"Glass of Water" is a song by Coldplay from their seventh extended play, Prospekt's March. It is the third track off the EP. Although the song was not released as a single, it appeared on the UK and Canadian singles charts as well as on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. A live version of the song was included on the band's second live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft.
Background[]
Chris Martin revealed that during the recording sessions for the band's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, the band intended to record and write extra songs not meant for inclusion on the album, and "Glass of Water" was one of these songs. The song, in particular, was considered "a little heavier" by the band to be included in.[1]
Martin said that the songs from Prospekt's March, including "Glass of Water", and the songs from Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends are "all part of the same family." Indeed, the song contains similar lyrical themes to songs from Viva la Vida and is referenced in the booklet of the album; its title and some of its lyrics appear on a painting in the album booklet's centrefold, and the first page of the booklet is a map of Brazil with lyrics from "Glass of Water" scribbled over it in crayon.
Before the release of a studio recording of the song, "Glass of Water" was debuted to the public during the final concert of Coldplay's 2008 European leg of the Viva la Vida Tour, at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium, and eventually become a regular part of the tour's set list.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Scared of losing all the time
He wrote it in a letter
He was a friend of mine
He heard you could see your future
Inside a glass of water
The ripples and the lines
And he asked
"Will I see heaven in mine?"
[Verse 2]
That is just the way it was
Nothing could be better
And nothing ever was
Oh, they say you can see your future
Inside a glass of water
The riddles and the rhymes
Will I see heaven in mine?
Oh, oh, oh, oh, I
[Chorus]
Son, don't ask
Neither half full or empty
Is the glass
Cling to the mast
Spend your whole life living in the past
Going nowhere fast
[Verse 3]
So he wrote it on a wall
The hollowest of halos
Is no halo at all
Televisions selling plastic figurines of leaders
Saying nothing at all
And you chime
Stars in heaven align
Oh, oh, oh, oh, I
[Chorus]
Son, don't ask
Neither half full or empty
Is your glass
Cling to the mast
Spend your whole life living in the past
Going nowhere fast
[Outro]
Oh what are we drinking when we're done?
Glasses of water
Official audio[]
Glass of Water