Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
Encyclopedia
"Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" is a song by English alternative rock
band Coldplay
. It was released on 3 June 2011, as a digital download
except in the United Kingdom where it was released on 5 June 2011. It was released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto. The song contains elements of the 1976 song "I Go to Rio
" written by Peter Allen
and Adrienne Anderson
. The song made its radio debut on BBC Radio 1
, BBC Radio 2
, BBC 6 Music
, Absolute Radio, and Xfm
. They first performed the song live at the 2011 Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festival in Nürnberg, Germany
.
The song received positive reviews from critics.
It was the last song to be played on Video Hits
before signing off forever after 24 years of its broadcast.
The song debuted at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100
in the United States, selling 85,000 copies in its first week, and has since climbed to peak at number 14.
The single and Paradise
together have sold 1,140,000 copies worldwide in total.
The song was played live at the Steve Jobs memorial/celebration-of-life event at Apple headquarters on October 19, 2011 in Cupertino, CA.
The song was also played as they opened the MTV European Music Awards
in Belfast
, Northern Ireland
on November 6th, 2011.
On November 30, 2011, this song was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. The winners will be announced on February 12, 2012 at the 54th Grammy Awards
.
The Oracle (Coldplay's web site Question and Answer section) responded on 9 June 2011 to a question raised concerning its inspiration and collaboration:
This is not the first time that Coldplay have used samples to write a new song, having used a Kraftwerk
motif for their X&Y single "Talk
"..
As for the inspiration to "Moving to Mars", on 8 July 2011 the Oracle replied affirmatively to a question asking if the song was inspired by a documentary of the same title, directed by Mat Whitecross, about two families being forced out of Burma into an entirely new world in the UK. Mat Whitecross has directed a few Coldplay music videos, including the "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" music video.
Rolling Stone
gave the song a three and a half stars rating out of five commenting "Chris Martin says Coldplay's upcoming album is influenced by old-school New York graffiti, and in a recent photo the bandmates are dressed in neon chillwear like they just walked off the set of Breakin' 3: A Brit-Pop Odyssey. But the first single doesn't go for the sound of early hip-hop so much as its sense of year-zero possibility. Over a rave-tinged keyboard melody, leavened by producer Brian Eno's rainforest-of-the-soul ambience, Martin sings of kids dancing until morning and heaven inside his headphones. When the drums kick in fully, it moves like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by way of the Velvets' "Sunday Morning," a flag-waving ode to change-as-inspiration: "I'd rather be a comma than a full stop," Martin sings. Coming from a guy whose critics take him for a human exclamation point, it's a welcome sentiment."
Bill Lamb of About.com
gave the song a four stars rating out of five explaining "The overall effect of this song is Coldplay moving forward into new explorations while keeping the elements that endear them to their fans wholly intact. "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" is unlikely to be hailed as an instant classic to match the very best of Coldplay's past work, but a strong argument could be made that the band has never released their best material as the first single from any of their albums. As an appetizer, "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" is very pleasing."
in east London, close to London City Airport
, but begins with a shot of the Downtown Los Angeles
skyline. The music video, which features the band, uses a stop motion
technique and was directed by Mat Whitecross, who has worked with the band since 1999 and was responsible for the videos for "Lovers in Japan
" and "Christmas Lights
", among others.
The video received positive reviews by critics who noted its colourful visual. Rolling Stone
said: "The vibrant, colorful clip is well-suited to the song, which has a shaky, excited energy and the sort of optimistic, romantic lyrics that have made Coldplay one of the world's most crowd-pleasing rock bands". The New York Post
wrote "the clip proves that the boys are just as interested in pushing boundaries with their videos as they are with their music" while The Sun called it "a colourful affair".
Source:
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
. It was released on 3 June 2011, as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
except in the United Kingdom where it was released on 5 June 2011. It was released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto. The song contains elements of the 1976 song "I Go to Rio
I Go To Rio
"I Go to Rio" is a popular song written by Peter Allen and Adrienne Anderson, and performed by Allen. It became a signature song of Allen, as well as being covered by Peggy Lee and Pablo Cruise, among others, in addition to being subject to multiple soundtrack inclusions.-History:The song was first...
" written by Peter Allen
Peter Allen
Peter Allen was an Australian songwriter and entertainer. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, with one, Arthur's Theme, winning an Academy Award in 1981...
and Adrienne Anderson
Adrienne Anderson
Adrienne Anderson is an American songwriter, most notable for being the co-writer of "Could It Be Magic", among other Barry Manilow songs, as well as being the co-writer of signature songs for Dionne Warwick and Peter Allen ....
. The song made its radio debut on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
, Absolute Radio, and Xfm
Xfm
Xfm is a brand of two commercial radio stations focused on alternative music, primarily indie pop, and owned by Global Radio.-History:Xfm was created in London in 1992 by Sammy Jacob, who later co-founded NME Radio in 2008. Xfm subsequently expanded to a network of four stations; there are...
. They first performed the song live at the 2011 Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festival in Nürnberg, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
The song received positive reviews from critics.
