X & Y

I'll admit that the first Coldplay album I got was the amazing Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. I had heard some of their singles and I liked what I was hearing alright, but nothing to make me rush out and buy their respective albums. Well, one of my friends at work is a big fan of theirs and he gave copies of Parachutes and X&Y to check out (I had... access A Rush of Blood to the Head already).

I don't usually do very well with a lot of band's debut albums when I've already heard their newer stuff (i.e. Foo Fighters, Everclear, Cake, etc.) so I went straight for X&Y. I gave it a listen while doing the dishes to see if any track in particular would grab me and if I should give it a more dedicated listen later.

There was no need.

From Square One to Twisted Logic I loved every track. It was one of those rare albums where no matter what track I started listening to, I had to listen all the way through and roundabout if needed. Y'know, start at track 6 and listen until you get to track 5. A couple songs really started to grab my attention so I was finally able to focus on individual songs and discover intricacies I couldn't really hear before.

I think the first song that caught me was 'What If.' The music was just a piano with a slow fade in of strings, so it was the lyrics that really grabbed my attention. For example, these lyrics:

What if I got it wrong
And no poem or song
Could put right what I got wrong
Or make you feel I belong

When I was first able to really hear these lyrics (wow Kelly, you need to be more observant), I laughed a little bit and sighed. From there I started to listen more to the other songs like White Shadows, Talk, Swallowed in the Sea and Speed of Sound. I had the chorus of Speed of Sound stuck in my head for hours at a time. Thank goodness I loved it so much.

Then I was grabbed by (in no real order) A Message, Square One, Fix You and The Hardest Part. Low and Twisted Logic have yet to do the same, but I'm sure they will soon. I loved the album as a whole and by individual tracks. So I decided to do what anybody interested in knowing more about something does: I went to Wikipedia of course!

I read through the abridged history of the album other stuff, then I got to the track listing. 'Til Kingdom Come? A hidden track that I don't have?! I remedied that very quickly and was very happy I did. It's a very touching love song that with a little non-standard tuning (CACBGe for those in the know, hehe) is very easy and fun to play. Here's the chorus to prove my point :)

For you I'd wait, til kingdom come
Until my days, my days are done
Just say you'll come and set me free
Just say you'll wait
You'll wait for me

I've had the album for a few weeks now, but it wasn't until a couple days ago that I realized that the majority of the songs are about love. Not the easy kind either. The kind of love you work towards because it's worth it. Which definitely helps to explain why I like it so much. Then the album title made sense. X&Y refers to men and women. That's how I see it at least. And it explains the majority of the tracks being love songs.

The little quote I have up there below my blog title is from A Message, and it's found in the middle of this:

And I'm not gonna stand and wait
Not gonna leave it until it's much too late
On a platform i'm gonna stand and say
That I'm nothing on my own
And I love you, please come home

My song is love, is love unknown
And I've got to get that message home

If you haven't already listened to it, you really should. It really is such an amazing album, and one I'll be listening to for the rest of my life.