Trouble (Coldplay song)
| "Trouble" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Coldplay | ||||
| from the album Parachutes | ||||
| B-side | "Brothers and Sisters" | |||
| Released | October 2000 | |||
| Recorded | March 2000 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 4:33 | |||
| Label | Parlophone | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, Chris Martin | |||
| Producer(s) | Ken Nelson, Coldplay | |||
| Coldplay singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Trouble" is a song recorded by British alternative rock band Coldplay. It was composed for their first album, Parachutes. The band wrote the song and produced it with British record producer Ken Nelson. The word "trouble" is repeated many times in the lyrics of the song.
The song was released on 26 October 2000 as a single. It was the third single of the album. It reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. This made it the band's second Top 10 single in the country. "Trouble" did not chart on the main singles chart in the United States. But the music press said it was almost as successful as "Yellow". "Yellow" was the single released before "Trouble". Two different music videos for the single were released.
Production
[change | change source]Chris Martin, the vocalist of Coldplay said that idea for writing "Trouble" came from his own behaviour. Martin said that there were "some bad things going in our band ... the song is about behaving badly towards somebody you really love and I was certainly doing that to some members of the band." [1] The four members of Coldplay are credited as the co-writers of "Trouble". But, it was based on Martin's idea.[1]
British record producer Ken Nelson and the band produced "Trouble" for their first album, Parachutes. The song was recorded four times before the band got the recording they liked most. The band decided that the first three versions were not "working". The last take was recorded into Pro Tools with a shaker. This was done to provide the rhythm to the track. For the backing track, Will Champion played the drums and Martin played the piano. It was recorded in a little wooden room. Guy Berryman recorded the bass and then guitarist Jonny Buckland added the guitar section. In recording the piano section of the track, the band used two microphones. Nelson, who wanted to keep the song simple, chose the microphone which had a fuller sound for the mixing.[2]
"Trouble" was mixed in New York by American mix engineer Michael Brauer. The first mixed version was sent back to the band and Nelson. However, it was not as good as they wanted and had to be mixed again. Nelson found some problems in the version. In spite of this, he did not blame Brauer because he was not present during the mixing. This was because they were recording the album at that time.[2]
Composition
[change | change source]Like in the song "Yellow", in this song the word trouble is used many times. The song's lyrics have "softer emotional themes". This includes apologies and unrequited love, and longing.[1]
The song has a minimalistic approach. The song is mainly built around a piano. It has a snare drum in the background. The sound of the drum was mixed very low. The snare drum cannot be heard when the guitar is played.[1] The song has a tempo of 70 beats per minute. Martin's vocal range in the song is from F♯4 to A5,[3] the highest note being sung using his falsetto voice.
Release
[change | change source]"Trouble" was released on 26 October 2000 in the United Kingdom, and on 18 December 2001 in the United States. It was the third single of Parachutes.[4] A limited edition CD of the single was released. It had a remix of the songs "Yellow" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Only 1,000 copies were made. It was given only to fans and journalists.[5]
Coldplay did not accept many offers to use "Trouble" for advertisements. In 2004, the band rejected an offer from Diet Coke and Gap to use the song. The offer was worth many million Euros. American actor Sylvester Stallone wanted to use the song for the soundtrack of his 2001 film Driven. But the band declined.[6][7]
Reception
[change | change source]"Trouble" was a commercial success. It reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. This made it the band's second Top 10 single in the UK after "Yellow". "Trouble" was successful because the previous singles did very well. Also, the album, Parachutes was very successful in the United Kingdom.[8] The British band Lost Witness made a remixed version of the song. It was released and was successful.[8]
In the United States, the single's chart performance was almost as good as "Yellow"'s.[5] It reached number 23 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 and 28 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks.[9] Martin has said the single had saved them from being a "one-hit wonder" band. The band thought it was not a "great single". They felt it would not do well in the United States.[5]
Music videos
[change | change source]The original European version of the music video for "Trouble" was directed by British director Sophie Muller. The video was shot in a Newhall, California ranch.[10] Its theme was the Wild West.
The music video also had a U.S. version. This was directed by Tim Hope who won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction in 2002 for the video.[11] It was also nominated for "Breakthrough Video".[12] The video is similar to "Don't Panic".
Track listing
[change | change source]
|
|
Chart
[change | change source]| Chart (2000–01) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| France Singles Chart[15] | 60 |
| Italy (FIMI)[16] | 16 |
| Irish Singles Chart[17] | 16 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[18] | 36 |
| Polish Singles Chart[19] | 9 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[20] | 10 |
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles[21] | 15 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[21] | 28 |
Notes
[change | change source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Roach, p. 49
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Inglis, Sam (October 2000). "Recording Coldplay's Parachutes". soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ↑ "Trouble". Musicnotes, Inc. 13 January 2003. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ↑ Basham, David (2000-09-29). "Coldplay Opens Up "Parachutes" For U.S. Audiences". MTV. Archived from the original on 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Moss, Corey (2001-12-18). "Coldplay Ready Second Album As 'Trouble' Heats Up". MTV. Archived from the original on 2009-01-14. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ↑ "Too many American Psychos". The Guardian. 2001-08-16. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
- ↑ Hyland, Ian (2001-04-22). "The Diary: Band in a whole lot of Trouble with Sly". Sunday Mirror (Internet Archive). Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Roach, p. 54
- ↑ "Coldplay: Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Macrovision Company. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
- ↑ "Pink Is Ready To Have Some Fun With 'Try This'". Yahoo!. 2003-10-06. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
- ↑ D'Angelo, Joe (2002-08-29). "Eminem Takes Home Most Moonmen From Video Music Awards". MTV. Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ↑ "2002 VMA Winners". MTV. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
- ↑ "Trouble". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
- ↑ "Trouble [Australia Bonus Tracks]". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-04-30.
- ↑ "Trouble". Italian Charts. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
- ↑ "Coldplay – Trouble". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- ↑ "Chart Track". Irish Singles Chart. GfK. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- ↑ "Coldplay – Trouble". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- ↑ "Polish Singles Chart". Poland Radio. Archived from the original on 2013-03-24. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
- ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Billboard Charts & Awards - Coldplay". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
References
[change | change source]- Roach, Martin (2003). Coldplay: Nobody Said it was Easy. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9810-8. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
Other websites
[change | change source]| Parachutes track listing |
|---|
| "Don't Panic" · "Shiver" · "Spies" · "Sparks" · "Yellow" · "Trouble" · "Parachutes" · "High Speed" · "We Never Change" · "Everything's Not Lost" |