Yo.

I have acquired a lot of music over the past seven-ish years due to my daily song goal thingy. Because of this, my taste in music has really expanded. However, I can say with great certainty that Coldplay is definitely one of my favorite groups. Chris Martin has the best voice, and I love their style, regardless of how much it’s changed over the years.

So I figured I would try to do something that is very difficult for me: ranking my top 5 Coldplay songs.

Let’s Do the Dew™.

#5: Viva La Vida
I heard this song in an HP commercial in 2008 and had to have it. This is the song that got me into Coldplay. How can you not love this song? It’s got the driving, persistent beat, the strings, and Chris Martin’s voice. And like a great deal of Coldplay’s songs, it’s a mix of melancholy and pure energy.

#4: Us Against the World
One of my favorite things about Chris Martin is when he sings notes that are a little bit too low for his vocal range. His voice does this wobbly bit that’s just…I don’t know. Really raw. This song has him hitting a few low notes, causing the wobbly (2:10, for example). And the instrumental portion at 3:04. The chords. Holy poops. I live for good, heartbreaking chords.

#3: Fix You
This song hurts. I cry every time I listen to it (which makes singing it in Rock Band really hard, haha). Like a lot of the songs I really love, there’s one moment in it that just demolishes me emotionally, and that’s the way Chris’ voice breaks a bit on the “guide” of the first “lights will guide you home” (1:15)

#2: O (Fly On)
Okay, this is going to sound really dumb, but this is my “Leibniz song.” This song makes me think of Leibniz.* This makes me think of all the ways he saw beauty, interconnections, and good in the world. This makes me imagine that he still exists in the sense that the particles that comprised him are scattered out there, experiencing, acting, being. Also, the line “so fly on, right through / maybe one day I’ll fly next to you” has such a comforting yet yearning sentiment to it that it just makes this song that much better. We’re all a lot more connected then we think.

#1: Paradise
This song was released unto the world during one of the most confusing, emotional, and difficult parts of my life (2011). I had quit grad school at UBC and had moved across the continent to London, Ontario to try to find happiness. But I was alone, confused, and miserable. I went back to Moscow for a while to live in my dad’s basement. I was still alone, still confused, and still miserable. I was looking for a job. For stability. For purpose. I didn’t find any of it. But every night on my way home from my walk, I would go and sit on a swing in Rotary Park and listen to this song on repeat, looking up at the stars, hoping that the universe knew what it was doing and that this instability was only a temporary thing. I would cry. I would fight the feelings of insignificance. Every time I hear this song I think of that period in my life and how utterly unimportant I felt during it. It is a very emotionally charged song for me, even more so than the other songs listed. Which is why it’s my number one.

Now I’m crying. THANKS, COLDPLAY.

*I fantasize about meeting him a lot. A lot. Lemme tell ya.