Tear Jerker / Coldplay

This popular post-Britpop band can make people cry.

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• "Don't Panic." It forlornly tells the story of the world ending, and the sadness is driven home with the bitterly sarcastic chorus ("we live in a beautiful world") and the ending ("everybody here's got somebody to lean on"). Made even sadder by Clairity’s cinematic cover.
• "Sparks", but maybe for the reason that it sounds comforting to cry to, rather than provoking any tears.
• "Yellow" can range from being a pretty depressing song to the happiest song you've ever heard, depending on who you are and how you interpret it.
• "Trouble", one of the band's more forlorn-sounding singles.
• "We Never Change". The idealistic lyrics are sadder than sad.
• The whole of "Politik", with its soft mournful mood and bleak ending. Of course it was used as an ending song on Cold Case.
• As well as "The Scientist", depending on your mood. The song features a man, allegedly a brilliant mind, having trouble expressing his feelings yet feeling powerless in the face of true love, yet the way it is expressed seems to imply that whatever was the man's relationship with the girl he loved, it fell apart hard due to his fault, and all he wants to do is "go back to the start", hoping he can mend what he made wrong.
  • The video doesn't help much. It slowly makes the situation look worse and worse until it slaps you in the face.
  • "I Ran Away", a relatively well-known b-side to "The Scientist" about neglect. It's especially devastating when the whole song just explodes at the end.
• "Warning Sign" from A Rush of Blood to the Head is another one, describing a broken relationship. The ending is especially heartbreaking. Also, making this worse is that according to a YouTube comment it was Paul Walker's favourite song.
• Then there is "A Rush of Blood to the Head". It can remind one of the moment in Forrest Gump when Forrest mentions how he paid for Jenny's childhood home to be demolished.
  • Given its tone, it's not difficult to see the song as a crossing of the Despair Event Horizon. Which naturally leads into...
• "Amsterdam" from A Rush of Blood to the Head. Holy crap.
  • Some of the lyrics get a lot heavier if you're someone in a depressive mood. Not helped by the fact that it immediately follows "A Rush of Blood to the Head" and is about someone attempting suicide (and, thankfully, failing due to external intervention).
    I swear I'm dead on the surface, but I'm screaming underneath...
  • This very spontaneous live rendition from 2016 tops the original version in every possible way, especially given the circumstances of the performance.^note It was performed to protest the infamous Brexit decision made by the British government, with Chris saying "Please forgive their [Britain's] mistakes." shortly before beginning the song.
• “Ladder to the Sun” is pretty sad no matter how you look at it, ranging from lost/unrequited love, to being left behind after you loved one has passed on. Almost never fails to elicit all of my feels.
  • The fact that we'll probably never see a studio version of this track is cause for sadness as well.
• "What If" is a very sad breakup song, in which the singer laments that if his lover leaves him, then there would be no light in the world and no rhyme or reason, and he wouldn't be able to fix things.
• "Fix You" is a major one, and it's a good song for dedicating to one's offspring "who had a tough year"...
  • This song is especially poignant when you realize that Chris Martin's then-wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, had lost her father recently and the song was made for her.
  • Chris Martin's solo performance of the song at Beau Biden's funeral, an incredible rendition made a thousand times sadder by the unimaginably tragic circumstances.
  • When Coldplay performed it in the Saturday Night Live Season 48 episode hosted by Pedro Pascal, they dedicated it to his mother, Veronica Pascal, who died while the future TV star was just a 20-something upstart.
• Another one is "Gravity", a b-side to "Talk" that was eventually given to Embrace. However, that band cannot even come close to capturing the haunting, raw emotion expressed in Coldplay's more stripped-down version. It's especially painful when Chris sings the second verse.
  I can hear your heart beating
  I can hear that sound
  And I can't help thinking
  And I won't look now
  • Their version of "Gravity", which only exists as a B-Side to "Talk", is a sad one, more so the original version by Embrace.
• "'Till Kingdom Come" can also make one tear up... partially because it was written for Johnny Cash to sing, but he died before he got the chance to record it.
• The warm, soothing beginning of "Life in Technicolor".
• "Lovers in Japan", every time. "One day the sun will come out".
• "Viva La Vida" tells the story of a man who overthrew a corrupt king and took his place. He had money, power, and an admiring kingdom, but he soon became corrupt just like the first king. Upon realizing how far he had fallen, he became disillusioned with his position of power and allowed himself to be removed from the throne and [assumedly] spent the rest of his days looking back on his reign and laments his fate.
  I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
  Roman cavalry choirs are singing
  Be my mirror, my sword and shield
  My missionaries in a foreign field
  For some reason I can't explain
  I know St. Peter won't call my name
  Never an honest word
  But that was when I ruled the world...
  • There is a reason it's often treated as a theme song for Code Geass.
