Yellow (Coldplay-Lied)

"Yellow" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. The song's lyrics are references to Chris Martin's, the band's vocalist, unrequited love. Its musicscape is built on a varied instrumentation, including the acoustic, bass and electric guitar, cymbals, drums, and hi-hat.

Initially released as an EP, the song was released as the second single from their debut album Parachutes. The single has reached number four in the United Kingdom, giving the band their first Top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart.

Helped by massive airplay and usage in promotions, the song has ushered the band to massive popularity. "Yellow" has since been covered by various artists worldwide, and remains one of the band's most popular songs.

Background and production

"Yellow" was written in a Rockfield studio called the Quadrangle, where Coldplay began working on their debut album, Parachutes. One night during a break of a recording session, the band went out and because there were few lights on, the stars in the sky were "just amazing", according to the song's co-producer, Ken Nelson. Nelson said "look at the stars ..." and, upon gazing at the stars, started the conception of the song. Looking skywards, and feeling generally inspired, the song's main melody popped into Martin's head. At first, Martin did not take it seriously "as he relayed the tune to the rest of the band in his worst Neil Young [a Canadian singer-songwriter] impersonation voice". Martin has said, "The song had the word 'stars' and that seemed like a word you should sing in a Neil Young voice." He later commented that "Yellow" originally sounded like a Neil Young song.

The telephone directory Yellow Pages inspired Coldplay's vocalist, Chris Martin, in part of writing the song's lyrics. The song's title was derived from Yellow Pages.

Not long after, despite not being serious towards the song, his idea worked out when he had the tempo of the verse. Upon composing of the song's lyrics, however, Martin could hardly find the right words. He was thinking of a specific word to fit the song's concept, a missing key word in the lyrics. He looked around the studio and found the telephone directory Yellow Pages, which happened to be situated nearest to him, hence the title. The lyrics progressed from there with the band collaborating. The band's bassist Guy Berryman came up with the opening line "Look at the stars". That night, with the quick composition, the band recorded the song. According to Martin, "In an alternate universe, this song could be called 'Playboy.'"

The band and Nelson produced the track. Nelson was introduced to the band through the former's manager. In the time, Coldplay has released an EP and a single that Nelson heard of after his manager gave him a copy. "Yellow" was initially recorded upstairs in the Quadrangle Studio. They later mixed the track in New York.

Nelson and the band had met problems in producing some aspects of the song. They were trying to get the tempo correctly "because a beat either side of the tempo we picked didn't have the same groove"; accordingly, it lost the "feel" of it. To better it, they recorded this part live and guitarist Johnny Buckland overdubbed his guitar, and then the vocals. The backing vocals were recorded in the control room. They did the recording two or three times until Nelson and the band were happy at the output.

Music and lyrics

The song opens with an acoustic guitar, backed by a mimicking electric guitar, then forwards to the lead guitar line. It then goes back to the acoustic section. Its instrumentation is varied, including the drums, cymbals, and the occasional hi-hat and ascending bass guitar. "Yellow" features Martin's falsetto, and nearly spoken-words whispers. Martin, after the song's mixing, felt that his voice were "too subdued, too quiet".

Martin has explained of the song: "'Yellow' refers to the mood of the band. Brightness and hope and devotion." The references of some of the song's lyrics, including the swimming and drawing a line, "are all metaphorical slants on the extent of his emotional devotion". The drawing of a line refers to Martin's habit of writing lists, and underlining those important things on the list. Martin has commented that the song is about devotion, referencing to his unrequited love (since Martin was single when writing the song). Despite its lyrical theme, however, most of the people have considered "Yellow" as a happy song.

Release and reception

"Yellow" and "Shiver" were initially released as EPs in the spring of 2000. The former was released as a single in UK on June 26, 2000.

The single, accompanied by its TV reception through its music video, has received massive radio airplay particularly at BBC Radio 1. The reaction was chiefly positive that even the newly-revitalized BBC Radio 2 played the track repeatedly. This heavy rotation continued for months after its release, eventually ending as 2000's most-aired song. It has also became a sing-along number at various British clubs, pubs and sporting events; the song is consistently played during home games at English Championship club Watford. A month after the album was released in the United States via record label Nettwerk, "Yellow" was used as the theme song for ABC autumn television promotions. The song was also used as the theme music for The Cancer Council Australia's "Daffodil Day", in recognition of that organization's official flower's yellow hue.

Critics were positive towards the song. Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone magazine has noted "Yellow" an "unrepentantly romantic", adding that "the band creates a hypnotic slo-mo otherworld where spirit rules supreme". "Yellow" won Best Single at the 2001 NME Carling Awards. It was nominated at the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Commercial performance

"Yellow" performed well in Europe, and was popular. In the United Kingdom, its midweek sales suggested that the single would reach the Top 10 of the chart. Although the band supposed it would decline inside the Top 20, they would consider it a triumph as the album's lead single, "Shiver", has only earned them the 35th position. The single did reach, and since its second week sales went stronger, it has peaked at number four. The popularity of the song in British clubs, pubs and sporting events bolstered the album to debut at number one on the UK Albums Chart.

