Line #273 Music/Coldplay


1	[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/coldplay.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:500:Left to right: Will Champion, Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman.]]
3
4	[floatboxright:Influences:
5	+ Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/{{U2}}, Music/JeffBuckley, Music/{{Oasis}}, Music/{{Travis}}, Music/TheBeatles, Music/EchoAndTheBunnymen, Music/KateBush, Music/{{Muse}}, Music/TheVerve, Music/JohnnyCash, Music/{{Kraftwerk}}, Music/{{Blur}}, Music/MyBloodyValentine, Music/ArcadeFire, Music/BrianEno, Music/TheVelvetUnderground
6	]
7
8	[floatboxright:Related Acts:
9	+ Apparatjik (Berryman)]
10
11	-> ''Look at the stars\
12	Look how they shine for you\
13	And everything you do\
14	And it was all yellow.''
15	-->-- "Yellow"
16
17	Coldplay is an AlternativeRock group from UsefulNotes/{{London}}, and easily one of the biggest bands to come from that genre as well as one of the most popular bands in the world during the [[TurnofTheMillennium 2000s]] and, by extension, the single most commercially successful band of the 21st century.
18
19	After forming in 1996 at university and issuing several low-key releases during the back-end of the '90s, they hit the big time in 2000 with the [[BreakthroughHit breakthrough success]] of their single "Yellow", which would later be included on their debut album, ''Music/{{Parachutes}}''. The rest of their oeuvre leading up to the mid-2000s -- ''Music/ARushOfBloodToTheHead'' and ''Music/XAndY'' -- continued the success, but also gave the band a reputation for [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks their songs sounding too similar]] (the singles "Speed of Sound" and "Clocks" being frequently singled out for comparison).
20
21	Their fourth album, 2008's ''Music/VivaLaVidaOrDeathAndAllHisFriends'', [[NewSoundAlbum changed this]]. [[RecordProducer Produced]] by Music/BrianEno, it rewrote the band's fundamentals, introducing experimentation of both the instrumental variety (ex: OminousPipeOrgan, honky-tonk piano, elaborate string sections) and the arrangement variety (ex: [[UncommonTime weirder time signatures]], unusual song structures). Despite some [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks fan pushback]], it was the highest-selling album of the year worldwide.
22
23	Between TheNewTens and now, the band has experimented further by diving into the genres of anthemic electronica (''Music/MyloXyloto''), lush ambient/alternative pop (''[[Music/GhostStoriesAlbum Ghost Stories]]''), upbeat pop rock (''Music/AHeadFullOfDreams''), art pop (''Music/EverydayLife''), and space pop rock (''Music/MusicOfTheSpheres'').
24
25	The band has also released four {{Live Album}}s -- ''Live 2003'' (from Sydney), ''[=LeftRightLeftRightLeft=]'' (2009), which is [[http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=395 available for free from their website]], ''Live 2012'', which is also a DVD, and ''Live in Buenos Aires'' in 2018, later re-released as ''The Butterfly Package'' including said concert, plus another one filmed in São Paulo and their ''A Head Full of Dreams'' documentary.
26
27	[[AC:Members:]]
28	* Chris Martin - The band's leader, and a rather famous celebrity. Serves as the band's lead vocalist, lead pianist, rhythm guitarist (usually an acoustic), and primary songwriter. He was married to Creator/GwynethPaltrow from 2003 to 2014.
29	* Jonny Buckland - Lead guitarist. Has a recognisable signature minimalist sound, and has been compared to [[Music/{{U2}} The Edge]].
30	* Guy Berryman - Bassist. He is also a member of the completely different supergroup Apparatjik.
31	* Will Champion - Drummer. Was sacked early in the band's career, but quickly re-hired (causing Chris to [[CantHoldHisLiquor get himself drunk on vodka]] as punishment). [[StepUpToTheMicrophone Occasionally sings lead vocals.]]
32	* Phil Harvey - Creative director (often considered by fans and even the band themselves as being a fifth member due to his involvement in the band's visual imagery).
33
34	[[AC:Discography with singles:]]
35	[[index]]
36	* 2000 - ''Music/{{Parachutes}}''
37	** [[https://youtu.be/u8XFFTWwSvY "Shiver"]]
38	** [[https://youtu.be/yKNxeF4KMsY "Yellow"]]
39	** [[https://youtu.be/kcASPx3-HuI "Trouble"]]
40	** [[https://youtu.be/yWeuUwpEQfs "Don't Panic"]]
41	* 2002 - ''Music/ARushOfBloodToTheHead''
42	** [[https://youtu.be/gnIZ7RMuLpU "In My Place"]]
43	** [[https://youtu.be/RB-RcX5DS5A "The Scientist"]]
44	** [[https://youtu.be/d020hcWA_Wg "Clocks"]]
45	** [[https://youtu.be/qhIVgSoJVRc "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face"]]
46	* 2005 - ''Music/XAndY''
47	[[/index]]
48	** [[https://youtu.be/0k_1kvDh2UA "Speed of Sound"]]
49	** [[https://youtu.be/k4V3Mo61fJM "Fix You"]]
50	** [[https://youtu.be/EH9meoWmAOM "Talk"]] [[note]] the riff was adapted from Music/{{Kraftwerk}}'s "Computer Love" from ''Music/ComputerWorld'' with permission[[/note]]
51	** [[https://youtu.be/WAGbq3A9HfA "The Hardest Part"]]
52	** [[https://youtu.be/FdD6RMICpfg "What If"]] [[note]]UsefulNotes/{{France}} and UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} only[[/note]]
53	** [[https://youtu.be/h-CldBQD4S8 "White Shadows"]] [[note]]UsefulNotes/{{Mexico}} only, no music video[[/note]]
54	[[index]]
55	* 2008 - ''Music/VivaLaVidaOrDeathAndAllHisFriends''
56	** [[https://youtu.be/IakDItZ7f7Q "Violet Hill"]]
57	** [[https://youtu.be/dvgZkm1xWPE "Viva la Vida"]]
58	** [[https://youtu.be/OTFFQkdhw6Q "Lovers in Japan"]]
59	** [[https://youtu.be/Pkgeai985rA "Lost!"]]
60	** [[https://youtu.be/h3pJZSTQqIg "Strawberry Swing"]]
61	* 2011 - ''Music/MyloXyloto''
62	[[/index]]
63	** [[https://youtu.be/fyMhvkC3A84 "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall"]]
64	** [[https://youtu.be/1G4isv_Fylg "Paradise"]]
65	** [[https://youtu.be/zTFBJgnNgU4 "Charlie Brown"]]
66	** [[https://youtu.be/1Uw6ZkbsAH8 "Princess Of China"]][[note]](ft. {{Music/Rihanna}})[[/note]]
67	** [[https://youtu.be/C8KV0mzqTXY "Hurts Like Heaven"]]
68	** [[https://youtu.be/AKlSE32BjZg "Up With The Birds"]][[note]]no video[[/note]]
69	[[index]]
70	* 2014 - ''[[Music/GhostStoriesAlbum Ghost Stories]]''
71	** [[https://youtu.be/BQeMxWjpr-Y "Midnight"]]
72	** [[https://youtu.be/Qtb11P1FWnc "Magic"]]
73	** [[https://youtu.be/VPRjCeoBqrI "A Sky Full Of Stars"]]
74	** [[https://youtu.be/Wpl_6jotaHA "True Love"]]
75	* 2015 - ''Music/AHeadFullOfDreams''
76	[[/index]]
77	** [[https://youtu.be/QtXby3twMmI "Adventure of a Lifetime"]]
78	** [[https://youtu.be/YykjpeuMNEk "Hymn for the Weekend"]][[note]](ft. {{Music/Beyonce}})[[/note]]
79	** [[https://youtu.be/BPNTC7uZYrI "Up&Up"]]
80	[[index]]
81	* 2019 - ''Music/EverydayLife''
82	** [[https://youtu.be/PXKYA-zmzTY "Orphans"]]
83	* 2021 - ''Music/MusicOfTheSpheres''
84	[[/index]]
85	** [[https://youtu.be/3lfnR7OhZY8 "Higher Power"]]
86	** [[https://youtu.be/kWUV5-frRU4 "Coloratura"]]
87	** [[https://youtu.be/3YqPKLZF_WU "My Universe"]][[note]](ft. {{Music/BTS}})[[/note]]
88	** [[https://youtu.be/CWCMGIG1Y54 "Let Somebody Go"]][[note]](ft. Music/SelenaGomez)[[/note]]
89	** [[https://youtu.be/_MOmdDLQVn4 "People of the Pride"]]
90	** [[https://youtu.be/raHLFg6bkNI "Biutyful"]]
91
92	* Other singles: [[https://youtu.be/HyLO-NtFM_Y&feature=related "Brothers & Sisters"]], [[https://youtu.be/CDPjuzzAlB4 "Lhuna"]][[note]]with Music/KylieMinogue[[/note]], [[https://youtu.be/fXSovfzyx28 "Life in Technicolor ii"]] (taken from ''Prospekt's March'', an EP with alternate versions and outtakes from the ''Viva la Vida'' sessions), [[https://youtu.be/z1rYmzQ8C9Q "Christmas Lights"]], [[https://youtu.be/Lh3TokLzzmw "Atlas"]] (from the soundtrack of ''[[Film/TheHungerGamesCatchingFire The Hunger Games: Catching Fire]]''), [[https://youtu.be/FYogZ1KER_k "Miracles"]] (from the soundtrack of ''Film/{{Unbroken}}'')
93
94	----
95	!!''Look at the tropes, look how they shine for you...''
96
97	* AdvertisedExtra: Music/ToveLo in "Fun". Though given a feature credit, she never sings any lines on her own and is really just a glorified backup singer.
98	* AlbumClosure: One of the first lyrics in ''Music of the Spheres'' is "I'm not going to make it" ("Higher Power"). The final lyric of the album is "Together, that's how we'll make it through" ("Coloratura").
99	* AlbumTitleDrop: Subverted for the most part.
100	** Every album has a TitleTrack, but the only ones to mention the album title are ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'' and ''A Head Full of Dreams''.
101	** A partial example is "I don't want to follow [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Death and all of his friends]]", which includes the [[EitherOrTitle alternate title]] of ''Viva la Vida''.
102	** "X and Y" is a lyric in "The World Turned Upside Down," [[SubvertedTrope a B-side that isn't on]] ''X&Y''.
103	* AlienSky:
104	** Invoked in "Speed of Sound":
105	---> ''Look up, I look up at night''\
106	''Planets are moving at the speed of light''
107	** At the end of the "Higher Power" music video, there's not one, but ''two'' planets clearly visible in the sky, both extremely close to Kaotica (where the music video takes place).
108	* AlwaysABiggerFish: In "Lost!":
109	-->''You might be a big fish''\
110	''In a little pond''\
111	''Doesn't mean you've won''\
112	'''Cause along may come''\
113	''A bigger one''
114	* AngelicAliens: Angel Moon from the ''Music of the Spheres'' music videos is delicate, translucent, and [[PhosphorEssence luminescent]]. She moves in a graceful, willowy manner.
115	* AnimatedMusicVideo:
116	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYtk1Z0UUuE "Strawberry Swing"]], though credit for the idea and execution go to [[http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=448 Shynola]].[[note]]Well, it wasn't technically animated, unless stop-motion with chalk drawings and Chris Martin lying on the ground counts.[[/note]]
117	** Also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8KV0mzqTXY&feature=branded "Hurts Like Heaven"]].
118	** Creator/AardmanAnimations created a mixed-media video for "Daddy" with real-time puppetry and hand-drawn animation.
119	* AprilFoolsDay: "Coldplay launch their own fragrance, [[http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=618 Angst by Coldplay]]". Also fits under SelfParody and TakeThat (at the critics describing them as [[{{Wangst}} too angsty]]).
120	* ArcSymbol: Exaggerated in ''Mylo Xyloto''. Every single song [[http://onethirtybpm.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Mylo-Xyloto-Tracklist.png has its own symbol]], some of them obvious but others only understandable in context (e.g. the butterfly representing "Paradise" is mentioned in the lyrics).
121	* AsTheGoodBookSays: "Viva la Vida" includes biblical references; for one example, the line about pillars of salt and sand references the story of Lot's wife[[note]]Angels told Lot to take his family and flee the sinful city of Sodom and not to look back no matter what. Lot’s wife could not resist the temptation to look back and was transformed into a pillar of salt.[[/note]] and the parable of the wise and foolish builders[[note]]The wise builder built his house on the rock, which stayed there, while the foolish builder built his house on sand, which got swept away and felled.[[/note]].
122	* AudienceParticipationSong: Many, the biggest being "Viva la Vida" ("Whoooooah oh oh oh oh!").
123	* {{Autotune}}: "Midnight" utilizes a soft vocoder on Chris' vocals that becomes more apparent when played live and fielded many comparisons to Music/BonIver.
124	* BackToFront: The music video for "The Scientist" has a reverse narrative, starting at the end of the story and concluding at the beginning with every scene shown backwards.
125	* BeingEvilSucks: A common interpretation of "Viva la Vida".
126	-->''Just a puppet on a lonely string.\
127	Oh, who would ever want to be king?''
128	* BigBrotherIsWatchingYou: "Major Minus", based off of the titular BigBad of the ''Mylo Xyloto'' MythArc, who is very much the Big Brother of the story.
129	-->''They got one eye watching you\
130	And one eye on what you do\
131	So be careful who it is you're talking to''
132	* BittersweetEnding: The story of heartbreak from a recently-terminated relationship chronicled throughout ''Ghost Stories'' ends on a note of acceptance from the protagonist in the finale of "O", who's willing to move on but will never forget what the relationship meant to him.
133	* BigFriendlyDog: One of them joins the band in the woods in the "Midnight" video.
134	* {{Bookends}}:
135	** ''Viva la Vida'':
136	*** The opening track "Life in Technicolor" fades into the [[RecurringRiff same ambient sample]] that the hidden final track "The Escapist" builds its foundation and fades out on.
137	*** "42" begins and ends with Chris quietly singing the same lyrics over piano.
138	--->''Those who are dead are not dead''\
139	''They're just living in my head''
140	** ''Ghost Stories'':
141	*** The opening track "Always in My Head" prominently uses the same angelic choir sounds as the hidden final track "O".
142	*** The song "Another's Arms" begins and ends with the same lines.
143	--->''Late night watching TV''\
144	''Used to be you here beside me''\
145	''Used to be your arms around me''\
146	''Your body on my body''
147	** A minor one on ''A Rush of Blood to the Head''; both the opening and closing tracks ("Politik" and "Amsterdam", respectively) are exactly 5:19. More interestingly, they're both tuned up with A4 at 448Hz, whereas most music nowadays has A4 at 440Hz.
148	* BoyBand: When they first started, the group created an alter ego boy band called Pectoralz as a joke. No gigs were performed under the name.
149	* BreakUpSong: ''Ghost Stories'' is essentially and [[ConceptAlbum conceptually]] a breakup album, considering it was made around the time when Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow divorced.
150	* BrokenRecord: Invoked in "Higher Power":
151	-->''I'm like a broken record\
152	I'm like a broken record and I'm not playin' right\
153	[[RewindGag Drocer nekorb a ekil mi]]''
154	* CallAndResponseSong: "Adventure of a Lifetime" turns into this in its outro.
155	* CallBack: "Adventure of a Lifetime" is the band's second video involving animals discovering instruments and playing them after "Paradise" (although the "Paradise" video was just the band members in suits, "Adventure" has motion-capture monkeys).
156	* TheCameo: [[{{Music/Oasis}} Noel Gallagher]] provides the epic guitar solo on "Up&Up".
157	* CarefulWithThatAxe: Chris's wailing in the live B-side "Pour Me". It's brief, but incredibly disconcerting.
158	* ChangingChorus: "Viva La Vida":
159	** The last four lines of the first chorus:
160	--->For some reason I can't explain\
161	Once you'd gone, there was never\
162	Never an honest word\
163	But that was when I ruled the world
164	** The last four lines of the remaining choruses:
165	--->For some reason I can't explain\
166	I know Saint Peter won't call my name\
167	Never an honest word\
168	But that was when I ruled the world
169	* CharacterTitle: "Major Minus" from ''Mylo Xyloto'', despite being a NonAppearingTitle. It also doubles as an AntagonistTitle, as he's the BigBad of the ''Mylo Xyloto'' comic adaptations.
170	* CherubicChoir: Used to beautiful effect in "O", with Chris Martin's children providing the vocals.
171	* ChristmasSongs: "Christmas Lights" is a melancholic one about heartbreak at Christmas.
172	* ComicBookAdaptation: There is a comic adaptation of ''Mylo Xyloto'', released in early 2013.
173	* ConceptAlbum:
174	** ''Mylo Xyloto'' has [[MythArc one hell of a story]]. It takes place in the [[Creator/GeorgeOrwell Orwellian]] society of [[MeaningfulName Silencia]], run by [[BigBad Major Minus]] [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou via media and propaganda.]] His goal is [[CrapsackWorld to strip the streets of sound and color]] to drive away creatures named feeders that use such energy to hunt. The two words in the album title are actually two names: Mylo is a silencer tasked in hunting down sparkers that create sparks with light and energy, and Xyloto is the sparker most wanted by Major Minus. Through Xyloto, Mylo discovers that he has sparker powers and is affiliated with [[LaResistance the Car Kids]], a sparker faction founded by his parents.
175	** ''Ghost Stories'' is one as well. Taking partial inspiration from Chris' rocky relationship with his wife Gwyneth Paltrow (at least at the time of the album recording), the album revolves around a man going through a dramatic and sudden breakup, with the tracks representing the man's state of mind leading up to his eventual acceptance of the situation.
176	** ''Music of the Spheres'' takes place in a galaxy called "the Spheres" which consists of nine planets, two natural satellites, one star, and a nebula. Each planet represents a song on the album. The worldbuilding is expanded in the album's music videos -- music is banned across the Spheres, but ambitious rebels defy the rule all while being hunted by the Silencers, the people who enforce the ban.
177	* ConceptVideo:
178	** The aforementioned "Strawberry Swing".
179	** The video for "The Scientist", in that it uses reverse narrative.
180	** "Hurts Like Heaven" too, and it serves as a prequel to ''Mylo Xyloto'''s ComicBookAdaptation.
181	** "Higher Power" has Chris dancing on the {{Cyberpunk}} alien planet Kaotica, before obtaining SuperSpeed and leaving the planet.
182	** "My Universe" tells the story of three bands living in The Spheres; Coldplay, {{Music/BTS}}, and [[FakeBand Supernova7]]. Music is forbidden across the Spheres and the bands are on different planets (Calypso, Floris, Supersolis), but they're united by DJ Lafrique on her Alien Radio ship through her "holoband". They come together to sing while being hunted by the Silencers. Near the end, the Silencers discover DJ Lafrique's ship, but she puts her ship into hyperdrive and escapes. DancePartyEnding ensues.
183	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Chris Martin tends to get a little wacky in live performances when he's not playing an instrument. Some fans also haven't the slightest idea what the hell he's even talking about in some of his interviews.
184	* TheCoverChangesTheMeaning: As a tribute to MCA, they performed Music/BeastieBoys' "Fight For Your Right" not as the typical firery teenage rebellion song, but a more introspective look into the mind of the frustrated teenage singer via different instumentation and slower tempo, about the clear feeling of powerlessneess he has dealing with his parents and school in his attempts to have something for himself.
185	* CreatorThumbprint: Chris Martin is often depicted on cycles of some kind in his music videos ("Paradise", "A Head Full of Dreams", "Champion of the World").
186	* CueTheSun: The UK music video for "Trouble" takes place in a dimly-lit warehouse but ends with a sunrise...[[spoiler:that turns out to be fake and part of a theater backdrop]].
187	* CypherLanguage: For their album ''Music of the Spheres'', each planet has an accompanying alien language.
188	** Specifically for their single "Higher Power", they created an alien {{Wingdinglish}} CypherLanguage called Kaotican. It was used heavily during the early marketing as a puzzle for fans to crack.
189	* DarkerAndEdgier:
190	** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gf0njGOJ1o original European music video for "Trouble"]] in comparison to the more well-known one, which has Chris singing while tied to a chair in a dark warehouse juxtaposed with Buckland and Champion forcing Berryman into another chair.
191	** ''Ghost Stories'' also counts, as it's much darker than most of ''Mylo Xyloto'' and is actually kind of depressing, with a BittersweetEnding to contrast ''Mylo''[='=]s HappyEnding.
192	* DeathByMusicVideo: The video for "Talk" ends with the band in their UFO being eaten by a giant robot because one of the members stole its power knob earlier.
193	* DeliberatelyMonochrome:
194	** The video for "Midnight", which uses both negative and thermal infrared imagery, is entirely in black-and-white (aside from some SplashOfColor-esque effects) except for the final shot.
195	** The video for "Talk" as well, invoking the style of early sci-fi movies, where the band is traveling in a FlyingSaucer and wake up a giant robot. [[EatenAlive Which then eats their ship, with them in it]].
196	* DisappearedDad: "Daddy" is from the perspective of a kid whose father has run away. To make matters worse, it's his birthday.
197	* DistinctDoubleAlbum: ''Everyday Life'' has a ''Sunrise'' and a ''Sunset'' half, though it fits on a single CD.
198	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The sound of ''Parachutes'' shifts towards IndieRock at times, and the album as a whole is incredibly soft-spoken compared to its more bombastic, arena rock-y successors.
199	** Their early [=EPs=] a bit more so to ''Parachutes'', with Chris's vocals being more timid and their sound being more straight-forward indie rock in comparison due to their less polished production and containing more atmospheric feelings, having notable influences of PsychedelicRock and DreamPop in them. A good point of comparison is the different versions of "Don't Panic" recorded for ''Parachutes'' and ''The Blue Room'' [=EP=].
200	* EatenAlive: In the music video for "Talk", the band members suffer this fate at the hands of a giant toy robot at the end -- though to be fair, one of the band members stole a knob from the robot.
201	* EitherOrTitle: '''''Viva la Vida''' or '''Death and All His Friends'''''.
202	* EpicInstrumentalOpener:
203	** "Life in Technicolor" for ''Viva la Vida''. The track originally had lyrics, but they were cut at the last minute. The non-instrumental (but still epic) version was released later as "Life in Technicolor II".
204	** Inverted with ''Ghost Stories'', which has an Epic Instrumental Closer in the ambient hidden track "O".
205	** The title track to the ''Sunrise'' half of ''Everyday Life'' opens the album with a gorgeous string composition.
206	* EpicRocking:
207	** Most of the tracks from ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'' (and at least two from ''Parachutes'') exceed five minutes in length, with its TitleTrack nearly reaching six.
208	** B-sides "Gravity" and "Up&Up" have also exceeded six minutes.
209	** The "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love" medley is almost seven (whereas "Chinese Sleep Chant" and "The Escapist", as hidden tracks, are considered separate to "Yes" and "Death and All His Friends" respectively).
210	** Live renditions get similar treatment, with the ''Live 2012'' version of "Yellow" falling just behind the seven-minute mark and certain songs from ''Live 2003'' extending a minute longer than their original studio recordings.
211	** "Arabesque" from ''Everyday Life'' is the latest track to exceed the five-and-a-half-minute mark, inspired by the long-form songwriting of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Several of Kuti's children make guest appearances on this track, as well as a posthumous spoken word sample of his own ("Music is the weapon, music is the weapon of the people").
212	** ''Music of the Spheres'' features the track "Coloratura", which is the band's longest track to date at just over ten minutes.
213	* EtherealChoir:
214	** The strange child-like noises during the beginning, bridge and end of "Charlie Brown" can be this. Doubles as CreepyChildrenSinging.
215	** The angelic choir that appears in the [[BookEnds first track and hidden finale of]] ''Ghost Stories''; the album's finale also features Chris Martin's own children singing to this effect.
216	* EvilBrunetteTwin: Used in the music video for "Magic". Chris Martin not only plays the hero, but also the villain, a mix of StageMagician and DastardlyWhiplash.
217	* FaceDeathWithDignity: "Death Will Never Conquer", a B-side to "Viva la Vida", is a cheery song sung by a person who accepts their mortality, begging to their loved ones to "let them go" when they die, even if, at the end, they mention they don't want to go.
218	* FadingIntoTheNextSong:
219	** ''Viva la Vida'' contains very subtle transitions between "Life in Technicolor" and "Cemeteries of London", and "Viva la Vida" and "Violet Hill".
220	** Happens quite a bit in ''Mylo Xyloto'' -- "Mylo Xyloto" transitions into "Hurts Like Heaven," "M.M.I.X." transitions into "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," "U.F.O." transitions into "Princess of China," and "A Hopeful Transition" transitions into "Don't Let It Break Your Heart," which then transitions into "Up With the Birds".
221	** On ''Ghost Stories'', there's a split-second overlap between "True Love" and "Midnight", and "Oceans" has an ambient outro that effectively sets the stage mood-wise for -- and transitions into -- "A Sky Full of Stars".
222	* FakeBand: In ''Music of the Spheres'':
223	** [=Supernova7=] in the "My Universe" music video, an alien band from the fictional planet Supersolis.
224	** "The Weirdos" are a fictional alien band that purportedly created the song "Biutyful" (sometimes credited as featuring both Coldplay and The Weirdos). The band is composed of puppets[[note]]Main singer Angel Moon, drummer Donk, guitarist Sparkman, keyboardist the Wizard, and manager Bruce Cakemix[[/note]] and appears in the music video for their song. The puppets, alongside Chris Martin, also did a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKOzprv81kA live interview]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utm8SQn2rRY performance]] on Series/TheTonightShowStarringJimmyFallon to promote "Biutyful".
225	* FastAsLightning: In the “Higher Power” music video, Chris is given "electric powers", including SuperSpeed. Flurries of colourful electric light follow him as he runs.
226	-->''This boy is electric and you’re sparklin' like the universe connected\
227	And I'm buzzin' night after night after night''
228	* ForbiddenLove: "My Universe" is a song about defying this. Chris Martin has stated that it's about "someone being told they can’t love a certain other person, or can’t be with this race, or they can’t be gay, whatever it might be."
229	-->''And they said that we can't be together\
230	Because, because we come from different sides''
231	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The vocal harmonies that close "Viva la Vida" can be heard in the final four bars of the second verse.
232	* GratuitousPanning: The opening guitar of "Warning Sign" is panned to the right.
233	* HeterosexualLifePartners: [[HoYay Chris and Jonny]]. The entire band, to a lesser extent.
234	* HeartbeatSoundtrack: At the end of "Don't Let It Break Your Heart".
235	* HiddenTrack:
236	** The band has an affinity for including extra songs omitted from the tracklist on the tail-ends of others.
237	*** On ''Parachutes'', "Everything's Not Lost" contains one called "Life is for Living".
238	*** On ''Viva la Vida'', "Yes" contains one called "Chinese Sleep Chant", and "Death and All His Friends" contains one called "The Escapist".
239	** On ''X&Y'', the album-closing hidden song "Til Kingdom Come" (left off the tracklist, but credited as [[LuckyCharmsTitle "+"]] on the disc and booklet) is uniquely given its own standalone track.
240	** ''Ghost Stories'' has a [[PlayingWithATrope really weird]] example. The ninth and final track on the album's tracklist is listed as "O," despite the fact that the first song that plays is actually titled "Fly On." "O" is, in fact, the hidden track that plays about two minutes after "Fly On" ends.
241	** "X Marks the Spot" on ''A Head Full Of Dreams''.
242	** The physical release of ''Everyday Life'' features a chain of eight hidden tracks in between the ''Sunrise'' and ''Sunset'' halves which play a field recording of WestminsterChimes and other ambient noise. Each one is represented by a single character ultimately spelling "GOD=LOVE"; if one wishes to get technical this now means the band has ''three'' hidden tracks titled "O".
243	* {{Hologram}}: Holograms seem to be commonplace in the Spheres from ''Music of the Spheres'':
244	** The same group of multicolored holographic dancers appear in the official music video for "Higher Power", along with the official audio video and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiqEEr7CK2g Coldplay's 2021 BRIT Awards performance of the same song]].
245	** In the "My Universe" music video, DJ Lafrique helps Coldplay, {{Music/BTS}}, and [=Supernova7=] communicate by transporting them as holograms to each other's planets.
246	* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: The protagonist of "Viva la Vida" is a king that once had everything but now has nothing as he looks back on his reign and laments his fate.
247	--> I used to roll the dice\
248	Feel the fear in my enemies' eyes\
249	Listen as the crowd would sing\
250	"Now the old King is dead, long live the King!"\
251	One minute I held the key\
252	Next the walls were closed on me\
253	And I discovered that my castles stand\
254	Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
255	* IndecipherableLyrics: The hidden track to "Yes", called "Chinese Sleep Chant".
256	* IntercourseWithYou:
257	** "Yes" (the first part) can easily be interpreted as a song about sexual frustration, with lyrics like:
258	--->''We were dying of frustration\
259	Singing 'Lord, lead me not into temptation'\
260	But it's not easy when she turns you on''
261	** "Lhuna", their collaboration with Music/KylieMinogue, is so sexual that Chris ended up deeming it too adult to put on an album.
262	* InTheStyleOf: Chris has retroactively admitted to "Speed of Sound" most directly stemming from listening to a lot of Music/KateBush, with the song's drumbeat taking explicit leads from Bush's song "Running Up That Hill".
263	* KidsRock: Children sing in the backing of “Orphans”, and Chris’s son Moses provides the “boom boom ka” beat.
264	* KnifeThrowingAct: In the music video for "Magic", this is featured. In the extended edition of the video, Chris Martin's character is stabbed through the heart. Luckily for him, this is [[AllJustADream only a dream]].
265	* KnightInSourArmor: "Don't Panic" seems to be sung from the perspective of one. The narrator spends the song lamenting about the Earth being destroyed by either an apocalypse or the human race's own negligence, notes in the chorus that "we live in a beautiful world" (perhaps sarcastically), but ends the song with something of a change of heart, stating that everyone has a loved one they can hold onto.
266	* LifeDeathJuxtaposition: Rampant throughout ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends''. The title translates to "Long Live Life or Death and All His Friends". The first song begins with the word "life", "Life in Technicolour", and the last song begins with the word "death", "Death and All His Friends". This fits with the album's themes of life, death, revolution, and rebirth.
267	* LineOfSightName: Before the band became famous, Chris had a song in mind that began like this: "Look at the stars/Look how they shine for you/And all the things you do." Unfortunately, at the end of every few lines, he drew a blank where he felt some lyrics should go. While singing the unfinished song to a dart-playing Jonny Buckland, he noticed a copy of the Yellow Pages off to the side. You can probably figure out the rest from there.
268	%%* LightIsGood: The band performs at night in front of a glowing wall of colored lights in the "Speed of Sound" video.
269	* LonelyPianoPiece: "Fly On" and "Daddy" are straight examples, while "Amsterdam" starts off as this but turns into a rock song near the end.
270	* LongRunnerLineUp: Twenty-five years and counting. Considering they've announced their intention to retire in a couple of years, a good candidate for this trope's LogicalExtreme.
271	* LongestSongGoesLast: ''Parachutes'', ''Ghost Stories'', ''A Head Full of Dreams'', and ''Music of the Spheres''.
272	** Specifically for ''Music of the Spheres'', the finale "Coloratura" is Coldplay's longest song to date at over 10 minutes.
273	* LoveMakesYouEvil: "A Rush of Blood to the Head" is about the narrator burning a building to the ground to try to get his lover back. Doubles as ThroughTheEyesOfMadness.
274	** Some thought of it more like [[Film/ForrestGump Forrest demolishing the house Jenny grew up in.]]
275	---> ''I'm going to buy this place and see it burn''\
276	''Do back the things it did to you in return''
277	* LuckyCharmsTitle: "Til Kingdom Come", [[HiddenTrack while officially left off the track list]], is credited as "+" in the ''X&Y'' disc label and album booklet.
278	* LyricalDissonance:
279	** "42". At least, the jaunty part in the middle.
280	--->''You didn't get to heaven, but you made it close!''
281	** "Shiver". It's strongly implied that the song's protagonist is [[StalkerWithACrush following his love around]], trying to keep her from freaking out.
282	** [[BeingEvilSucks "Viva la]] [[ICouldaBeenAContender Vida"]] is ''not'' as happy as its melody suggests.
283	** "Don't Panic" is a gentle, lovely song about the fact that people are slowly killing the world. The music video makes it a little more obvious.
284	** "Orphans" is a peppy, hoot-along anthem about...the Syrian Civil War?
285	* LyricsVideoMismatch: The stories portrayed in the music videos for "Talk" and "The Scientist" fit their songs' lyrics shakily at best.
286	* MagiciansAreWizards: Invoked in "Magic."
287	* MeasuringTheMarigolds: "The Scientist".
288	* MinisculeRocking: Happens on several albums, both as standalone songs (such as the title track on ''Parachutes'' and Chris' piano solo "Postcards from Far Away" on ''Prospekt's March'') and ambient interludes (the title track, "M.M.I.X." and "A Hopeful Transmission" on ''Mylo Xyloto'', as well as "Kaleidoscope" and "(Colour Spectrum)" on ''A Head Full of Dreams'').
289	* {{Motif}}: In ''Music of the Spheres'', "We are all one in the universe" and "Everyone is an alien somewhere".
290	* MultilingualSong: Verse two of "Arabesque" from ''Everyday Life'' is sung almost entirely in French before switching back to English for the hook.
291	* MythArc: ''Mylo Xyloto'' has one. See ConceptAlbum.
292	* NamedAfterTheirPlanet: Those from the planet Kaotica are called “Kaoticans.”
293	* NeverBareheaded: Beginning around 2006, Jonny Buckland is never seen in public without a hat (usually a baseball cap). This also includes livestreams.
294	* NeverTrustATitle: No one would guess "Viva la Vida" would be an English song about a fallen king.
295	* NewSoundAlbum: Pretty much every one after their debut.
296	** ''Rush'' and ''X&Y'' elevated the Britpop- and indie-influenced stylings of ''Parachutes'' into a bigger, arena-friendly sound, with the latter incorporating elements of electronic music and space rock.
297	** ''Viva la Vida'' eschewed amplifying previous sounds to invent a new one entirely out of art pop with influences including Middle Eastern strings and [[UncommonTime 7/4 time signatures]].
298	** ''Mylo Xyloto'' is a mashup of all of their older styles, ranging from catchy electronica ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kf_6BWcOOg "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall"]]) to ''Parachutes''-esque ballads ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjONy_4Bz08 "Us Against The World")]] to epic arena rock ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0U0KpuvUNw "Charlie Brown"]]).
299	** ''Ghost Stories'' ranged between ambient music ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeMxWjpr-Y "Midnight"]], [[https://youtu.be/J-6IUdV2dos?t=6m18s "O"]]), piano ballads ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap-HeMIKi-c "Fly On"]]), subdued trip hop/downtempo ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7Ob2ltW_wM "Another's Arms"]]), and EDM produced by Music/{{Avicii}} ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI "A Sky Full of Stars"]]).
300	** ''A Head Full of Dreams'' takes the arena rock sound from ''Mylo Xyloto'' and expands it with the pop tendencies the band was slowly leaning in.
301	** ''Everyday Life'' goes back into a more traditional sound, but expands it with French horn sections ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJNG3WmsOs4 "Arabesque"]]), gospel music ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OgVs4N1Mkk "Broken"]]), blues ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay__ZZvPI2o "Guns"]]) and even soul ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKTA4NpZIAQ "Cry Cry Cry"]]), all of this thanks to the collaboration of musicians from different genres and cultures.
302	** ''Music of the Spheres'' harkens back mostly to the arena pop rock from ''Mylo Xyloto'' and ''A Head Full of Dreams'', while incorporating space influences to it. However, it does deviate from it a few times, with the acapella [[https://youtu.be/sKrsE2lBhu4 "Human Heart"]], the bluesy indie rock [[https://youtu.be/Q4nFTEsez5c "People of the Pride"]] and the ten-minute ProgressiveRock closer [[https://youtu.be/kWUV5-frRU4 "Coloratura"]].
303	* NonAppearingTitle: "Viva la Vida", "Midnight", "Princess of China", "The Scientist", "Hymn for the Weekend", and "Adventure of a Lifetime", among others.
304	* OdeToYouth: "Viva la Vida".
305	* OneManBand: Each band member plays one of them in the video for "A Sky Full of Stars".
306	* TheOner: The music videos for "Yellow" and "Christmas Lights" are shot in a long take.
307	* OutOfGenreExperience: "Chinese Sleep Chant" is straight-up {{shoegazing}}, complete with breathy vocals.
308	* ThePowerOfLove: The narrator of "Amsterdam" feels like their life is in a downward spiral, but finds solace in a lover that's able to help them out of their hole.
309	* PrecisionFStrike:
310	** Given how clean Coldplay's lyrics usually are, ''Everyday Life'' implemented the F-word enough to get ''a Parental Advisory label''.
311	*** The first example is in a field recording of unlawful police detainment played in the crescendo to "Trouble in Town".
312	*** Next is "Arabesque"; having sung the line "We share in the same blood" in the chorus, Chris chooses to punctuate the end of the song with "Same fucking blood!" And to [[RuleOfThree top it off]], Chris drops three more in "Guns", once in each chorus and another in the second verse.
313	** ''Music of the Spheres'' has exactly one F-bomb, located in the first verse of "People of the Pride", a rock song about rebellion and anger at oppression.
314	* ProductPlacement: The Beats Pill in the music video for "Adventure of a Lifetime".
315	* ProtestSong: "Violet Hill", which also offers a bit of a TakeThat against Fox News with the line "And a fox became God".
316	* PungeonMaster: Expect Chris Martin to make ''many'' puns about a certain color whenever "Yellow" is brought up in an interview.
317	* RearrangeTheSong:
318	** "Don't Panic" was originally on one of the band's first [=EPs=], ''The Blue Room'', before achieving success as a single from ''Parachutes''. The EP version of the song has a considerably more spacious and ethereal dream pop-like sound, and also features a different, quieter vocal recording of Chris.
319	** "Lost!" received several variations; it was rearranged for piano ("Lost?") and essentially re-released with a verse from Music/JayZ laid over an instrumental portion of the song ("Lost+").
320	* RereleaseTheSong: "High Speed", like "Don't Panic", began life as a track on their early EP ''The Blue Room'' before being transferred to ''Parachutes''; however, the song wasn't changed at all.
321	* RecordProducer:
322	** They drafted in the godfather of ambient music, Music/BrianEno, for ''Viva la Vida''. It shows.
323	** Before, Ken Nelson co-produced the first two albums and four tracks of the third.
324	* RecycledLyrics:
325	** "If you never try, (then) you'll never know" appears twice on the same album, ''X&Y'', in both "Speed of Sound" and "Fix You".
326	** "All I know / Is I love you so" is the intro for "Biutyful" from ''Music of the Spheres''. The line was also used in the chorus of "Ink" from ''Ghost Stories'', where it was followed with "...so much that it hurts".
327	* RewindGag: The video for "The Scientist" plays backwards from Chris lying on a mattress on a random British street, him walking through the countryside, him getting up and walking after a massive car crash (that killed the girl he was driving with and sent said car down a hill) leaves him uninjured, the crash itself, and the events up to it, leaving him back in the car on the road with the girl buckled up properly (she had unbuckled before the crash, and was thrown through the windshield during it).
328	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The TitleTrack of ''Music/ARushOfBloodToTheHead'' is slightly vague in meaning, but seems to be about doing one of these on the behalf of your loved one.
329	%%* RockOpera: ''Mylo Xyloto'' is one - the story of two people (Mylo and Xyloto) who are "living in an oppressive, dystopian urban environment" meeting and falling in love. And yes, it has a happy ending.
330	%%** ''Mylo Xyloto'' is less of a rock opera and more of a nuanced story, with some basic, traceable things throughout. It really doesn't live up to the "concept album" standard set by [[Music/PinkFloyd a certain English band]].
331	* RecurringRiff: The beginning of "Life in Technicolor" and the entirety of "The Escapist" is the same series of notes. These tracks happen to be at [[BookEnds the start and end]] of ''Viva la Vida'', respectively.
332	* {{Sampling}}:
333	** "Talk" takes its main riff from Music/{{Kraftwerk}}'s "Computer Love", reproduced on electric guitar.
334	** On ''Mylo Xyloto'', the outro of "U.F.O." and the opening of "Princess of China" are [[FadingIntoTheNextSong bridged]] by a sample of ambience from the TitleTrack of Music/SigurRos' ''Takk...'', which then runs through the background of "Princess of China".
335	** A sample of Jon Hopkins' "Light Through the Veins" is used in the opening of "Life in Technicolor" and as the instrumental for "The Escapist".
336	** Similarly, a sample of Hopkins' "Amphora" is used prominently in "Midnight".
337	* SarcasticTitle: "Viva la Vida", meaning "Long Live Life" in English, is told from the perspective of a [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen disgraced king]] who ''definitely'' isn't living life. Some may interpret the song's lyrics to imply the king is near the end of his life.
338	* SdrawkcabSpeech: Although not sung backwards, these lines from "Higher Power":
339	-->''I'm like a [[BrokenRecord broken record]]\
340	I'm like a [[BrokenRecord broken record]] and I'm not playin' right\
341	[[RewindGag Drocer nekorb a ekil mi]]''
342	* SelfParody:
343	** The music video for "Life in Technicolor II". It is a rock concert, complete with pyrotechnics. It's also a [[SubvertedKidsShow puppet show]].
344	** Chris Martin's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnOtmimxSVw guest role]] in an episode of ''{{Series/Extras}}''. He appears to film a charity appeal video together with Andy, but the only thing he's interested in is promoting the "Coldplay Greatest Hits Album".
345	*** Additionally, in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DlvxYmBHYo an interview with Ricky Gervais]], Chris acts like the complete douchebag some people believe him to be.
346	** Chris and Jonny's appearance towards the end of ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead''.
347	** The aforementioned "Angst by Coldplay" advertisement.
348	* SerkisFolk: Coldplay in the video for "Adventure of a Lifetime", where they are depicted as monkeys.
349	* SillyLoveSongs: "A Sky Full of Stars" and "Magic" are two examples of light-hearted romantic songs.
350	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: This is the key thing that distinguishes them from the musically similar Music/{{Radiohead}}. While Radiohead falls more on the "cynical" side, Coldplay falls more on the "idealistic" side. Thus, throughout their career, they have been branded a LighterAndSofter alternative to the mostly grim Radiohead.
351	* ShoutOut:
352	** They've made several references to ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''; ''Parachutes'' had a song called "Don't Panic", and ''Viva la Vida'' had a song called "42".
353	*** In early 2021, before it was confirmed the mysterious cryptic Twitter account [[https://twitter.com/alienradiofm AlienRadioFM]] was connected to Coldplay (like many had been speculating), [=AlienRadioFM=] followed 42 followers, most of them being Coldplay fans. After Coldplay confirmed the account was run by them, the account followed a 43rd person--the official Coldplay account.
354	** From "1.36": "[[Music/TheSmiths How soon is now?]]/Yeah, how long is never?"
355	** At [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SyfRJdG3pA this]] performance of "Clocks" in Paris, around the 3:00 mark, Chris sings a snippet of "[[Music/The2ndLaw Madness]]", the then-most-recent single from {{Music/Muse}}.
356	** According to Martin, the conjoining of "Lovers in Japan" and "Reign of Love" was done partly out of a want from the band to have a "two-in-one" song title similar to those of Music/JustinTimberlake on ''[=FutureSex=]/[=LoveSounds=]''.
357	** "Us Against the World" references the gospel hymn "When the Saints Go Marching In".
358	** One of the elephants in the music video for "Paradise" resembles [[Series/TheBananaSplits Snorky]] sans hat and vest.
359	* SoloDuet: In-universe, the high-pitched voice in "Biutyful" is sung by an alien named Angel Moon/Angelina. The band jests that whoever sings Angel Moon's part is "highly confidential", but it's Chris's edited voice. This makes "Biutyful" a love duet between Chris Martin and himself.
360	* SomethingAboutARose: The end of the music video for "Viva la Vida" ends with the four band members turning into rose petals. This may overlap with TheTragicRose considering the song.
361	* SpaceRock:
362	** Some songs on ''X&Y'' dabble in this territory, most notably, "Square One" and "Talk".
363	** ''Music of the Spheres'' is a concept album themed around space, and thus contains many space rock songs.
364	** Some of the early songs from the pre-''Parachutes'' era can certainly be considered this, given the heavy {{psychedelic\|rock}} and {{dream pop}} influences the band had in the early days.
365	* StudioChatter:
366	** A notable bit at the beginning of "Strawberry Swing".
367	** If you listen closely, you can hear some towards the beginning of the build-up into the distorted riff on "42".
368	* SuperSpeed: Chris Martin gains this ability at the end of the music video for “Higher Power.” He speeds through a Kaotican city and then runs vertically towards space. See also FastAsLightning.
369	-->''I'm going a million miles an hour!''
370	* SurrealMusicVideo:
371	** The video for "The Scientist" has a very unorthodox storytelling style: ''[[BackToFront it's entirely in reverse]]'', and tells a story in backwards order. Throughout the video, Chris is shown singing the lyrics properly in the reversed footage; it reportedly took him a month to learn the song backwards.
372	** The video for "Strawberry Swing" revolves around the adventures of a superhero played by Chris...as portrayed by stop motion-animated chalk drawings.
373	** The video for "Paradise", which has Chris in an elephant suit escaping a zoo in London, trying to hitchhike his way to another country, stowing away inside a suitcase to South Africa, getting enough money to buy a unicycle, and finding the rest of Coldplay off the side of the road who are also wearing elephant suits. And then they all play together in elephant suits. After that, it cuts to footage of the band in an ''actual'' live concert playing while wearing the elephant heads and hands.
374	** The video for "Midnight" was filmed entirely (save for the ending) using a thermal infrared camera with negative imagery with a whole slew of visual effects on top of that.
375	** Exaggerated with the video for "Up&Up", where they take the whole surreal factor to a whole another level, which includes Chris Martin and the band being absolute giants and lying on mountains and islands, a football match being played on a sponge, a volcano spewing popcorn, a boat travelling over New York, a plane dropping the solar system via parachute, horses galloping on water, a butterfly lying on a oil rig, dolphins swimming while a city is upside down above them, a man sunbathing on the moon, a turtle swimming in a New York subway station, two skaters skating on the second stage of a Saturn V rocket, a diver diving 30,000 feet in the bloody air, skiers skiing on a bed pillow, two planes flying either up or down with mountains above them and water below them, a man ironing on top of clouds, cars racing on the rings of Saturn, seals flying over New York, divers diving sideways off a building while walking sideways and a kid on a swing that is being suspended from ''the International Space Station''!
376	* TakeThat: When Chris Martin made an appearance at the 12.12.12 benefit concert, he opened a rendition of "[[Music/{{REM}} Losing My Religion]]" (with Michael Stipe on lead vocals) with this brilliant line:
377	-->"I know you guys wanted Music/OneDirection, but it's way past their bedtime, so instead, you get 1/4 of Coldplay!"
378	* TalkieBits: American poet Coleman Barks recites part of a poem called "The Guesthouse" on "Kaleidoscope", followed by Barack Obama singing "Amazing Grace".
379	* TeenageDeathSong: "Orphans". Rosaline and her father are either killed or made refugees by the Syrian Civil War.
380	* TextlessAlbumCover: ''A Rush of Blood to the Head'', ''Ghost Stories'', and ''A Head Full of Dreams''.
381	** Honorable mention to ''X&Y'', which is written [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudot_code in a code]] (the back card has the band and album name, still).
382	* TitleTrack: Every album thus far has had one; two in the case of ''Viva la Vida''.
383	** ''Ghost Stories'' is an interesting case, considering that its title track, "Ghost Story", was a bonus track from the Target release of the album, as well as a B-side to "A Sky Full of Stars".
384	* UncommonTime:
385	** The last part of "Death & All His Friends" and the chorus of "Glass of Water" are in 7/8.
386	** "Yes" also has some instrumental parts that bounce between time signatures and call to mind [[Music/{{Yes}} the band of the same name]].
387	** "Kaleidoscope" and "A L I E N S" are in 5/4.
388	* WhatIf: In "Princess of China", the narrator and his ex wonder what would have happened if they had stayed together.
389	* {{Wingdinglish}}: ''Music of the Spheres'' has 12 planets, each with their own alien CypherLanguage.
390	* WordPureeTitle: ''Mylo Xyloto''.
391	* WordSaladLyrics: Most of their songs have vague-ish meanings.
392	----
393	-->''[[white: Now I never meant to do you wrong, that's what I came here to say.]]''
394	-->''[[white: But if I was wrong, then I'm sorry; I don't let it stand in our way.]]''
395	-->''[[white: As my head just aches when I think of the things that I shouldn't have done.]]''
396	-->''[[white: But [[HiddenTrack life is for living]], we all know, and I don't wanna live it alone.]]''

Context Music / Coldplay