"Clocks" is one of Coldplay's biggest hits, but apparently some of the band members had to fight to get it released — since, according to drummer Will Champion, it's "not a song."
This was revealed during an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Essentials Radio for the 20th anniversary of Coldplay's sophomore album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, which came out on August 26, 2002. Bassist Guy Berryman said that it was a "battle" to get the song included on the record.
This battle was caused by Champion, who admitted to Lowe, "I said, 'Yeah, this is not a song.' And then someone else, our manager at the time, was saying, 'If that's a hit, I'll eat my hat,' that kind of thing."
Champion has only sort of changed his mind about "Clocks." He told Lowe, "In my obstinacy, I still stand by that, but it's a bloody good piece of music."
His initial objection to "Clocks" seems to be that the song's primary hook is its repetitive piano arpeggios. Champion said, "It's really an interesting kind of song and it's almost like dance music in a way in that it takes a strong melodic riff that isn't sung. It's just an earworm thing … but it's still a mystery for me, that song. I love it."
"Clocks" won Record of the Year at the 2004 Grammy Awards.
This was revealed during an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music's Essentials Radio for the 20th anniversary of Coldplay's sophomore album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, which came out on August 26, 2002. Bassist Guy Berryman said that it was a "battle" to get the song included on the record.
This battle was caused by Champion, who admitted to Lowe, "I said, 'Yeah, this is not a song.' And then someone else, our manager at the time, was saying, 'If that's a hit, I'll eat my hat,' that kind of thing."
Champion has only sort of changed his mind about "Clocks." He told Lowe, "In my obstinacy, I still stand by that, but it's a bloody good piece of music."
His initial objection to "Clocks" seems to be that the song's primary hook is its repetitive piano arpeggios. Champion said, "It's really an interesting kind of song and it's almost like dance music in a way in that it takes a strong melodic riff that isn't sung. It's just an earworm thing … but it's still a mystery for me, that song. I love it."
"Clocks" won Record of the Year at the 2004 Grammy Awards.