"Yellow" achieved popularity in the United States, and is Coldplay's first American hit. The single has charted eight different Billboard singles chart; it also topped various US modern-rock radio playlists in spring of 2000. The single has performed the same as it did in Europe and has since helped Parachute being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Music video

The music video for "Yellow" was filmed at Studland Bay. The video is minimalistic, featuring only Martin singing the song as he walks along the beach. He is wearing a raincoat with his hair wet, suggesting that it had just rained. The video is one continuous shot with no cuts. Also, the entire sequence is in slow motion.

The music video for the single was conceived and produced by Coldplay. Originally, it had been intended for the whole band to appear in the video, in a sunny setting. However, Champion's mother's funeral was held on the day of the shooting, so it was decided that only Martin would appear in the video, which was also the immediate explanation of his mood during this part. The weather also opposed the original plan, with harsh winds and rain instead of the sunny day that had been envisioned. It had also been originally intended for there to be moving stars in the sky, as if in a time-lapse. The directors however agreed that this would have been too distracting for the focus of the video, which was Martin.

The video was directed by James & Alex of The Artists Company. The video was shot at 50 frames per second, twice the regular speed. At the shoot, Chris Martin had to sing the song at double speed so that the audio and visual content would sync up, a common yet difficult practice of music videos. The final product is slowed to 25 frames per second, giving the slow motion effect of the video. The transition of the video from night to day was achieved through telecine. During the transfer from film to videotape, an operator manually adjusted the amount of lighting for blue in the beginning, red in the middle, and yellow at the end of the video.

Live performances

Chris Martin singing "Yellow" at the Twisted Logic Live 2006 concert tour with balloons of the same color falling

Coldplay has performed the song several times throughout their career, and has been an audiences’ attention-getter. The band had their debut performance on television on the show Later...With Jools Holland. They performed Parachute's lead single, "Shiver", and the new song, "Yellow"; but it was the latter that had an immediate studio audience impact. They have also performed at the Glastonbury Festival, which is one of the prominent festivals in Europe. At their second appearance, in July 2000, Coldplay performed "Yellow" and "effortlessly" captured over 10,000 audiences. Coldplay's popularity at this time was still growing and "Yellow" has helped cultivate it; Martin has said it was the best day of their year.

Covers

"Yellow" has been covered by numerous singers worldwide, some with different language and style used. A Chinese language version of "Yellow" was recorded by Chinese rock singer Zheng Jun in 2001, six months after the original release of the single. Singaporean singer Tanya Chua covered the song. The cover band and comedy act Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered this as a Lounge style version on his 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin. American musicians Petra Haden and Bill Frisell covered the song, featured in their album Petra Haden and Bill Frisell; the cover appears in episode 3.08 of the The O.C.. In 2006, Tre Lux covered "Yellow" on the cover album A Strange Gathering. Fame Academy winner Alex Parks often performed "Yellow" and a cover appears on her debut album. English vocal troupe G4 covered the song for their second album, G4 & Friends, with "unique harmonies". American singer-writer Brooke White covered "Yellow" on her 2006 album Songs from the Attic. White's manager directed her to cover American hard rock band Aerosmith's 1973 single "Dream On", but she wanted to do "Yellow". Since they had contradicting ideas, they compromised and ended up producing cover versions of the two.

The song has also been covered in live performances by various artists. The progressive bluegrass trio Nickel Creek has played "Yellow" in the middle of "The Lighthouse's Tale" at their concerts. It was featured on the reality show Rock Star: Supernova, performed by Matt Hoffer. Galway-based musicians Joe Joyce and Oisin Tierney have been known to cover "Yellow" as part of their performances. The Almost has often covered "Yellow" at their live shows. Brand New often covers part of the song live at the end of their song "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot". Shaun Francisco, a semi-finalist on Canadian Idol, performed this song during the Top-24 week. In the results show for the same week, Amberly Thiessen, Mitch Macdonald, Katelyn Dawn and Jesse Cottam sang it as a group performance. It was considered by host Ben Mulruney as one of the greatest chemistry by a group of four singers.

Impact and legacy

Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone magazine has deemed the song a career-making record. Roach has claimed in his book, Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy, that although "Shiver" earned the band their debut UK Top 40 single, it was "Yellow" that has changed "everything", and that it "exemplifies so much of what had made Coldplay so popular". In the US, after it was being used in promos of ABC, the band grew in large popularity which continued in 2001. According to Barry Walters in his review of Coldplay's second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, for Spin magazine, the band is still known in the United States for their "surprise smash" "Yellow". "Yellow" has since been regarded as the centerpiece song in the album.

"Yellow" has inspired British singer Liam Gallagher of the rock band Oasis, as he has told Coldplay, to write songs again.

Track listing

CD

1. "Yellow" – 4:29
2. "Help is Round the Corner" – 2:38
3. "No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground" – 4:33

References

Bibliography

• Martin Roach: Coldplay: Nobody Said it was Easy. Omnibus Press, 2003, ISBN 0-7119-9810-8 (google.com [abgerufen am 5. September 2008]). 

Notes

Vorlage:Coldplay