Earlier entries of this series can be found here: http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/forums/vi ... ive#p45337
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“The lights go out and I can’t be saved/ Tides that I tried to swim against/ put me down upon my knees/ Oh I beg, I beg and plead, singing”
74. Coldplay - Clocks
The facts:
Year: 2002.
Genre: Dream pop.
Country: United Kingdom.
Album: A Rush of Blood to the Head.
Acclaimed Music ranking: #880.
Song ranking on Acclaimed Music in the artist’s discography: 4th.
Ranks higher than Bad Girls by M.I.A., but lower than Take Five by Dave Brubeck Quartet.
Place in the Acclaimed Music Song Poll 2015: #344.
The people:
Written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin.
Produced by Ken Nelson & Coldplay.
Lead vocals by Chris Martin.
Backing vocals by Will Champion.
Electric guitar by Jonny Buckland.
Drums by Will Champion.
Bass by Guy Berryman.
Piano by Chris Martin.
Synthesizers by Chris Martin.
The opinion:
“Coldplay”. Now there is a name that might trigger a lot of different responses by a lot of people. They are arguably the most consistently popular band since the beginning of the 2000’s. The perception of them has changed somewhat though. Maybe not in the mainstream, were they don’t seem to be able to lose any momentum, with every single becoming a hit.
Among music lovers that is another matter. Back in 2002, when Clocks came out, they could still be called alternative rock, though nobody would dare to label anything they did as alternative now. Still, two years later, in 2004, I remember talking to a true hipster who openly admitted that he despised everything that is mainstream. His favourite film was Garden State and according to him to coolest thing about it was that it had a Coldplay song in it (Don’t Panic in this case). Could you imagine any anti-mainstream person these days seeing Coldplay as the ultimate symbol of cool? I haven’t spoken to the guy in ages, but I wonder if he still feels that way.
As someone working in the cultural industry, mostly on the more alternative side of things, I’m careful with mentioning Coldplay. Their name alone may provoke mad laughter, cries of despair, actual vomiting and death threats. I honestly think no music act inspires such deep hatred. If I gave a 10 to Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball it might be perceived as less weird and controversial to them than giving a 9 to even the best Coldplay song.
To family and friends that don’t work in culture however, Coldplay has a status similar to the Beatles among rock fans, or Bach among classical aficionados. Around them even Adventure of a Lifetime is basically worthy of the Mattheus Passion. I actually had a discussion with a good friend of mine, probably around 2008 or 2009, about the most influential music artists of all time. He was a huge Coldplay fan and unironically claimed that Coldplay did more to change music history than Bob Dylan…
Writing this feels like being caught between two huge, deadly armies of taste and no matter what I think, someone will be upset enough to deliver a fatal blow to me. If there is one band where only hyperbolic opinions are tolerated it is Coldplay. This is rather complicated to me, because I have very mixed feelings about the band as a whole. I dislike everything from Mylo Xyloto onward. X&Y and Viva la Vida seem good and bad to me in equal measures. Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head are solid albums that don’t falter, but only rarely become great. That all sounds as faint praise perhaps, but I also have to say that I think three of their songs are masterworks: Trouble, Viva la Vida and… Clocks.
So there you have it, I unashamedly love Clocks. In fact, it always felt as one of the most iconic songs of the decade to me and I’m seriously surprised it doesn’t rank higher. To be honest, the love-to-hate status of Coldplay by music snobs may have something to do with that, although that doesn’t explain why it is only their fourth highest ranking song. It always felt like the signature track of Coldplay to me, along with perhaps Viva la Vida.
Let’s put all this talk about status aside and see what makes this song so special. Obviously, the main piano riff is a main factor here. It’s repeated over and over, almost as if in a loop. It’s not just a great riff, but the way it is employed evokes a special feeling. Perhaps the title helps the suggestion, but I can’t shake the feeling when listening to this song of time going forward too fast. Like a clock whose arms loop over and over, coming back at the same place every time, seemingly not moving forward, while time still passes. It evokes the sad sensation of stagnation in your life while the world goes on in a hurry, leaving you behind.
This idea is actually part of the lyrics too. There isn’t a clear narrative, but all the lines seem to be filled with a certain dread of not living life to the fullest. The small chants of “You are” give some hope, but can’t stop the clock-like piano from making its loop over and over. You might say that many of the lines aren’t that unique and Coldplay has been accused of being poetry for beginners. Perhaps. But music lyrics can function for me in another way than poetry does. In music, simple lyrics can work if they are fitted to exactly the right sounds. That’s how Clocks works for me. The elusive lines give enough of an idea of being lost in life to make it work in conjunction with the instrumentation.
Chris Martin is the star of the show. It’s his piano line that steals the song and it was this riff that started the idea of what became Clocks. His singing was hardly ever as heartfelt. In some songs I feel he tries too hard to come across as deeply sensitive (it’s what ruins his popular Fix You for me, for example), but here he finds the right way to emote his despair. It’s a quiet vocal performance, but also a very musical one, with a subtle richness in its intonations. It’s beautiful. Martin also avoids the obvious pitfall of overdoing the rising synths during key moments. He keeps them on the background, letting them subtly add to the drama, instead of allowing them to overwhelm the song.
The rest of the band rises to the occasion too. They keep things low key, allowing the piano to take the spotlight. Jonny Buckman can play a good guitar riff, but he seems to know that this is not his big moment. Those were elsewhere on A Rush of Blood to the Head, say on Politik. Here he adds to the repetitive, dramatic tension that builds towards the song, in a subtle way. The other two band members are always more unassuming and are happy to take that role here again. The weirdest thing about the music is that it actually sounds epic, just not in a bombastic way, but instead in a lyrical sense. Songs that achieve that are all too rare.
Let’s end this review with a statement that will probably earn me the eternal scorn of all the Coldplay nay-sayers out there: this is a rare pop song that manages to be existential. Not as a philosophical text, but as a piece of music that can make you dread the passing of your life. That it doesn’t sound depressing and unbearable, but instead more as a thing of sad beauty is not a failure, but a rare sign of Coldplay’s deeper nature that, somewhat ironically in light of Clocks, eludes them most of the time.
9/10
Other versions:
There are hours and hours of covers of Clocks. Some only need the piano riff. Indeed, some classically trained piano players that want to pay some homage to pop music seem to find their obvious candidate in Clocks. But the main riff is also played by guitars, strings (a lot), computers and even bagpipes (by a band actually named Red Hot Chili Pipers!), among other instruments. There are tons of dance remixes, music reality show auditions and lounge friendly variations. Of course, we can’t do without a Lullaby rendition or two. Nothing is missing here.
Except perhaps any famous persons covering the song. The closest I come is Röysköpp, who did an excellent remix of the song. For the most part, however these are mostly solid, but not remarkable covers. There is one standout though, In2Ition’s classical variation on cello, with esteemed pianist Lang Lang featuring as a guest. That is how you cover a song!
There are also a couple of cases of sampling. Interesting is how Brandy uses the closing part of the piano riff (instead of the main loop) for tension in her Should I Go. Alejandro Fernandez slows down the main line on Te Voy a Perder in a way that works, but the song itself is a bit boring. No Air by Jordan Sparks is said to have sampled the song too and I think I vaguely recognize it, but it is really subtle.
It should be said that some people have tried to make a case that Clocks itself is a cover of Clockwork by Alex De Grassi. It is a little bit of a stretch perhaps, though I hear the similarities. I recommend that song by the way, it is beautiful.
The playlist:
