A Rush of Blood to the Head (song)

"A Rush of Blood to the Head"
General information
Recorded	2001-2002
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	5:51
Labels
Producer(s)	Coldplay Ken Nelson Danton Supple
Album	A Rush of Blood to the Head
A Rush of Blood to the Head track listing
"A Whisper"
"A Rush of Blood to the Head"
"Amsterdam"

"A Rush of Blood to the Head" is a song by Coldplay from their second studio album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. It is the tenth track of the album.

Background and composition

Chris Martin revealed the song is an homage to late American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. In a track by track interview, he explained that "Cash, [Bob] Dylan and Hank Williams are just the greatest men with just guitars. And I really wanted to sing a song low." The lyrics wailes about war as its main theme.

An early arrangement of the song was first performed live during the tours promoting Parachutes in 2001.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
He said I'm gonna buy this place and burn it down
I'm gonna put it six feet underground
He said I'm gonna buy this place and watch it fall
Stand here beside me, baby, in the crumbling walls
Oh, I'm gonna buy this place and start a fire
Stand here until I fill all your heart's desires
Because I'm gonna buy this place and see it burn
And do back the things it did to you in return

[Interlude]
Oo-oh, oo-oh
Oo-oh, oo-oh

[Verse 2]
He said I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war
If you can tell me something worth fighting for
Oh, and I'm gonna buy this place, is what I said
Blame it upon a rush of blood to the head

[Chorus]
Honey, all the movements you're starting to make
See me crumble and fall on my face
And I know the mistakes that I made
See it all disappear without trace
And they call as they beckon you on
They say start as you mean to go on
Start as you mean to go on

[Verse 3]
He said I'm gonna buy this place and see it go
Stand here beside me, baby, watch the orange glow
Some will laugh and some just sit and cry
But you just sit down there and you wonder why
So I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war
If you can tell me something worth fighting for
And I'm gonna buy this place, is what I said
Blame it upon a rush of blood to the head
Oh, to the head

[Chorus]
Honey, all the movements you're starting to make
See me crumble and fall on my face
And I know the mistakes that I made
See it all disappear without trace
And they call as they beckon you on
They say start as you mean to go on
As you mean to go on
As you mean to go on

[Outro]
So meet me by the bridge
Oh, meet me by the lane
When am I gonna see
That pretty face again?
Oh, meet me on the road
Meet me where I said
Blame it all upon
A rush of blood to the head

Official audio

A Rush of Blood to the Head

Critical reception

Ted Kessler of NME call the song a "brooding title track", saying it "alludes darkly to our fragility as the air bruises with scattered guitar cracks provided by Jonny Buckland's understated, intuitive playing." Describing it as "urgent", MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic said the track, along with "Politik", "introduced fresh elements into the Coldplay repertoire, expanding their emotional palette and showing critics that they could really rock when they wanted to."

In a ranking of the band's entire discography, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release of Parachutes, NME wrote: "There is a heavy, aching sense of despair to the title track of what is most definitely Coldplay's masterpiece. The sliding guitars of the chorus, paired with Martin's delivery of that one “honey” really do give you such a surge of energy, both painful and demanding, that it's hard to listen to it just once it's so affecting."