominated for the Record of the Year Grammy, but it was nearly left off the band's 2002 album, A Rush of Blood to the Head.

 

As soon as frontman Chris Martin played his bandmates "Clocks," everyone knew it was special, but they didn't think they had time to include it on the LP. "We already had 10 songs for the album," said Ken Nelson, who produced the record, "and then Chris came in late one night and wrote 'Clocks' on piano."

 

As with most things Coldplay, the song is suffused in contrasts and contradictions. The sparse, delicate number is hardly loud, yet it's unquestionably urgent. At various moments, piano, drums and guitars gently wrangle for domination, suggesting the tune was painstakingly assembled, although that's hardly how it went down.

 

"It just arrived; it wasn't planned on at all," Martin told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "The riff just came out, and I showed it to [guitarist] Jonny [buckland], and he wrote these cool chords underneath it, and we had a song that was mega."

 

But because they figured it was too late to get the song on A Rush of Blood to the Head, they made a demo of the track and included it on a CD they marked "Songs for #3," which featured pieces they planned to save for their third album. It was a friend who intervened and convinced Martin to tackle the track right away.

 

"He heard it and said, 'No, you must do that song now 'cause you're going on [in the lyrics] about urgency, and you're talking about keeping this song back. That doesn't make sense,' " Martin told the Plain Dealer.

 

As the members of Coldplay added their ideas to Martin's sparse, melodic music bed, "Clocks" became more than a pretty piano pop song. It achieved a dynamic tension that juxtaposed with the main piano line.

 

"As it was building with the bass and some of the guitars, we were all thinking, 'This is good,' " Nelson said. "I remember when Chris was doing the vocal, there were quite a few people in the room, and we were all just staring and thinking, 'My God, this is something really special.' "

 

In the lyrics to "Clocks," Martin seems to address the helplessness of being in a dysfunctional relationship he doesn't necessarily want to escape. "Lights go out and I can't be saved/ Tides that I tried to swim against," he sings at the beginning. The most poignant expression of ambivalence comes at the end of the second verse when Martin moans, "Come out upon my seas, curse missed opportunities/ Am I a part of the cure or am I part of the disease?"

 

"I reckon everybody questions whether they're useful to the world or not," Martin told MTV News shortly after the record's release. "Some people think they're doing marvelous things. Hitler thought he was doing great things for the world, and yet we'd all say, 'No, no, no, he was doing terrible things.' Some people would say that Coldplay is a great thing for music and the world. Other people would regard us as the devil incarnate, so of course it's always a conflict."

 

The other material on the CD marked "Songs for #3" is not currently being considered by Coldplay for their third record. The band is in a Liverpool, England, studio with Nelson working on 11 new songs, some of which were played during their last tour (see "Coldplay Enter London Studio To Begin Work On Third Album"). In a month, Coldplay will move to Air Studios in London to continue working on the album. No release date is scheduled.

 

"They want to take their time to make sure it's really, really strong," Nelson said. "They always want to deliver the best album they can, and this is going to be a fantastic album. I actually believe it's going to be stronger than A Rush of Blood to the Head."

 

 

 

—Jon Wiederhorn

:stunned: Cool ! Thanks for posting and welcome to the board :D

My pleasure

Damn - I was just going to post that. It seems I have competition :sneaky:

 

;) - Welcome to the board :D

:lol: :lol: :lol: dam mimi ur not quick enough and all of that training we did :angry:

 

 

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

 

fankya for posting chook :kiss:

ooh!! thanks!! ;) juuuu i wanna hear the new album!!!! :D

:lol: :lol: :lol: dam mimi ur not quick enough and all of that training we did :angry:

 

 

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

 

fankya for posting chook :kiss:

 

I'm working on it now - this post took me 0.25 seconds to type :dozey:

gud gud mimi.....now we had to cut that down to 5...and whats the `clickin mouse` time

 

you know when u have to copy paste ect

 

 

 

lol :lol: :dozey:

:lol:

gud gud mimi.....now we had to cut that down to 5...and whats the `clickin mouse` time

 

you know when u have to copy paste ect

 

 

 

lol :lol: :dozey:

 

You can be my official trainer Kirsten :D

 

(0.22 secs!!)

22 secs :stunned: come onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn faster....flex thos finger muscles

 

 

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: and Wooooooooooo :stunned: oooooooooooT at being the offical Mimi trainer :lol:

found something you can pracitse on

 

 

Chris: "My little brother, he doesn't really like us."

Jonathan Ross: "What does he listen to? What sort of stuff?"

Chris: "He's more into, sort of, heavier stuff."

Jonathan: "What, heavy like, nu-metal stuff?"

Chris: "No, just fatter singers."

 

 

 

 

lol what a funny dood :lol:

It's not 22 secs it's 0.22 secs - I'm faster than that :smug: ;)

 

And since you woot-ed ay becoming my official trainer, I'm giving you a pay rise :dozey:

found something you can pracitse on

 

 

Chris: "My little brother, he doesn't really like us."

Jonathan Ross: "What does he listen to? What sort of stuff?"

Chris: "He's more into, sort of, heavier stuff."

Jonathan: "What, heavy like, nu-metal stuff?"

Chris: "No, just fatter singers."

 

 

 

 

lol what a funny dood :lol:

 

Aw I love that interview - it used to be online, but doesn't work anymore :(

 

Chris and Jonathan made such a funny team, I hope CP go on Jonathan's Friday TV show when they promote new album!!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Crikey...a new member who posts something not pointless...! Well Done...

i'm not trying to be one of those people who hates all new fans..., but, it's very pointless when someone comes...starts a thread saying..hi, i'm new here....and everyone says hi back to it...

:idea2: why don't people stop doing that

But with you..i'm glad you've signed up... :) :)

I agree - it is a good way to to introduce yourself to a board.

 

I, on the other-hand chose the pointless route when I first joined :rolleyes:

It's not 22 secs it's 0.22 secs - I'm faster than that :smug: ;)

 

And since you woot-ed ay becoming my official trainer, I'm giving you a pay rise :dozey:

 

 

 

wkd hehe so instead of 1p im on 3p :lol:

 

 

 

and that would be kewl if cp went on friday nitgh with jonathan woss...i mean ross :lol: :lol: :lol:

4p actually :dozey:

 

Jonathan Woss :lol: :lol: :lol:

:stunned: 4p....wow im honoured :lol:

You should be, I'm gunna be poor after paying you :stunned:

Crikey...a new member who posts something not pointless...! Well Done...

i'm not trying to be one of those people who hates all new fans..., but, it's very pointless when someone comes...starts a thread saying..hi, i'm new here....and everyone says hi back to it...

:idea2: why don't people stop doing that

But with you..i'm glad you've signed up... :) :)

 

:kiss: Don´t be stressed hunny! :kiss:

:lol: ....ok i should star payin u then.....j/ks :lol: :lol: :lol:

You can pay me in chocolate :dozey:

COLDPLAY IS THE GREATEST BAND EVER

 

COLDPLAY IS IN THEIR OWN LEAGUE WHEN IT COMES TO ROCK MUSIC