It was the last song to be played on Video Hits
Video Hits (Australian TV series)
Video Hits was an Australian music video program that first aired on 15 February 1987. From 7 May 2011 it broadcasted on Network Ten for two hours each Saturday and Sunday morning: 10am – 12pm on Saturdays and 8am – 10am on Sundays. Video Hits was the world's second longest running music show...
before signing off forever after 24 years of its broadcast.
The song debuted at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the United States, selling 85,000 copies in its first week, and has since climbed to peak at number 14.
The single and Paradise
Paradise (Coldplay song)
"Paradise" is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay. The song was released on 12 September 2011 as the second single from their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto. The song received its radio debut at 7:50am on The Chris Moyles Show on 12 September 2011...
together have sold 1,140,000 copies worldwide in total.
The song was played live at the Steve Jobs memorial/celebration-of-life event at Apple headquarters on October 19, 2011 in Cupertino, CA.
The song was also played as they opened the MTV European Music Awards
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards were established in 1994 by MTV Networks Europe to celebrate the most popular music videos in Europe. Originally beginning as an alternative to the American MTV Video Music Awards, the MTV Europe Music Awards is today a popular celebration of what MTV viewers consider...
in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
on November 6th, 2011.
On November 30, 2011, this song was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. The winners will be announced on February 12, 2012 at the 54th Grammy Awards
54th Grammy Awards
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. It will be broadcasted on CBS. Nominations were announced on November 30, 2011 on prime-time television as part of "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night", a...
.
Inspiration
When the song was first released on Coldplay's YouTube channel, it sparked many negative comments in the comment section, saying the song was plagiarised from "Ritmo de la Noche" by The Sacados or from Peter Allen's "I Go to Rio". However, upon release of the song, the line "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall contains elements of I Go To Rio written by Peter Allen and Adrienne Anderson" was noted below the official lyrics to the song on Coldplay's website.The Oracle (Coldplay's web site Question and Answer section) responded on 9 June 2011 to a question raised concerning its inspiration and collaboration:
- I don't think people are quite understanding the song's composition. To clarify: Chris was inspired to write Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall after hearing some chords in a nightclub scene in Alejandro González Iñárritu'sAlejandro González IñárrituAlejandro González Iñárritu is a Mexican film director.González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the DGA of America for Best Director. He is also the first and only Mexican born director to have won the Prix de la mise en scene...
film BiutifulBiutifulBiutiful is a drama film directed by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Javier Bardem. It is González Iñárritu's first feature since Babel and fourth overall, and his first film in his native Spanish language since his debut feature Amores perros...
(2010). The chords in the film are part of a track that is based on I Go To Rio written by Peter Allen and Adrienne Anderson, released by Peter Allen in 1976. If you look at a clip on YouTube you'll hear the chords for yourself. As for other people asking if Ritmo de la Noche by The Sacados should also be credited the answer is "no". Firstly, that is a cover of Chocolate's song by the same name who sampled I Go To Rio. Secondly, they both came later in 1990 so hopefully they should have credited Peter & Adrienne.
This is not the first time that Coldplay have used samples to write a new song, having used a Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
motif for their X&Y single "Talk
Talk (song)
"Talk" is a song by the British alternative rock band Coldplay. Built around a motif from Kraftwerk's 1981 song "Computer Love", it was written by all members of the band and appeared on their third album, X&Y...
"..
As for the inspiration to "Moving to Mars", on 8 July 2011 the Oracle replied affirmatively to a question asking if the song was inspired by a documentary of the same title, directed by Mat Whitecross, about two families being forced out of Burma into an entirely new world in the UK. Mat Whitecross has directed a few Coldplay music videos, including the "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" music video.
Critical reception
The song received a generally positive reception from critics.Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave the song a three and a half stars rating out of five commenting "Chris Martin says Coldplay's upcoming album is influenced by old-school New York graffiti, and in a recent photo the bandmates are dressed in neon chillwear like they just walked off the set of Breakin' 3: A Brit-Pop Odyssey. But the first single doesn't go for the sound of early hip-hop so much as its sense of year-zero possibility. Over a rave-tinged keyboard melody, leavened by producer Brian Eno's rainforest-of-the-soul ambience, Martin sings of kids dancing until morning and heaven inside his headphones. When the drums kick in fully, it moves like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by way of the Velvets' "Sunday Morning," a flag-waving ode to change-as-inspiration: "I'd rather be a comma than a full stop," Martin sings. Coming from a guy whose critics take him for a human exclamation point, it's a welcome sentiment."
Bill Lamb of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
gave the song a four stars rating out of five explaining "The overall effect of this song is Coldplay moving forward into new explorations while keeping the elements that endear them to their fans wholly intact. "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" is unlikely to be hailed as an instant classic to match the very best of Coldplay's past work, but a strong argument could be made that the band has never released their best material as the first single from any of their albums. As an appetizer, "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" is very pleasing."