• "Violet Hill" might be another one, with its lamentation of political problems. in the Although, it might also be a good song to play when you really really want to hit someone — but you know it's not a good idea.
• Christmas Lights, especially during the Christmas season.
• "Paradise" in the heartwarming sense...
  • It can also be read in a heartbreaking sense, as well. The lyrics seem to refer to the disappointment we all feel when our childhood dreams end up never coming true, and how we rely on fantasy to escape from the depressing mundanity of our lives.
• "Us Against the World". Parachutes-style acoustics + desperate, yet hopeful lyrics + beautiful vocal harmonies near the end = Manly Tears.
• "Moving to Mars", from the Every Teardrop is a Waterfall EP. "We won't see the earth again..."
• "Up in Flames" is devastating. Especially when Chris sings the last line sounding like he's about to break into tears.
• Pretty much the entire Ghost Stories album, considering it's a concept album about a breakup and was released a month or two after Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's divorce, and thus is packed with Reality Subtext. But to be specific:
  • "True Love". Chris sounds as if he's on the verge of tears as he's singing.
  • "Another's Arms". The plainly spoken heartbreak sells it even further.
  • "Fly On" was supposedly written as a tribute to Chris Martin's children. Keep that in mind when you think about how the rest of the album centers around the dissolving of his relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow.
  • Then you get to the hidden track "O", an ambient piece that actually features Apple Martin, Chris' daughter, on lead vocals.
  "Don't ever let go..."
• All Your Friends, from the A Sky Full of Stars EP, is a somber song about the soldiers of World War I being thrown into a conflict they barely understood, gunned down by the millions. The music video features real clips of the conflict and pans to several grave shots as it pays tribute to the dead.
• "Amazing Day" from A Head Full of Dreams can count as this in either a sad or heartwarming sense, depending on your perspective of the song.
  • "Everglow" also qualifies, especially considering that it's one of the more heavily poetic songs off the album.
  • "Fun" might be about Chris' disappointingly brief relationship with Jennifer Lawrence, which was supposedly interrupted by Gwyneth Paltrow. Even with Tove Lo being featured on the track it's still hard to listen to.
  • "Kaleidoscope". If the sheer beauty of the instrumentation and spoken word won't get you, the sample of Barack Obama singing "Amazing Grace" at the end just might.
    "This being human is a guest house. Every morning, a new arrival: a joy, a depression, a meanness. Some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a god."
  • "Up&Up" can probably bring Tears of Joy with its chorus alone.
    • It's released music video counts as well; the beautifully edited shots of children chasing each other in space, sea animals floating around in New York and giant athletes diving into whole oceans can truly serve as a reminder of the more beautiful parts of what some would interpret as a shitty world we live in.
• From the Kaleidoscope EP:
  • "All I Can Think About is You". From Chris' vocals to the lyrics (especially the chorus and the last line in the outro) to the way it ends.
  • "A L I E N S" which is about refugees fleeing their homes and trying to seek shelter elsewhere. Even more relatable with how relevant this is in our current society and the fact that the proceeds of this song went to a charity to help save migrants on the Mediterranean Sea. And the lyrics, dear god the lyrics.
• "Trouble in Town" is a downer on its own, but the music video is a very somber Mature Animal Story about a fox having to deal with police brutality from overzealous cats working for maniacal pigs. In the process, many animals lose faith in their nation.
• "Guns", a bluesy song attacking the American obsession with violence above all else. "Everything's gone fucking crazy, maybe I'm crazy too."
• "Orphans", despite its upbeat music, describes the destruction caused by the Syrian Civil War and the plight of the refugees, especially the young people who just want to go home and live normal lives again.
• Their tribute to the Beastie Boys. The first time they covered "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)" was a light-hearted get-well-soon tribute, but when they covered it after MCA's death, they managed to turn it into a heartbreaking performance. Even those who feel that a party song performed as a piano ballad is silly feel it's a sweet tribute.
  I said Mom you're just jealous, it's the Beastie Boys
  I said Mom you're just jealous, it's the Beastie Boys
  And so we're sending all our love to the Beastie Boys
  • They gave a similar tribute to the late Gene Wilder less than a day after it was announced that he had passed, when Chris ad libbed a couple of bars of "Pure Imagination" at the end of one performance of "The Scientist."
• There's also "Wish I Was Here" from the film of the same name, featuring Cat Power on lead vocals. Just a point of advice, try not to listen to this song if you feel like you don't belong where you currently are. You just might bawl your eyes out.
  Every road that's wrong seems like the road i'm on
  Every sign just seems unclear
  Won't you come switch me on? Don't know where i've gone
  And I... I wish I was here
• "Shiver" stabs at the heart for anyone who's been in love with someone who either doesn't know or doesn't reciprocate.
  "I'll always be waiting for you..."

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