"بنی آدم" (romanized: "Bani Adam") is a song by Coldplay from their eighth studio album, Everyday Life (2019). It is the sixth track on the second side of the album, Sunset.
Background and recording[]
The first half of "بنی آدم" dates back to the Viva la Vida era in 2008, being played live at Avicii Arena (formerly Stockholm Globe Arena) in Stockholm, Sweden.[1] It was performed live a second time in 2010 in Liverpool, where Chris Martin plays an unfinished rough version towards the end of "Trouble" and claims the band should rehearse it.[2] Jonny Buckland revealed the jamming on the second half of the song was recorded at a soundcheck at Saturday Night Live in 2014 during the promotion of their sixth studio album, Ghost Stories (2014).[3]
Composition[]
"بنی آدم" is seemingly divided into two halves; the first one consists of a piano melody and the second one features an instrumental jam by Coldplay whilst the voice of Dr. Shahrzad (Sherry) Sami recites Iranian poet Saadi Shirazi's poem Bani Adam in Persian. In an interview, Chris said the poem the song is about means how people are all connected as human beings and how they are supposed to take care of each other.[4]
Near the end, the song first samples "The Sun", by Alice and John Coltrane, and then "Otuto Nke Chukwu", as performed by Harcourt Whyte. The latter segues into the next track on the album, "Champion of the World".
Etymology[]
"Bani Adam" stands in Persian for "بنی آدم", which means "Children of Adam", "Son of Adam", or even "Human Beings", within the context of the poem. Despite the translation, the words are just a way of referring to all humankind in the Arabic and Persian languages.
Promotion[]
On 21 November 2019, Coldplay uploaded on their YouTube channel a 360 degrees virtual reality video called 360° Experience. On it, Chris appears playing the first half of "بنی آدم" on the piano, directly from Jordan, the place where the Live in Jordan performances took place the following day.[5]
Lyrics[]
[Dr. Shahrzad (Sherry) Sami]
بنی آدم اعضای یکدیگرند
که در آفرینش ز یک گوهرند
چو عضوی بدرد آورد روزگار،
دگر عضوها را نماند قرار
تو کز محنت دیگران بیغمی،
نشاید که نامت نهند آدمی
[Sample: "The Sun" by John and Alice Coltrane]
May there be peace and love and perfection throughout all creation, oh God
May there be peace and love and perfection throughout all creation, oh God
[Sample: 'Otuto Nke Chukwu']
Gi nwa nke chukwu, gini ka ina ekwu
N'ihi ihe nile
Nke chukwu mere
[Dr. Shahrzad (Sherry) Sami]
Banī ādam a'zā-ye yek peykar-and
ke dar āfarīn-aš ze yek gowhar-and
čo 'ozvī be dard āvarad rūzgār
degar 'ozvhā-rā na-mānad qarār
to k-az mehnat-ē dīgarān bīqam-ī
na-šāyad ke nām-at nahand ādamī
[Sample: "The Sun" by John and Alice Coltrane]
May there be peace and love and perfection throughout all creation, oh God
May there be peace and love and perfection throughout all creation, oh God
[Sample: 'Otuto Nke Chukwu']
Gi nwa nke chukwu, gini ka ina ekwu
N'ihi ihe nile
Nke chukwu mere
Official audio[]
بنی آدم
Critical reception[]
In a ranking of the band's entire discography, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release of Parachutes (2000), NME draw some comparisons with the A Head Full of Dreams' track "Kaleidoscope", although still being positives towards "بنی آدم", wroting that the first half is “a gorgeous little storyline”, while the second half “returns the ambition for universal peace of Everyday Life.”[6]
References[]
- ↑ https://youtu.be/8PeSqjyKceM?t=4778
- ↑ https://youtu.be/PS-NYH8_Ce0?t=247
- ↑ https://youtu.be/WxwxHBrCbeQ
- ↑ https://soundcloud.com/user-907163010/everydaylifetrackbytrack
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLU8wpH_LfhmsSVRA8bSknO4-2wXvYXS4C&v=sNIN9IlDyBw
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/features/every-coldplay-song-ranked-in-order-of-greatness-2704676