Violet Hill
From WikiColdplay
Violet Hill is a track included on Coldplay's fourth album, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends and the album's first single, released on May 5, 2008.
One of the strongest of the new songs, the band was considering giving it away as a special promotion in coming weeks and then leaving it off the album. However it was later revealed that not only would Violet Hill end up being on the album, it would be the first single. Opening with a jagged distorted guitar riff, the song announces a new template: The stalking, bluesy beat fits nicely with Chris Martin's earthy vocals and plaintive lyrics: "If you love me, won't you let me know?"
The band also announced on April 28, 2008 that the single would be released from the official Coldplay website on April 29 for a week free of charge before the paid download on May 5. The song received its first radio play on April 29, 2008, on BBC Radio 1 at 12:13. Coldplay’s new single 'Violet Hill' was downloaded for free by over 600,000 people in the 24 hours since it was made available at 12.15pm on April 29.
Chris Martin described the song as having a "chalky, pastel feeling" which he said reminds him of his childhood. "Imagine a pseudo guitar-like circus music with a pinch of Chicago... It's something new from us and you will be impressed."
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Track listings
NME freebie (7")
- "Violet Hill" – 3:49
- "A Spell A Rebel Yell" - 2:46
European release (CD)
- "Violet Hill" - 3:49
- "Lost?" - 3:39
Music Video
Radiotimes.com announced an exclusive broadcast of Coldplay's new video for the forthcoming single, Violet Hill. It was due to be broadcast on UK's Channel 4 on May 13 at 11.05pm, however, this never occured, with the video instead being posted on the band's official website, along with an alternative Dancing Politicians version by Mat Whitecross, which spliced images of prominent politicians with images of the band taken from the official video.
The official video for Violet Hill was filmed in Sicily, Italy. It was originally thought that only 'Prospekt' was present in Italy, but Italian media that it was the whole band, ready to film a video for the first single of the fourth album. The film set was a very restricted area located in Enna (the Italian city at the highest altitude), near Nicoletti lake.
The video itself features the band performing the song with various instruments, dressed in their now familiar military outfits. On occasion, members of the band distort their faces with a magnifying glass. It ends with Chris Martin attempting to walk on snow, and failing somewhat.
B-sides
A free Coldplay 7" vinyl single was given away with the May 7 issue of NME. The vinyl includes Violet Hill and non-album track A Spell A Rebel Yell, and is not available anywhere else.
Krissi Murison, deputy editor at the NME, said Chris Martin contacted them directly: "He called up our editor one night from the studio, he said 'I have just written this song [A Spell A Rebel Yell] and it's the pefect song. NME readers are gonna love it, we have to get it out there.'"
A Spell A Rebel Yell is absent from the commercial CD release of Violet Hill however, which includes Lost? as its b-side instead.
First Release Of Violet Hill Causes Websites To Crash
Coldplay’s new single 'Violet Hill' was downloaded for free by over 600,000 people in the 24 hours since it was made available at 12.15pm on Tuesday (April 29).
In the first 12 hours it was downloaded by 300,000. This figure doubled overnight as other countries logged on to Coldplay.com, the source of the free download. The single will be available free for a week and will then be released as a paid-for digital single on May 6.
Meanwhile, Last.fm have been keen to point out that the Coldplay figures are a record, exceeding even the most popular track from the Radiohead album that was streamed for free back in October. That notched up 22,000 listens in 12 hours.
Last.fm's figures are based, obviously, on the traffic that is scrobbled among Last.fm users, so these are only a minimum figure. But in 23 hours, there have already been 33,523 listens of Violet Hill - equivalent to 1 listen every 2.4 seconds. That's despite Coldplay's server wobbling about a bit under the weight of requests yesterday. Last.fm has already claimed a significant 119% rise in the number of click-throughs to Amazon's retail site since it introduced free streaming for the big four music labels.
Reviews
Reviews of Violet Hill have in the main been positive, even from those most sceptical of Coldplay's direction. One read:
Well, they promised us different, and I can confirm that Coldplay have delivered something different. But is it good? Hell yeah. Even speaking as a determined Coldplay hater, Violet Hill sounds dark, foreboding, and heavy. Less of the piano-sturbation, and Chris Martin retires the falsetto in favour of a more earthy vocal tone.
Violet Hill is a song rich in texture: fuzzed-up power chords, wailing string bends in the background, and some very atmospheric drumming from Will Champion. This most definitely rocks. If this is a sampler of Coldplay’s new direction, then it’s certainly enough to persuade me to listen to the album. Unlike other Coldplay songs I’ve heard, this has balls.
Gentlemen… well played. Thumbs up.
You can read many of the reviews at http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44253
Lyrics
Was a long and dark December From the rooftops I remember There was snow, white snow Clearly I remember From the windows they were watching While we froze down below When the future's architectured By a carnival of idiots on show You'd better lie low If you love me Won't you let me know? Was a long and dark December When the banks became cathedrals And a fox became God Priests clutched onto bibles Hollowed out to fit their rifles And the cross was held aloft Bury me in armor When I’m dead and hit the ground My nerves are poles that unfroze If you love me Won't you let me know? I don't want to be a soldier Who the captain of some sinking ship Would stow, far below So if you love me Why'd you let me go? I took my love down to violet hill There we sat in snow All that time she was silent still So if you love me Won't you let me know? If you love me Won't you let me know?
External links
- Coldplay.com page to download "Violet Hill"
- Coldplay.com info page for promotion with NME
- NME to give away new Coldplay songs free
- Violet Hill Reviews
- Coldplay single downloaded by 600,000 people
- What do you think about Violet Hill?
- Coldplaying Violet Hill Poll Results Included In BBC Online
| Violet Hill | Viva La Vida | Lost! | Lovers In Japan | Life In Technicolor ii | Strawberry Swing |
| Life In Technicolor | Cemeteries Of London | 42 | Reign Of Love | Yes | Chinese Sleep Chant | Death And All His Friends | The Escapist |
| Postcards From Far Away | Glass Of Water | Rainy Day | Prospekt's March/Poppyfields | Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground |
| B-Sides/Other Releases |
| A Spell A Rebel Yell | Death Will Never Conquer | The Goldrush | Lhuna (ft. Kylie Minogue) |
| Unreleased Songs |
| LeftRightLeftRightLeft | Famous Old Painters | Lukas | School | The Dubliners |
