Going Back To Everyday Life

[Doomotron]

It has been a while since I properly listened to Everyday Life, so I thought it would be fun to put my thoughts on each song down as I listen to it.

Sunrise:

This song is not unlike The Wider Sun by Jon Hopkins. Both are instrumental string intros to albums. But while The Wider Sun is somewhat dramatic, Sunrise is a bit sadder. Both work well but the similarities make me feel like you could have swapped the two songs around and Everyday Life and Insides would sound pretty much identical on the whole.

Church:

One thing that annoys me is that Sunrise/The Wider Sun didn't lead into it in some way. It feels like a prime opportunity to do that. But listening to the song itself, I feel it's a near-perfect rainy day song. You'd never listen to this at a party, and I doubt it would work for music when you're working, but I imagine listening to it lying in bed relaxing. The Arabic (I think) chants are a nice chant although I think they are there for too long, I would have preferred Chris' vocals to take centre stage in the second half of the song.

Trouble In Town:

A true gem, some of Coldplay's best work. A dark, almost Radiohead-like backing compliments vague but political and poetic lyrics that near the end explodes into the album's first true highlight moment. However, there is one thing I don't like. In the bridge is an example of police misconduct in the USA. The song's lyrics alluded to police brutality but were always subtle, but I feel the recording put in makes the meaning so blunt that any impact the lyrics had seemed pointless, as if Coldplay assumed we were too dumb to go to Genius Lyrics to find out the meaning of the song. Recently I listened to Like Spinning Plates by Radiohead. It is a dark song with ambiguous lyrics, sung in a very strange manner. It is about the Iraq war and points fingers at New Labour and the other governments who started the war. It does not throw this meaning in your face. You need to figure it out.

"While you make pretty speeches I'm being cut to shreds"

"You feed me to the lions, a delicate balance"

"I'm living in cloud cuckoo land"

All three lines I mention talk about the government positively spinning the war to justify the war while the soldiers actually fighting were living through hell. It is not a pleasant song, but I was pleased when I figured out the lyrics - by myself.

BrokEn:

BrokEn is a nice little song that is the second genre break from Coldplay's norm in the album. It is rather feel-good despite its lyrics and feels like it could have been made by The Beatles. I'm not a fan of them but this is a compliment.

Daddy:

This is a heartfelt piece and possibly one of the highlights of the album. However I feel it doesn't justify its five minute playtime. Everything that happens could have been done in three, and even the addition of a guitar near the end doesn't make me more engaged in it. It's just too long for its own good, which is unfortunate because the song itself is very nice.

WOTW / POTP:

I think the lofi recording suits this really well. This song feels like a little demo Coldplay never finished in the best way possible - not that there really is a bad way, since most of Coldplay's demos are good. A little and sweet intro to Arabesque.

Arabesque:

Oh boy, this is a good one. The critical acclaim is fully justified - this song is a Coldplay song on stylistic steroids. The horns are what keep this song so good. The lyrics aren't that special, and the song again goes on for too long, but every time those horns come in a smile appears on my face. At exactly the same time though it doesn't feel like a Coldplay song, but that's a good thing. They don't get more experimental than this, and I reckon it should have been a single on its own - the lead single. If Coldplay want to make a concept album, this is the song that shows this more than any other. There is one more thing to talk about... The ending of Arabesque is the most dramatic, wide-sounding and downright awesome music they've possibly ever created. When I buy new speakers I test them with the ending - good audio equipment unleashes the ending of the song. Bad speakers and headphones make it feel like it's being played in another room. The build up and the execution is a masterpiece. In the years since 2019 Coldplay haven't released a song that sounds better than the ending of Arabesque - even Coloratura never reaches its heights. That said, I am sad about this song not being part of the MOTS tour more than any other on the album. This is the one I would have wanted to hear live the most.

When I Need A Friend:

This is quite the tone shift isn't it. A choir song. Tell somebody from 2015 that Coldplay would release When I Need A Friend and they wouldn't believe you. The song in many ways is haunting, but I felt the little instrumentation ruined the effect partly. It sounds a bit too happy with it.

GOD=LOVE:

Not much to say here. It's a field recording of church bells. A nice easter egg on the CD, but nothing crazy. Moving on.

