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Viva la Vida

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"Viva la Vida"
Song
B-side"Death Will Never Conquer"

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"Viva la Vida" is the second single from Coldplay's fourth studio album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, first released 7 May 2008. It is Coldplay's biggest hit, charting at number one in the U.K., the U.S., and Germany.

Background

The magazine Q asked Chris Martin about the line "I know Saint Peter won't call my name" sung in "Viva la Vida". Martin replied: "It's about… You're not on the list. I was a naughty boy. It's always fascinated me that idea of finishing your life and then being analyzed on it. And this idea runs throughout most religions. That's why people blow up buildings. Because they think they're going to get lots of virgins. I always feel like saying, just join a band (laughs). That is the most frightening thing you could possibly say to somebody. Eternal damnation. I know about this stuff because I studied it. I was into it all. I know it. It's still mildly terrifying to me. And this is serious."[1] When asked about the song, bass guitarist Guy Berryman said, "It’s a story about a king who’s lost his kingdom, and all the album’s artwork is based on the idea of revolutionaries and guerrillas."[2]

Unlike the typical arrangement of Coldplay songs, in which the piano and/or guitar dominate, "Viva la Vida" mostly consists of a string section playing the song's upbeat riff, along with a steady bass drum beat, bass guitar, and Chris Martin's vocals; there is limited use of electric guitar in the song.

The song's Spanish title, "Viva la Vida" is taken from a painting by 20th century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. It directly translates into English as "Alive [is] the Life", meaning "Long live Life".

Plagiarism allegation

Coldplay were briefly accused of copying portions of "The Songs I Didn't Write" by American alternative band Creaky Boards, for the melody of "Viva la Vida".[3] Creaky Boards' band member Andrew Hoepfner claimed that Chris Martin had heard the track at one of their shows. Coldplay denied the claims; band spokesman Murray Chambers said "Chris was working in AIR Studios in London" at that time.[4] Creaky Boards later retracted the accusations and now speculate that both songs may have been inspired by the video game The Legend of Zelda.[4]

Release and promotion

"Viva la Vida" was initially released only with iTunes Store pre-orders of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends on 7 May 2008 as the "New Edit" of the song, which led to the song's temporary exclusion from the UK Singles Chart. It was released as a download-only single on 25 May 2008, and a physical CD single in Europe on 29 July 2008, to coincide with the release of the single's music videos.

The song was used as part of Apple Inc.'s iPod + iTunes advertisement campaign, while Coldplay performed the song live for the first time at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards.

There have also been discussions regarding similarities in the music between Viva La Vida and J'en ai Marre, by French singer Alizee Jacotay.

Music videos

The official music video for "Viva la Vida" was directed by Hype Williams and premièred at Coldplay's official website on August 1.[5] The video features the band performing in multi-colour backgrounds, including the album's artwork (used for the majority of the video) and speeding clouds (used in between verses and in parts of the final chorus). The video ends with every band member crumbling to rose petals that fly into the air.

A second, alternate video was directed by Anton Corbijn and released alongside the first.[6] This second version is a tribute to Corbijn's video for Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" and portrays Chris Martin as the king from whose perspective the song is sung. During the video, he carries a larger framed version of the cover art for the album. At the end, we see him hang the picture up in a white stall on top of a hill. As he sings the last chorus, his band mates surface heading his way, tying in loose ends from the "Violet Hill" video.

Track listing

Digital download

  1. "Viva la Vida (New Edit)" - 4:04

Promotional CD

  1. "Viva la Vida (Radio Edit)" – 3:45
  2. "Viva la Vida (Full Album Version)" – 4:01

CD release

  1. "Viva la Vida" – 4:01
  2. "Death Will Never Conquer" – 1:17

Chart performance

"Viva la Vida" has become the band's most successful song, becoming their first number one in both the U.S. and the UK. Fuelled by high digital sales, the song debuted at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, and later became the band's first #1 single and their second top ten on the Hot 100. It is the first song by a British group to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls in 1997, and it is the first song by a British rock band to top the chart since UB40's 1993 song "Can't Help Falling in Love". Although at first the song was primarily successful in digital sales in the U.S., after being released it went on to become the band's biggest radio hit in the U.S., becoming their first top twenty hit on the Hot 100 Airplay, where it peaked at #11. It was also successful on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart reaching number one, their first number one on the chart, beating out previous songs "Talk" and "Speed of Sound" which peaked at #5 on the same chart. On the Adult Top 40, the song has become the band's first number one, as well as the first single on the Capitol Records label to ever top the chart.[7]

Although the song had been disqualified from the UK charts due to initially being available only by pre-ordering the album on iTunes, it became eligible to chart after the album was released and hit #1, becoming Coldplay's first chart-topping single in the UK. After descending to number 2 just a week and number 7 the following week, the single dropped out of the top 10, but over a month later on 17th August 2008, it re-entered the top 10 at number 10, probably due to the release of the Viva La Vida music video on UK music channels.

