Politik

"Politik"
General information
Artist	Coldplay
Released	26 August 2002
Recorded	13 September 2001
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	5:18
Labels
Songwriter(s)	Guy Berryman Jonny Buckland Will Champion Chris Martin
Producer(s)	Coldplay Ken Nelson
Album	A Rush of Blood to the Head
A Rush of Blood to the Head track listing
"Politik"
"In My Place"

"Politik" is a song by Coldplay from their second studio album, A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). It is the first track on the album.

Background and recording

The production of A Rush of Blood to the Head began quickly with the writing and recording of "Politik", which was majorly inspired by the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Chris Martin stated that the song is an “ode” to the event. In an interview, he explained: “I wrote the song on 9/11 and we recorded it on 9/13. We were all a little confused and frightened. I get off tour and had a rest for one or two days, but then I get antsy again. I want to write songs and do things, 'cause you never know what might happen. You got to live in the moment.” In a track by track interview, Chris told the band wanted a song where they “just hit our instruments as loudly as posible and dispensed with the idea of fragility. Not to waste the potential missed opportunity of living in the now.”

In an interview, Chris revealed that the opening line was originally a bit different than the final version of the song. In the early stages, he used to sing, “Look at Earth from outer space / Isn't this a crazy place?”. About the change, Chris said, "Will quickly glared at me and gave me that look. He thought the line to be cheesy, too trite, and now, looking back, it was. Needless to say I changed that line in the song.”

Composition

In an interview for The Fader, Chris explained that "Politik" is based on his realisation of his mortality and the feelings revolving around that. Will Champion and Guy Berryman also said the song is very personal, stating, “It's a personal statement of belief about what someone thinks is good and thinks is bad.”

Jules Willis from BBC Music said the song is “unusually dramatic” with a “driving, imposing start with Martin's distinctive vocals reverberating eerily above urgent piano chords.” About the song structure, NME said “guitars and keyboards mash together in a two note blur, until everything suddenly drops from the mix and Martin is alone at his piano.”

Live performances

"Politik" became the band's official opening piece during all the A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour, being occasionally played live time to time in the subsequent eras. About that, Guy added: “There's only one place for 'Politik'. We could not have put this song in any other position than number one and there is no better song than this one to open our show.”

At the 45th Annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York, the band were joined on stage by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michael Kamen, for a live performance of the song. Regarding picking the song to be played, Will said that “it really seemed like the only appropriate song to play. It's the song that's able to say everything for us. We're on our way to war, the Grammys are in New York City... It's the only song we felt right about playing.” They were nominated in two categories and won both; Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "In My Place" and Best Alternative Music Album for A Rush of Blood to the Head.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Look at Earth from outer space
Everyone must find a place
Give me time and give me space
Give me real, don't give me fake
Give me strength, reserve, control
Give me heart and give me soul
Give me time, give us a kiss
Tell me your own politik

[Chorus]
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes

[Verse 2]
Give me one, 'cause one is best
In confusion, confidence
Give me piece of mind and trust
Don't forget the rest of us
Give me strength, reserve, control
Give me heart and give me soul
Wounds that heal and cracks that fix
Tell me your own politik

[Chorus]
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Open up your eyes
Just open up your eyes

[Bridge]
And give me love over, love over, love over this, ahhh-ahhh-ahhh
And give me love over, love over, love over this, ahhh-ahhh-ahhh

Official audio

Politik

Critical reception

MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic praised the song, saying, “As Will Champion's drums crash, Jonny Buckland's guitar swells, and Guy Berryman's bass churns, frontman Chris Martin bursts through the Wall of Sound, jolting listeners awake with the desperate cry, “Open up your eyes!” Angsty and urgent, songs like 'Politik' and the title track introduced fresh elements into the Coldplay repertoire, expanding their emotional palette and showing critics that they could really rock when they wanted to." The Guardian praised the band evolution and maturity by saying, “'Politiks clanging guitars offer precisely the potency most observers thought was beyond them. They now sound not just like an award-winning multi-platinum band, but an award-winning multi-platinum band with a point to prove.”

In a ranking of the band's entire discography, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the release of Parachutes, NME positively reviewed it, “If that opening headbanger of a riff doesn't give you a rush of blood to the head, I don't know what will. It's a pounding, forceful announcement that this is not ‘Parachutes’ anymore. It's telling you that disaster is coming, it's telling you what's needed to weather the apocalypse. These lyrics are asking you to open your eyes and take love, give love – because it's not about wondering what if something goes wrong, it's explaining how it feels when it does. Somehow, with all the instruments still the same as usual, these lyrics, sung in that warning low register which turns into a crying falsetto, make the pain feel more jagged, messier than before.”