Music video
The video was released to the public on 28 June 2011. It shows the band playing across various backdrops sprayed with colourful graffiti painted by the band's artist "Paris". The video was shot between 14 and 15 June 2011 at Millennium MillsMillennium Mills
The Millennium Mills is a derelict turn-of-the-century flour mill in West Silvertown on the south side of the Royal Victoria Dock, between the Thames Barrier and the ExCel exhibition centre alongside the newly built Britannia village, in Newham, London, England...
in east London, close to London City Airport
London City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
, but begins with a shot of the Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
skyline. The music video, which features the band, uses a stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
technique and was directed by Mat Whitecross, who has worked with the band since 1999 and was responsible for the videos for "Lovers in Japan
Lovers in Japan
"Lovers in Japan" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The song is built around an introductory tack piano sound, then followed by chiming guitars and soaring choruses,...
" and "Christmas Lights
Christmas Lights
Christmas Lights is a 2004 British Christmas television special broadcast by ITV starring Robson Green and Mark Benton and written by Jeff Pope and Bob Mills...
", among others.
The video received positive reviews by critics who noted its colourful visual. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said: "The vibrant, colorful clip is well-suited to the song, which has a shaky, excited energy and the sort of optimistic, romantic lyrics that have made Coldplay one of the world's most crowd-pleasing rock bands". The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
wrote "the clip proves that the boys are just as interested in pushing boundaries with their videos as they are with their music" while The Sun called it "a colourful affair".
Track listing
-
- Digital single
- "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" – 4:03
-
- CD/7" vinyl/Standard digital bundle
- "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" – 4:03
- "Major Minus" – 3:30
-
- iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
exclusive digital EPExtended playAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
- iTunes
- "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" – 4:03
- "Major Minus" – 3:30
- "Moving to Mars" – 4:19
Credits and personnel
- Guy BerrymanGuy BerrymanGuy Rupert Berryman is a Scottish musician known as the bassist for the groups Coldplay and Apparatjik. Berryman is left-handed but chooses to play the bass right-handed.-Coldplay:...
– songwriter - Jonny BucklandJonny BucklandJonathan Mark "Jonny" Buckland is an English guitarist and musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the band Coldplay.-Early life:...
– songwriter - Will ChampionWill ChampionWilliam "Will" Champion is an English musician and the drummer of rock band Coldplay.-Early life:William Champion was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, and was brought up in Highfield, Southampton, where his father, Timothy Champion, is a professor of archaeology...
– songwriter - Chris MartinChris MartinChristopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...
– lead vocals, songwriter - Peter AllenPeter AllenPeter Allen was an Australian songwriter and entertainer. His songs were made popular by many recording artists, including Elkie Brooks, Melissa Manchester and Olivia Newton-John, with one, Arthur's Theme, winning an Academy Award in 1981...
– songwriter - Adrienne AndersonAdrienne AndersonAdrienne Anderson is an American songwriter, most notable for being the co-writer of "Could It Be Magic", among other Barry Manilow songs, as well as being the co-writer of signature songs for Dionne Warwick and Peter Allen ....
– songwriter - Markus DravsMarkus DravsMarkus Dravs is a music producer, programmer, engineer, and mixer.After hearing Brian Eno's collaboration with David Byrne "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts", he decided to get into engineering....
– producer - Dan Green – producer and mixing
- Rik SimpsonRik SimpsonRik Simpson is a Grammy Award winning music producer, sound engineer, musician and songwriter. He is most recently recognised for his production work with Coldplay on A Rush Of Blood To The Head, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends and Mylo Xyloto...
– producer and mixing - Mark 'Spike' StentMark StentMark 'Spike' Stent is a British record producer, and audio engineer who has worked with The KLF, Björk, Keane, Depeche Mode, Muse, Erasure, Hard-Fi, Massive Attack, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Marilyn Manson, Pet Shop Boys, Dave Matthews, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, CSS, Beth Orton,...
– mixing - Davide RossiDavide RossiDavide Francesco Rossi , is a violinist, string arranger, composer and a record producer, perhaps best known for being the violinist, guitar and keytar-player for the British electronic music group Goldfrapp, and for his large contribution of electric violin parts and for all the string...
– strings - Jon HopkinsJon HopkinsJon Hopkins is a London-based producer and musician who writes and performs his own melodic electronica and dance music. After starting his career performing keyboard for Imogen Heap, he's produced or contributed to albums by Brian Eno, Coldplay, David Holmes, and others...
– additional programming - Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
– enoxification and additional composition
Source:
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian rock/alternative chart Canadian rock/alternative chart The Canadian rock/alternative chart was first published on June 11, 1995 by RPM magazine under the name Alternative 30. The song which held the number-one spot on this first chart was "More Human than Human" by White Zombie... ) |
5 |
| South Korea (GAON Gaon Chart The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts... ) (International Chart) |
1 |
| US Rock Songs Rock Songs Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs... (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
5 |
Certifications
Release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | 3 June 2011 | Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
| United Kingdom | 5 June 2011 | |
| United States | 21 June 2011 | Hot/Modern adult contemporary Adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music.... and mainstream radio Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts... airplay |
| Worldwide | 27 June 2011 | CD single, 7" vinyl Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove... , digital EP Extended play An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact... |
| France | 4 July 2011 | CD single |