The song reached the top ten in Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Canada, Ireland and Australia, becoming Coldplay's highest charting single in most of those countries.

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Australia Singles Chart[8] 2
Canada Hot 100[9] 4
Europe Hot 100[10] 3
France Singles Chart[11] 12
German Singles Chart[12][13] 1
Italy Singles Chart[14] 2
Irish Singles Chart[15] 3
Israeli Singles Chart[16] 1
Japan Hot 100[17] 3
Luxemburg Singles Chart[18] 1
New Zealand Singles Chart[19] 17
Norway Singles Chart[20] 5
Sweden Singles Chart[21] 9
Turkey (Billboard) Top 20 Chart[22] 9
U.K. Singles Chart[23] 1
U.S. Billboard Triple A[24] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks[25] 4
U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[26] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[27] 1
U.S. Billboard Pop 100[28] 7
United World Chart 1

References

  1. ^ Youngs, Ian (2008-06-06). "Joining Coldplay's musical journey". BBC. Retrieved 2008-06-25. Coldplay have hailed their new album, Viva La Vida Or Death To All His Friends, as the start of a new era. The results of their musical journey are now ready for fans to hear, so here is a track-by-track guide to the album.
  2. ^ The Q Daily / Coldplay: Viva La Vida
  3. ^ The Independent
  4. ^ a b Martin, Nicole (2008-06-20). ""Coldplay didn't copy us, says American band"".
  5. ^ First video at Coldplay.com
  6. ^ Second video at Coldplay.com
  7. ^ Billboard Chart Beat
  8. ^ ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. Issue date: June 30, 2008. Retrieved on June 29, 2008.
  9. ^ [1] Issue date: June 14, 2008. Retrieved on June 17, 2008.
  10. ^ [2]. Issue date: September 6, 2008. Retrieved on August 30, 2008.
  11. ^ [3] Issue date: August 20, 2008. Retrieved on August 20, 2008.
  12. ^ ""Paul Potts (is) newer Splits-rider (on)the Album-Charts (Paul Potts is the new leader on the Album-Charts)"" (in German). Media Control Deutschland. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-08-21. Issue date: July 31, 2008.
  13. ^ ""Coldplay toback (on)the Split (Coldplay back on the Top)"" (in German). Media Control Deutschland. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-08-21. Issue date: July 22, 2008.
  14. ^ [4]. Issue date: August 18, 2008. Retrieved on August 21, 2008.
  15. ^ [5]. Issue date: June 19, 2008. Retrieved on June 20, 2008.
  16. ^ Israeli Singles Chart Issue date: June 19, 2008. Retrieved on June 20, 2008.
  17. ^ [6]. Issue date: June 20, 2008. Retrieved on June 17, 2008.
  18. ^ [7]. Issue date: August 2, 2008. Retrieved on August 4, 2008.
  19. ^ [8]. Issue date: August 18, 2008. Retrieved on August 21, 2008.
  20. ^ [9]. Issue date: May 25. Retrieved on June 18, 2008.
  21. ^ [10]. Issue date: May 15, 2008. Retrieved on June 21, 2008.
  22. ^ Turkey Top 20 Chart Retrieved on 2008-09-02
  23. ^ [11]. Retrieved on August 21, 2008.
  24. ^ [12]. Issue date: July 12, 2008. Retrieved on June 5, 2008.
  25. ^ [13]. Issue date: August 2, 2008. Retrieved on July 28, 2008.
  26. ^ [14]. Issue date: August 2, 2008. Retrieved on July 28, 2008.
  27. ^ Pietroluongo, Silvio (2008-06-18). "Coldplay To Assume Control Of Billboard Hot 100". Billboard magazine. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
  28. ^ [15]. Issue date: June 21, 2008. Retrieved on June 17, 2008.

External links

Preceded by UK Singles Chart number-one single
June 22 2008 - June 28, 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
June 28 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
August 30, 2008 - September 6 - 2008 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Viva_la_Vida&oldid=236229727"