Fix You

For the The Offspring song of the same name, see Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace.

"Fix You"
Single by Coldplay
from the album X&Y
B-side "The World Turned Upside Down"
"Pour Me" (Live at the Hollywood Bowl)
Released 5 September 2005
Format
Genre Post-Britpop, Alternative rock
Length 4:54 (album version)
4:07 (radio edit)
4:37 (single version)
Label Parlophone
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Platinum (ARIA)
Coldplay singles chronology
"Speed of Sound"
(2005)		 "Fix You"
(2005)		 "Talk"
(2005)
Music video
"Fix You" on YouTube

"Fix You" is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third studio album, X&Y (2005). The track is built around an organ accompanied by slow tempo drums and vocals.

It was released on 5 September 2005 as the second single from X&Y and has reached number four on the UK Singles Chart. The song reached number 18 in the United States Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks. Promo singles were released for the UK and US. Blythe Danner, the mother of Gwyneth Paltrow and former mother-in-law of Chris Martin, stated in an interview in May 2012 that Martin 'wrote the song for Gwyneth when her father died and I weep every time I hear it'.[1]

"Fix You" was critically acclaimed by music critics. It has been widely sampled, with different covers and sounds. The song was nominated for multiple awards in the categories of Best Song Musically and Lyrically and Anthem of the Summer. The music video was garnered as a tribute to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The guitar solo of "Fix You" is currently used as the player introduction at all of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens' home games,[2] during the three stars of the game selection after every Los Angeles Kings home win, and was played at Staples Center as the Stanley Cup was brought on the ice after the Kings' victory in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. The song is also used for the 2015-16 New York Islanders inaugural season in Barclays Center.

The song was played live at the Steve Jobs memorial/celebration-of-life event at Apple headquarters on 19 October 2011 in Cupertino, California.

Background

When writing the song, vocalist Chris Martin originally intended to use a church-style organ for the track. Unable to gain access to the instrument, Martin instead used an old keyboard that his late father-in-law, Bruce Paltrow, gave to his daughter Gwyneth.[3] However, in other instances Martin has claimed that "Fix You" is influenced by English alternative rock band Elbow's 2003 anthem "Grace Under Pressure".[4][5][6]

When asked about the development of the song, Martin said: "My father-in-law Bruce Paltrow bought this big keyboard just before he died. No one had ever plugged it in. I plugged it in, and there was this incredible sound I'd never heard before. All these songs poured out from this one sound. Something has to inspire you, and something else takes over. It's very cloudy."[7] Martin also noted that the song is "probably the most important song we've ever written".[8]

During a track-by-track reveal, bassist Guy Berryman admitted that the song takes "a bit of inspiration" from Jimmy Cliff's 1969 song "Many Rivers to Cross". Berryman also added, "It becomes its own thing, kind of like points of inspiration that kind of lead you down certain paths. Whenever you want to write a song like someone else, it ultimately ends up sounding like something different anyway."[9]

While studying at University College London the band lived in Ramsay Hall, reminiscing on the experience they said that the lyric "lights will guide you home" comes from living next to the BT Tower, a notable landmark in London which they would follow coming back from nights out.

Composition

"Fix You" excerpt
The music of "Fix You" is built around a church-style organ.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The song, which is written in the key of E-flat major, features an organ and piano sound.[10] The song starts with a hushed electric organ ballad, including Martin's falsetto.[11] The song then builds with both acoustic guitar and piano. The sound then shifts with a plaintive three-note guitar line, ringing through a rhythmic upbeat tempo. Subtle instrumentation includes the background sound of church-style organ throughout.[12] piano notes, acoustic and electric guitar riffs, drums, and a singalong chorus.[13]

The message throughout the song, in which Martin sings, is words of encouragement: "Lights will guide you home / And ignite your bones / And I will try to fix you."[14][15][16] Michele Hatty of USA Weekend reported that Martin sings about recovering from grief in the song.[17] Travis Gass of the Bangor Daily News wrote that Martin offers his sympathies for the downtrodden, with "When you love someone but it goes to waste / Could it be worse?". Gass goes on to interpret that the "booming drums" and chorus is that of Queen's 1975 song "Bohemian Rhapsody".[18]

