""Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" is a song by Coldplay from their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto. It was released as the album's lead single on June 3, 2011, as a digital download, except in the United Kingdom, where it was released 2 days later. The song was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song. It contains elements of the 1976 song "I Go to Rio" written by Peter Allen and Adrienne Anderson. Debuting at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, the song sold 85,000 copies in its first week, before climbing to its peak of number 14. It peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart.
The song made its radio debut on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC 6 Music, Absolute Radio, and Xfm. Coldplay first performed it live on 4 June at the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festival in Nürnberg, Germany. It was also played live at the Steve Jobs memorial/celebration-of-life event at Apple headquarters on 19 October 2011 in Cupertino, California, and at the opening of the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 6 November 2011. The song was used as the theme for the live-action film adaptation of Chūya Koyama's Uchū Kyōdai (Space Brothers) manga.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
I turn the music up, I got my records on
I shut the world outside until the lights come on
Maybe the streets alight, maybe the trees are gone
I feel my heart start beating to my favourite song
And all the kids they dance, all the kids all night
Until Monday morning feels another life
I turn the music up
I'm on a roll this time
And heaven is in sight
[Verse 2]
I turn the music up, I got my records on
From underneath the rubble sing a rebel song
Don't want to see another generation drop
I'd rather be a comma than a full stop
Maybe I'm in the black, maybe I'm on my knees
Maybe I'm in the gap between the two trapezes
But my heart is beating and my pulses start
Cathedrals in my heart
As we saw oh this light I swear you, emerge blinking into
To tell me it's alright
As we soar walls, every siren is a symphony
And every tear's a waterfall
Is a waterfall
Oh
Is a waterfall
Oh oh oh
Is a is a waterfall
Every tear
Is a waterfall
Oh oh oh
So you can hurt, hurt me bad
But still I'll raise the flag
Oh
It was a wa wa wa wa wa-aterfall
A wa wa wa wa wa-aterfall
Every tear
Every tear
Every teardrop is a waterfall
Every tear
Every tear
Every teardrop is a waterfall
Every tear
Every tear
Every teardrop is a waterfall