Clocks (song)
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| “Clocks” | |||||
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| Single by Coldplay from the album A Rush of Blood to the Head |
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| B-side | "Crests of Waves", "Animals" | ||||
| Released | April 2, 2003 | ||||
| Format | 7", 12", CD, DVD | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 5:07 | ||||
| Label | Parlophone | ||||
| Producer | Ken Nelson, Coldplay | ||||
| Coldplay singles chronology | |||||
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| A Rush of Blood to the Head track listing | |||||
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"Clocks" is the Grammy Award winning third single from English rock band Coldplay's second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head.
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[edit] History
Regional singles were released for Europe, Australia (a mini-EP), Japan (enhanced), Netherlands (3-disc EP), France, and the United States. Promos were released for British and American markets. In addition, a special Limited Edition 12" single was available with 1,000 copies in the UK. This release contained special remixes by Röyksopp. Another remix has surfaced by Buena Vista Social Club and instrumentals have also shown up by The Twelve Girls Band and The String Quartet. Popularised by television commercials, it holds the record as being the highest selling song on Apple's iTunes music store. In late 2003, the song was used in an advertisement for the movie Peter Pan. It has been noted by David Raposa of Pitchfork that "Speed of Sound", the first single from Coldplay's third album, X&Y, bears some similarities with "Clocks"[1], being that the two songs have the same descending chord progression.
The single cover, created by Sølve Sundsbø, depicts lead singer Chris Martin with his hands folded on a glass table. The drawing perspective is looking from below the table.
"Clocks" was arguably the most successful commercial hit from A Rush of Blood to the Head. In the band's native UK, the song peaked at #9 and made the Top 40 in the US, charting at #29. It also reached #7 in Canada. Throughout 2003, it was featured in various commercials, movies and television programmes: from WWE promos featuring the returning Kurt Angle to the film In America to the end of an episode of ER. The song was played in its entirety during the ending credits for the film Confidence with Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz. It was also used in a trailer on the BBC advertising the Freeview service. In 2004, "Clocks" won the coveted Record of the Year honour at the Grammy Awards, beating out Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Eminem, OutKast, Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z.
[edit] Musical structure and composition
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This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (June 2007) |
"Clocks" is in the key of E flat Mixolydian. Built around a repeating piano riff, it features a minimalist soundscape of drums and bass over an aura of synthesizers and strings. Also, the drum pattern seen throughout is a 3/3/2 pattern(snare bass bass, snare bass bass, snare bass). The piano riff and ethereal tone of the song are reminiscent of The Unforgettable Fire by U2, a favorite of Chris Martin. Chris Martin's cryptic lyrics are thought to be about death and the transience of life. The song was recorded at Air Studios, London, at the very end of the sessions for A Rush of Blood to the Head. It was the last song to be recorded and arguably forms the turning-point of the whole album; it was something of a departure from Coldplay's previous style. According to Martin, it was inspired by the rock band Muse.[2]
[edit] Track listings
[edit] UK
- 7" R6594, CD CDR6594 released March 24, 2003 by Parlophone
- 12" 12R6594 released July 7, 2003 by Parlophone
- "Clocks"
- "Crests of Waves"
- "Animals"
- DVD DVDR6594 released March 24 2003 by Parlophone
- "Clocks" (video edit)
- "Politik" (live and photo gallery)
- "In My Place" (live)
- Interview footage
[edit] Netherlands
A special three part single was released by Capitol Records in May of 2003 featuring live tracks recorded in Ahoy during November of 2002.
- "Clocks" (edit) - 4:12
- "Politik" (live) - 6:53
- "Shiver" (live) - 5:26
- "Daylight" (live) - 5:48
- CD2
- "Clocks" (album version) - 5:10
- "Trouble" (live) - 4:43
- "The Scientist" (live) - 5:18
- "Green Eyes/Mooie Ellebogen" (live) - 5:16 (duration of Mooie Ellebogen is 4:42 to 5:02)
- CD3
- "Clocks" (live) - 5:31
- "In My Place" (live) - 3:51
- "Everything's Not Lost" (live) - 8:47
- "Yellow" (live) - 4:44
[edit] U.S.
Released June 24, 2003 by Capitol Records 52608
- "Clocks" (edit) – 4:13
- "Yellow" (live) – 5:37
[edit] Australia
Released July 15, 2003 by Capitol Records 52126
- "Clocks" (edit) – 4:12
- "Crests of Waves" – 3:39
- "Animals" – 5:35
- "Yellow" (live) – 5:14
- "In My Place" (live) – 3:58
[edit] Japan
Released July 24, 2003 by Toshiba-EMI TOCP 61078
- "Clocks" (edit) – 4:11
- "Crests of Waves" – 3:38
- "Animals" – 5:33
- "Murder" – 5:35
- "In My Place" (live) – 3:58
- "Yellow" (live) – 5:12
- "Clocks" (video) – 4:18
- "In My Place" (video) – 3:48
[edit] Music video
The "Clocks" music video was directed by Dominic Leung, who previously worked with artists like Badly Drawn Boy. The video was shot at Docklands' ExCeL Building in London. The video features the band performing the song in front of a staged audience, mostly local college students with a laser show. Stage effects and blue-red light transitions give the video a surreal feel, not to mention the stoic crowd that make up the audience.
[edit] Reworked version and remixes
In addition to a remix by Norwegian duo Röyksopp which placed at #5 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2003 (the original version of the song placed at #69 the previous year), there have been several other dance remixes of "Clocks", including those by Clokx and Deep Dish plus a mashup from Gabriel and Dresden's 2003 Essential Mix which appeared on various P2P networks. The track "Should I Go" from Brandy's album Afrodisiac samples the piano riff from the song, as does Alejandro Fernandez's 2007 single "Te Voy A Perder".
On November 13, 2006, the album Rhythms del Mundo by the Buena Vista Social Club was released, featuring a reworked version of "Clocks". It follows a son guajiro style, with a slightly altered piano riff. In July 2007, the remix started receiving major airplay in Puerto Rico, making the song re-enter rotation on popular stations KQ 105 (reached #3) and Mega 106.9 (reached #4). A remixed version of the song is included on the soundtrack of the video game Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party for the Wii console. The Twelve Girls Band also covered the song.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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