Release

Coldplay released "Fix You" in the UK and US on 5 September 2005 as the second single of their third album.[19] The single was pressed with two B-side's: "The World Turned Upside Down" and "Pour Me".[19][20] On 14 September 2005, the band released the Fix You EP in the iTunes Store.[19] In response to Hurricane Katrina, all of the sales went to the American Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund.[19] Promotional singles were released in the UK and US.[19]

The track peaked at number four in the UK Singles Chart on 17 September 2005.[21] As of 30 July 2011, the song had spent 122 weeks on that chart.[22] It peaked at number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks.[23] The song also charted on the Billboard Pop 100 and Hot Digital Songs.[23] The single appeared in Australia's Singles Chart in the number four position on 18 September 2005,[24] after retiring in the 58 spot.[24] It also appeared at number eight on the Irish Singles Chart and spent seven consecutive weeks on the chart.[25] On 14 November 2010, the song re-entered the Australian singles chart at number 37.[26]

In 2009, the song also appeared on Coldplay's live album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft.[27]

Reception

Chris Martin playing "Fix You" on a synthesiser during the band's 2008 Viva la Vida Tour

The song received widespread acclaim from music critics. In the Rolling Stone review of the album, critic Kelefa Sanneh wrote: "One of the best is 'Fix You', an unabashedly sentimental song where Martin delivers words of encouragement in a gentle falsetto [...] Proving once more that no band can deliver a stately rock ballad like this one."[14] Paul McNamee of NME magazine wrote: "It’s a wonderful song that shifts from simple stark piano and voice to a ringing, clattering burst of intent and proto-prog four-part harmony."[28] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters in his review of the album, noted the song as the "best ballad" off X&Y.[29] In 2005, the song appeared at number two on Q magazine's "100 Greatest Tracks of the Year",[30] and was listed as one of the "Tracks of the Year" by NME in 2005.[31]

In 2005, Coldplay performed the song live on Saturday Night Live and the Live 8 event in July.[32] "Fix You" was also played on Shelter from the Storm.[19] It has also become a tribute song for the victims and eventually became the anthem for the event.[19] The song was featured in an episode of the American teen drama television series The O.C.,[33][34] and then in Without a Trace, Cold Case and Brothers & Sisters. The half part of the song was played over the trailer for the 2006 film World Trade Center.[35][36] It was also featured in the 2006 movie You, Me and Dupree.[37] The track was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the category of Best Song musically and lyrically.[38][39] The song was also nominated for an UK Festival Award in the category of Anthem of the Summer.[40] On 14 March 2009, the band performed a rendition of the song at the relief concert, Sound Relief, in Sydney, Australia.[41] On 19 October 2011, the band played the song at the "Celebrating Steve" event for Apple employees over a global media stream to all the Apple Stores. This event was also available for Apple customers via the company website.

The song appears in The Acoustic Album (2006). It was performed in 2006 by the New England octogenarian chorus group Young@Heart. The group's performance was led by former chorus member Fred Knittle, who suffered from congestive heart failure and breathed with assistance from an oxygen tank. The performance was originally planned to be a duet between Knittle and Bob Salvini, another former chorus member, but Salvini died shortly before the show. Knittle performed it as a solo, as a tribute to his friend.[42] The performance was initially recorded for a British documentary that aired on Channel 4; footage of the performance was uploaded to YouTube in November 2006 to positive response.[43][44] An expanded version of the film, titled Young@Heart, debuted at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival and was released in US theatres in 2008.[45][46]

Music video

The music video for "Fix You" was directed by Sophie Muller, who had previously worked with the band for their 2002 video "In My Place".[47] The video was filmed at the end of two concerts on 4 and 5 July 2005 at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, England.[48] The concert goers doubled as extras for the video shoot, which required two takes on each day to complete.[19][49]

In the first half of the video the band's lead singer, Chris Martin, wanders the streets of London starting at Tooley Street under London Bridge Station, while the slogan "Make Trade Fair" is projected onto the Royal National Theatre, using the same ITA2 colour scheme on the cover of X&Y. The tunnels that Martin is seen wandering within are located both in and around London St Pancras and King's Cross railway stations, and the filming for the video took place during the time of the redevelopment and expansion of London St Pancras International. Martin is then seen walking across Waterloo Bridge, which crosses the River Thames, connecting the Southbank with The Strand. As soon as the electric guitar kicks in, Martin's walk turns into a run as he darts through streets of London, until very quickly reaching the side of the stage at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, where he joins the rest of the band for the song's finale. The audience sings along with the song's final refrain, and at the end of the video Martin thanks them for their support and wishes them goodnight.

