"Life in Technicolor II"
Single by Coldplay
from the EP Prospekt's March
B-side
  • "Life in Technicolor II" (live @ The O2, London)
  • "The Goldrush"
Released2 February 2009 (2009-02-02)
Recorded2008
Genre
Length
  • 4:05 (EP version)
  • 3:37 (radio edit)
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Coldplay singles chronology
"Lost!"
(2008)		 "Life in Technicolor II"
(2009)		 "Strawberry Swing"
(2009)
Music video
"Life in Technicolor II" on YouTube
"Life in Technicolor"
Instrumental by Coldplay
from the album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Released12 June 2008 (2008-06-12)
Genre
Length2:30
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Guy Berryman
  • Johnny Buckland
  • Will Champion
  • Chris Martin
  • Jon Hopkins

"Life in Technicolor II" (stylised as "Life in Technicolor ii") is a song by British rock band Coldplay released as the first single from the Prospekt's March EP.[1] It is the full-vocal version of the instrumental track "Life in Technicolor", from the band's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.[2] The songs starts with a loop consisting of a santoor accompanied by tabla-like percussion. The loop is then repeated through the verses and part of the chorus.

A promotional CD single was released in December 2008 while the 7-inch vinyl and digital download came out on 2 February 2009.[3][4] While the promotional CD includes two different edits of the song ("Radio edit" & "Prospekt's March Version"), the vinyl includes a previously unreleased and unheard track called "The Goldrush", one of the few Coldplay songs featuring lead vocals by drummer Will Champion.[5] The track was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Music Video at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.[6]

Music video

Coldplay performing "Life in Technicolor II" at the Parque Simon Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia, on March 4, 2010

The music video premiered on 20 January 2009 on 4Music and Channel 4.[7] The director of this video is Dougal Wilson. It starts out with a group of children sitting and awaiting a traditional Punch and Judy puppet show in the Aldenham War Memorial Hall. Suddenly, the band appears as puppets "onstage" and begins performing the song, which confuses and somewhat unsettles the children and the adults in the room. A girl in the audience recognizes the band members as she looks back and forth between them and the cover of a book she is holding, which is a fictional "unofficial biography" of Coldplay called Playin' It Cool. The puppet show becomes increasingly extravagant as the video goes on, eventually featuring pyrotechnics, frontman Chris Martin crowd surfing over the children, and Punch and Judy performing motorcycle stunts across the stage. Finally, after finishing the song, the puppet band members board a miniature helicopter and after taking off, drummer Will Champion tosses his drumsticks to the girl in the audience before the helicopter crashes through a window as they fly away. The girl looks down at the tiny drumsticks in her hands and smiles.[8] James Clarkson and Coldplay's fifth member, Phil Harvey, can be seen in the video.[9]

Reception

The video was nominated for Best Art Direction in a Video and Best Visual Effects in a Video categories at the UK Music Video Awards 2009,[10] and for Best Music Video at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. Pitchfork included the track on their unranked "Top Music Videos of 2009" list.[11] In the same year, NPO Radio 2 ranked the song at number 418 on their annual Top 2000.[12]

The short instrumental version of this song (released on Viva la Vida) can be heard as the film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian ends during a scene with Ben Stiller and Amy Adams. It was also used on Sky Sports' "Ford Super Sunday" coverage during the 2008/2009 as well as "Match of the Day" during the same season. This version was used at the beginning of the Great Yarmouth (UK) Hippodrome Circus show 2009. NFL Network also used it for their coverage of the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine and also for their coverage of the 2009 NFL Draft. The song was also played during the opening montage of the 2009 ESPY Awards. The instrumental version of the song is used in London Eye's pre-flight 4D Experience show. A portion of the instrumental version is also used in Apple Inc.'s introduction of the 2008 MacBook Air, as well as the introduction of the Late 08 MacBook.[13] The song was also used in a promotional on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for PBS's primary programming. Life in Technicolor II was used in an advertisement for Wimbledon 2013 on ESPN.

Track listing

Digital download
No.TitleLength
1."Life in Technicolor II"4:05
2."Life in Technicolor II" (Live at The O2, London)3:36
3."The Goldrush"2:29
7-inch vinyl
No.TitleLength
1."Life in Technicolor II"4:05
2."The Goldrush"2:29

Personnel

Charts

Release history

Release history for "Life in Technicolor II"
Country Date Format
United Kingdom December 2008 Promotional CD
United Kingdom 20 January 2009 Music video (airplay)
Various 20 January 2009 Music video (YouTube streaming)
United Kingdom, the Netherlands 30 January 2009 Digital download
United Kingdom 2 February 2009 7" vinyl

References

  1. ↑ "Capitol International". 23 November 2008. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011.
  2. ↑ Fletcher, Alex (24 January 2009). "Coldplay: 'Life In Technicolor ii'". Digitalspy.com. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  3. ↑ ""Life in Technicolor ii" promotional single information". Coldplaying.com. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  4. ↑ "News: Life In Technicolor ii to be single". Coldplay.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  5. ↑ Balls, David (30 January 2009). "B-side of the Week: Coldplay's 'Goldrush'". Digitalspy.com. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  6. ↑ "The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Nominees List". Grammy.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  7. ↑ "News: Sneak preview of the "Life In Technicolor ii" video". Coldplay.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  8. ↑ Coldplay - Life In Technicolor ii (Official Video), retrieved 6 October 2022
  9. ↑ Light, David. "A view to a chill". Khaleej Times.
  10. ↑ Knight, David (30 September 2009). "UK Music Video Awards 2009 – the Technical Achievement Award nominations in full". Promo News. Archived from the original on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
  11. ↑ "The Top Music Videos of 2009". Pitchfork. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Top 2000 – Jaar 2009" [Top 2000 – Year 2009]. NPO Radio 2 (in Dutch). 31 December 2023. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  13. ↑ "MacBook Late 08 - YouTube". YouTube.com. Retrieved 19 October 2008.
  14. ↑ "Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  15. ↑ "Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  16. ↑ "Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  17. ↑ Coldplay — Life in Technicolor II. TopHit. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  18. ↑ "Coldplay Chart History". RÚV. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  19. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Coldplay". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  20. ↑ "Coldplay Chart History (Mexico Ingles Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  21. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 2009" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  22. ↑ "Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  23. ↑ "Coldplay – Life in Technicolor II". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  24. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  25. ↑ "Coldplay Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  26. ↑ "Coldplay Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  27. ↑ "Coldplay Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  28. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2009". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
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