Politik (song)

Last updated

"Politik"
Song by Coldplay
from the album A Rush of Blood to the Head
Written11 September 2001
Released26 August 2002
Recorded13 September 2001
Genre Alternative rock
Length5:18
Label Parlophone
Songwriters
Producers

"Politik" is a song by British rock band Coldplay and the opening track of their second studio album, A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). [1] It is heavier and more guitar-driven than the songs on the band's debut album, Parachutes (2000). [2] [3]

Contents

Composition and recording

Lead singer Chris Martin wrote "Politik" on 11 September 2001 in response to that day's terrorist attacks, [4] and the band recorded it two days later. [1] Martin said the band wanted "a song where we just hit our instruments as loudly as possible and dispensed with the idea of fragility". [5]

The song opens with drums, guitar and bass playing at full volume before Martin's vocal enters. [2] Ted Kessler of NME wrote that the guitars and keyboards "mash together in a two note blur" before dropping out to leave Martin alone at the piano. [3] PopMatters compared the song's bridge to Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here . [6]

Parlophone A&R representative Miles Leonard said that opening the album with a song as challenging as "Politik" was "a statement of intent". [7]

Critical reception

NME compared the album's opening to that of Radiohead's The Bends , which begins with "Planet Telex", and wrote that "Politik" was "several evolutionary steps ahead" of the band's earlier single "Yellow". [3] In The Guardian , Alexis Petridis wrote that the song's "clanging guitars" gave the band a potency that most observers had not expected of them. [8] AllMusic wrote that songs such as "Politik" broadened the band's range and showed that they could "really rock". [2] In 2003, Q included the song in its list of the 1001 Best Songs Ever. [9]

In 2020, NME ranked "Politik" eighth of Coldplay's 142 songs, calling it a "pounding, forceful announcement" that the band had moved on from Parachutes. [10] Clash included it in a 2025 list of the band's 15 best songs, calling it "crushingly effective" as an album opener and the point at which Coldplay moved past comparisons to Radiohead. [11]

The Recording Academy later included "Politik" in its list of ten songs that captured America's feelings after the September 11 attacks. [4]

Live performances

"Politik" opened all 151 shows of the A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour (2002–2003). Bassist Guy Berryman said there was "no better song than this one to open our show". [5]

On 23 February 2003, Coldplay performed "Politik" with the New York Philharmonic at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The orchestra was conducted by David Robertson, and the arrangement was by Michael Kamen. [12] It was the band's first performance at the Grammys. [13] Drummer Will Champion said that, with the ceremony in New York and possibility of war approaching, it was "the only appropriate song to play". [5]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the A Rush of Blood to the Head liner notes. [14]

Coldplay

Production

References

  1. 1 2 Spivack, Gary (2004). Look at the Stars. Simon and Schuster. p. 80.
  2. 1 2 3 Yeung, Neil Z. (2002). "A Rush of Blood to the Head Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 8, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 Kessler, Ted (September 12, 2005). "Coldplay : A Rush Of Blood To The Head". NME. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "10 Songs That Captured America's Feelings After 9/11 | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Archived from the original on October 9, 2025. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 Spivack, Gary (2004). Look at the Stars. Simon and Schuster. p. 117.
  6. ↑ Begrand, Adrien (2002). "Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head". PopMatters. Archived from the original on October 4, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Coldplay Reflect on 'A Rush of Blood to the Head' 20 Years Later". Billboard. August 26, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  8. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (August 16, 2002). "Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head Review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  9. ↑ Eccleston, Danny; et al. (January 1, 2003). "1001 Best Songs Ever: Why They're Great, How They Happened, Why You Need Them". Q . London: EMAP.
  10. ↑ Kemp, Ella (July 2020). "Every Single Coldplay Song Ranked in Order of Greatness". NME. Archived from the original on January 12, 2026. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Coldplay: Their 15 Best Songs". Clash. January 7, 2025. Archived from the original on July 23, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Program ID 12492". New York Philharmonic Digital Archives. Archived from the original on October 8, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Coldplay". Grammy.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2025. Retrieved October 1, 2025.
  14. ↑ A Rush of Blood to the Head (CD booklet). Coldplay. 2002. 7243 5 40504 2 8.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.