The video debuted on 1 August 2005.[50] The music video was nominated at the 15th annual Music Video Production Association Awards in the category of Adult Contemporary.[50] After its release, the music video was repurposed as a tribute to the victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, although it was filmed before they occurred.[19]

In popular culture

Cover versions

Media

The song has been used on the final sequences of the episode "I'll Try To Fix You" of the 2012 HBO's television series The Newsroom,[53] as well as an episode of Scrubs, and the final scene of the episode "Cargo" of the CBS series Cold Case. The song also briefly featured in the Australian family drama Packed to the Rafters. In 2013 "Fix You" was used to powerful effect in the final episode of the first season of British public television Channel 4's comedy-drama Derek. "Fix You" was played during an episode of Brothers & Sisters.

On an episode of the BBC comedy game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, the Coldplay song "Violet Hill" was used in a segment, and when regular panelist Noel Fielding said that he "genuinely hated Coldplay," host David Tennant then played a snippet of "Fix You" and mouthed the line "And I will try...to fix you." Comedian Catherine Tate also finished the lyrics of the chorus correctly in a different segment of the same episode. The song was also played at the wedding of the Swedish prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist on the 13th of June 2015, performed by Salem al Fakir. "Fix You" was also used in the 2006 film, You, Me, and Dupree.

American ice dance team Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani used the song for their free dance in the 2015-2016 season.

Track listing

  1. "Fix You" (edit) – 4:37
  2. "The World Turned Upside Down" – 4:32
  3. "Pour Me" (Live at the Hollywood Bowl) – 5:01 (featured on the UK Enhanced CD, Australian, and US iTunes EP versions)
  4. "Fix You" (video) (featured on the UK Enhanced CD)

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[54] 25
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[55] 58
Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[56] 5
Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[57] 3
Canadian Singles Chart[58] 4
Germany (Official German Charts)[59] 65
Italy (FIMI)[60] 13
Ireland (IRMA)[61] 8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[62] 43
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[63] 17
Polish Singles Chart[64] 4
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[65] 6
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[66] 26
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[67] 53
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[68] 4
US Billboard Hot 100 59
US Billboard Alternative Songs 18
US Billboard Adult Pop Songs 24