Guns:

This is a song that could have been released fifty years ago. This song is clearly humorous and shouldn't be taken too seriously, but I appreciate how fun the song feels. It all works well, and I don't really have anything bad to say.

Orphans:

This is among my favourites of Coldplay's pop songs. The ending is satisfying and feels justified. The lyrics are political yet vague (how come they couldn't do that on Trouble In Town?) and beautifully contradictory to the upbeat instrumental. This is one of the few songs on the album I wish lasted a bit longer, since the ending sounds so good I'd like to have a bit more of it. I must also point out the music video. It features a bunch of alternate mixes and each one I love. I'm disappointed the music video version or the individual recordings weren't released, as each brings a different mood to the table. I'd especially like the one that starts at 1:07.

Eko:

This feels like a happier version of Daddy. Other than that it's pretty unremarkable, but is not a bad song by any means.

Cry Cry Cry:

Other than the annoying Angel Moon lyrics, we have another song that sounds like it's from the past in quite a nice way. I'd imagine hearing it in an American diner perhaps. Like Eko, it's otherwise not much to write about.

Eko:

Please look at my review of Eko, but change 'Daddy' to WOTW / POTP.

Bani Adam:

Track 22 serves as an extended intro to Champion Of The World. The piano number at the start is rather pretty and feels like a different song to the rest of it. About a minute and a half in the second section starts, a small spoken part that is bassy and charming. At the very end is the very cute intro to Champion Of The World. I do like songs that lead into each other sometimes, but here I don't think it works. I would have preferred having all of this section in Champion Of The World instead of having a tonally different blip at the end of Bani Adam.

Champion Of The World:

This song feels like it should have been the ending to Everyday Life, It is heart-warming and passionate, like Everything's Not Lost, Up&Up and Up With The Birds. It is absolutely among my favourites on Everyday Life and I often confuse it for the final song on the album, but it isn't. The lyrics are sweet, the instrumental matches the lyrics well, and overall we have a very nice not-closing track,

Everyday Life:

I don't know why this is the final track. It feels like a bonus track really - as I said before, Champion Of The World should have been the ending. It is absolutely a nice song but one that isn't impressive by any means. It doesn't go to anywhere (unlike COTW) and doesn't do much in the four minutes it lasts. It should have been on the album, but somewhere else so it doesn't give us an unsatisfactory end to one of Coldplay's best albums.

Flags:

The Japanese bonus track that finally got released as a single about a year after the album first released. It's a friendly and approachable song that would have been a great pallet cleanser on the main album, even if its lyrics are a bit fantastical. I once said it was the best song on the album - I haven't believed that for a while now but I do believe it's one of the better ones and could even have been a better ending than Everyday Life (but still not better as an ending than Champion Of The World).

[CP-EST]

It's always great to talk about Everyday Life. I often put it on, while driving somewhere alone in the early morning. To me this album has kind of an introverted and thoughtful vibe, so it's perfect one to just have quietly playing and meanwhile think about some stuff.

I have one thing, what I really would argue about 😄  In my opinion Champion of the World and Everyday Life ending combination is perfect. I really enjoy when the endings that have this little calculated unsatisfactory feel, it doesn't always have to have a high climax and "go to somewhere". So, I think Everyday Life lyrically and musically finishes the album in a best possible way. Ghost Stories as a bit similar flow at the end.

I hope some of the stuff from this album like Trouble in Town and Champion of the World will reflect what we can wait from the 12th album called Coldplay.

[Doomotron]

On 2/23/2023 at 1:17 PM, CP-EST said:

I hope some of the stuff from this album like Trouble in Town and Champion of the World will reflect what we can wait from the 12th album called Coldplay.

Absolutely. An Everyday Life part 2 is basically what I want, although I'd love to see some unreleased songs put on it as well like A Ghost (assuming the more pop-orientated unreleased songs have been released by then).

On 2/23/2023 at 1:17 PM, CP-EST said:

Ghost Stories as a bit similar flow at the end.

For me it works better because Fly On is more emotional (and arguably better produced, don't shoot me) than Everyday Life and therefore works better as an ending. Champion Of The World gives me the same feelings as Everything's Not Lost, for me Everyday Life is a nothing song.