Five Facts About Coldplay's "Yellow"
Coldplay recently celebrated a major milestone: their breakthrough single, 2000's "Yellow," recently passed one billion streams on Spotify! It's the British group's third song to do so, after "The Scientist" and "Something More Like This," their collaboration with dance duo The Chainsmokers.
In honor of the song that introduced the world to Chris Martin and company, here's a few fun facts about the tune.
A late night in the studio inspired the first lyric. On a late break during an early studio session with producer Ken Nelson, the band went outside for some fresh air. With no lights on to disturb their view of the night sky, Nelson reportedly exclaimed "Look at the stars!" - which, of course, became the first line of the song.
Chris didn't take it very seriously at first. The singer would amuse himself by impersonating rocker Neil Young while trying to figure out the full song. It wasn't until Jonny Buckland played the song's guitar riff that it started to come together.
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The title? Meaningless. Chris has given multiple explanations for the meaning of "Yellow" over the years - most famously saying he was inspired by a phone book near him during the session - but came clean to Howard Stern in 2011. "I like you, Howard," he said, "so that's the first time I've ever told anyone the truth behind 'Yellow'." And that truth? "Yellow" was simply a placeholder that stuck because it fit better than anything the band could come up with.
A few cosmic accidents led to the iconic music video. The plan was for the band to play along to the song on a sunny beach in Dorset, England. Then drummer Will Champion's mother died suddenly, and the rest of the band decided it should just be Chris in the clip. And when Martin and the crew arrived, they found the weather wet and rainy. Undeterred, he put on a raincoat and lip-synced the song at twice its original speed (so his movements would play out in slow motion when played back normally) - creating a legendary video in the process.
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It began a dynasty of hits. After "Shiver," the first single off their debut album Parachutes, only charted in the lower end of the Top 40, the band felt they'd be happy with a Top 20 hit. But "Yellow" soared to No. 4, becoming their first of 19 U.K. Top 10 hits and counting, from "The Scientist" to chart-topper "Viva La Vida," all the way to the BTS collaboration "My Universe," a No. 3 hit earlier this year. (It even crossed over onto U.S. radio, helping Coldplay start their path toward becoming one of the world's biggest bands.)