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[69] Gold 10,000
Italy (FIMI)[70] Platinum 15,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[71] Platinum 666,000[72]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Das, Lina (3 May 2012). "'English, polite, and a great dad': Why Gwynnie's mum Blythe Danner adores her rock star son-in-law". Daily Mail (London).
  2. ↑ Video on YouTube
  3. ↑ Kennedy, John. "Coldplay on X&Y". Xfm. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  4. ↑ "Coldplay admit 'Fix You' is a copy of Elbow's track". Female First. 8 June 2005. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  5. ↑ Gordon, Devin (30 May 2005). "Hot for Coldplay". Newsweek. MSNBC. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
  6. ↑ Breimeier, Russ (2005). "Coldplay: X&Y". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on 9 July 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2008.
  7. ↑ Gundersen, Edna (2 June 2005). "Catch Coldplay". USA Today. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  8. ↑ Gordon, Devin (30 May 2005). "Hot For Coldplay". Newsweek.
  9. ↑ Spout, Gene (12 August 2005). "Stardom and anonymity: Coldplay's bassist has the best of both worlds". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 17 November 2008.
  10. ↑ "Coldplay — Fix You". NME. 19 September 2005. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  11. ↑ "Coldplay — Fix You review". Virgin Media. 5 September 2005. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  12. ↑ "New Singles". Daily Mirror. 2 September 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  13. ↑ Hubbard, Michael (5 September 2005). "Coldplay — Fix You — Track reviews". MusicOMH. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  14. 1 2 Sanneh, Kelefa (16 June 2005). "X&Y — Coldplay". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  15. ↑ "Fix You Lyrics". MTV. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  16. ↑ Downer, Adam (28 October 2005). "Coldplay — X&Y Review". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  17. ↑ Hatty, Michele (24 July 2005). "Now hear this". USA Weekend.
  18. ↑ Gass, Travis (17 June 2005). "Coldplay's new album brilliant, pompous". Bangor Daily News: 10.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Coldplay Ezine: Issue 15" (PDF). Coldplay.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2006. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  20. ↑ "Fix You by Coldplay". Yahoo! Music. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 17 April 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  21. ↑ "Chart Stats — Coldplay". Chart Stats. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  22. ↑ http://www.webcitation.org/query?id=1311542322373466&date=%400&fromform=1
  23. 1 2 "Artist Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  24. 1 2 "Austria Top 40". Austrian Charts. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  25. ↑ "Fix You". Irish Charts. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  26. ↑ "Top 50 Singles Chart". Aria Charts. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  27. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (1 May 2009). "Coldplay Reward Fans With Free Live LP "LeftRightLeftRightLeft"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  28. ↑ McNamee, Paul (23 May 2005). "Coldplay: X&Y". NME. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  29. ↑ Begrand, Adrien (5 June 2005). "Coldplay: X&Y review". PopMatters. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  30. ↑ Akbar, Arifa (2 December 2005). "Sensitive souls of rock 'n' roll show their strength with album prize". The Independent (London). Retrieved 14 April 2009.
  31. ↑ "NME Tracks of the Year 2005". NME. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2009.
  32. ↑ "Coldplay Ezine: Issue 14" (PDF). Coldplay.com. July 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2006. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  33. ↑ J. J. Philbin and Michael Lange (2005-05-12). "The O.Sea". The O.C. Season 2. Episode 23. 42 minutes in. Fox.
  34. ↑ Tannenbaum, Rob (29 May 2005). "Chill Factor". New York. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  35. ↑ World Trade Center (DVD). Paramount Pictures. 2006.
  36. ↑ "World Trade Center information". Sound Track Info. 8 August 2006. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  37. ↑ You, Me and Dupree (DVD). Universal Pictures. 2006.
  38. ↑ Gibson, Owen (25 April 2006). "Arctic Monkeys among Novello award hopefuls". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  39. ↑ "Coldplay top Ivor nomination list". BBC News (BBC). 24 April 2006. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  40. ↑ "Coldplay Ezine: Issue 16" (PDF). Coldplay.com. December 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  41. ↑ Moran, Jonathon (15 March 2009). "Coldplay are Aussies for a day at Sound Relief". The Daily Telegraph (Australia) (News Corporation). Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  42. ↑ Ansen, David (18 March 2008). "Songs in the Key of Life". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  43. ↑ Jake Coyle (24 June 2007). "Young@Heart bridges the age gap". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  44. ↑ Ronni Gordon (9 March 2007). "'Young@Heart' documentary at Academy". The Republican. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  45. ↑ "Young@Heart – 2008". Variety. 9 April 2008. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  46. ↑ Horn, John (10 April 2008). "'Juno' set high box office standard for fest fare". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  47. ↑ Wiederhorn, Jon (12 August 2002). "Single Saves Coldplay". MTV News. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  48. ↑ Montgomery, James (2 August 2005). "Coldplay's Clip For 'Fix You': All-New Footage Of Chris Martin Walking Around". MTV News. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  49. ↑ "Bolton Wanderers". BBC Manchester (BBC). 31 August 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  50. 1 2 "Coldplay – "Fix You"". Mvdbase.com. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  51. ↑ "Music Builds – Little Big Town – Fix You". YouTube. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  52. ↑ "The NHS choir beat Justin Bieber to number one". The Independent. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  53. ↑ http://www.vulture.com/2012/07/are-tv-shows-overusing-coldplays-fix-you.html#
  54. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Coldplay – Fix You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  55. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Coldplay – Fix You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  56. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Coldplay – Fix You" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  57. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Coldplay – Fix You" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  58. ↑ "Coldplay > Charts & Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  59. ↑ "Musicline.de – Coldplay Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  60. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Coldplay – Fix You". Top Digital Download. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  61. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 37, 2011". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  62. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Coldplay – Fix You" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  63. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Coldplay – Fix You". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  64. ↑ "Polish Singles Chart |".
  65. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Coldplay – Fix You" Canciones Top 50. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  66. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Coldplay – Fix You". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  67. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Coldplay – Fix You". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  68. ↑ "Coldplay: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
  69. ↑ "Certificeringer" (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  70. ↑ "Certificazioni - Archivio" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Retrieved 9 January 2015. Select Online, Week 52, Year 2014 and press Cerca certificazioni.
  71. ↑ "British single certifications – Coldplay – Fix You". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Fix You in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  72. ↑ Myers, Justin (6 February 2016). "Coldplay's Official Top 20 biggest selling songs revealed!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 February 2016.

External links

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