"Trouble in Town" is a song by Coldplay from their eighth studio album, Everyday Life. It is the third track on the first side of the album, Sunrise. The song is one out of three on the album to contain profanity, along with "Arabesque" and "Guns". The official music video for the song was released on 12 March 2020.
Background and composition[]
According to Chris Martin, the song was based in the feelings and energy of living in America, as well as learning about certain components of the Thirteenth Amendment and other similar subjects.[1]
"Trouble in Town" samples an audio file of a police harassment and racial profiling of pedestrians by Philadelphia police officer Philip Nace in 2013.[2] The profanity present in the song comes directly from the sample, unlike other explicit songs on the album, in which is actually Chris singing them. In the lyric video, this sample is absent and consists only of Chris' vocals during the interlude. It features another sample at the end of the track, a rendition of "Jikelele", sung by the children of the African Children's Feeding Scheme (ACFS), in Soweto, Johannesburg.[3]
As described by NME, the song is “a searing indictment of police brutality and systemic racism”, and its sample “precedes a visceral crescendo of ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’-era piano rock, with Buckland's reverb guitar signatures clashing with keys and detuned synths.”[4]
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1: Chris Martin & Will Champion]
Trouble in town
Because they cut my brother down
Because my sister can't wear her crown
There's trouble, there's trouble in town
Blood on the beat (Oh-oh-oh)
Oh my goodness, there's blood on the beat
Law of the jungle or the law of the street
There's blood on, there's blood on the beat
[Chorus: Chris Martin]
And I get no shelter
And I get no peace
And I never get released
[Verse 2: Chris Martin & Will Champion]
Trouble in town (Oh-oh-oh)
Because they hung my Brother Brown
Because their system just keep you down
There's trouble, there's trouble in town
[Chorus: Chris Martin]
And I get no shelter
And I get no peace
And I just get more police, eh
And I get no comfort
And I get no name
Everything is getting strange
[Interlude: Young Men & Police Officer Philip Nace sample, Chris Martin]
Best friends
What's that?
What's his name?
X (Standby, sir)
Alright, is that X your middle name?
Of course, it's on a vehicle ID, right? (There must be some way)
You gettin' smart? 'Cause you'll be in a fucking car with him
I'm telling you
Fucking smartass (Or it's gonna kick off someday)
I'm asking you what the X is, is that your middle name?
Of course, what is it?
Don't come back with the "What is it?" fucking shit (There must be some way)
Talk to these fucking pigs on the street that way, you ain't talking to me that way
I don't talk to nobody in the streets, I don't hang with nobody
Well, then don't come to fucking Philadelphia, stay in Jersey
I have family out here
Everybody thinks they're a fucking lawyer and they don't know jack shit
Are you supposed to grab me like this?
Grab you up? I'll grab you any way I got to
You're not protecting me while I'm trying, while I'm trying to go to work
Why don't you shut up?
[Outro: African Children's Feeding Scheme choir]
U Mandela Siyamthanda futhi uyasiwa yonk'
Indawo jikelele
Jikelele, jikelele
Jikelele, jikelele
Jikelele, jikelele
Jikelele, jikelele
[Verse 1: Chris Martin & Will Champion]
Trouble in town
Because they cut my brother down
Because my sister can't wear her crown
There's trouble, there's trouble in town
Blood on the beat (Oh-oh-oh)
Oh my goodness, there's blood on the beat
Law of the jungle or the law of the street
There's blood on, there's blood on the beat
[Chorus: Chris Martin]
And I get no shelter
And I get no peace
And I never get released
[Verse 2: Chris Martin & Will Champion]
Trouble in town (Oh-oh-oh)
Because they hung my Brother Brown
Because their system just keep you down
There's trouble, there's trouble in town
[Chorus: Chris Martin]
And I get no shelter
And I get no peace
And I just get more police, eh
And I get no comfort
And I get no name
Everything is getting strange
[Interlude: Chris Martin]
There must be some way
Or it's gonna kick off someday
There must be some way
[Outro: African Children's Feeding Scheme choir]
U Mandela Siyamthanda futhi uyasiwa yonk'
Indawo jikelele
Jikelele, jikelele
Jikelele, jikelele
Jikelele, jikelele
Jikelele, jikelele
Music video[]
On 8 March 2020, Coldplay started posting different screenshots of the music video in each social media. On 11 March, they confirmed the video would be released worldwide the following day. On 12 March, it was officialy released on the band's YouTube account. The video was directed by Irish film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer Aoife McArdle.
The clip depicts an updated and satirical version of George Orwell's 1945 novella Animal Farm, set in the drug-addled streets of New York, where the city is plagued with homelessness and crime under the regime of a pig dictator. The 2020 Democratic debates are mocked as pig politicians argue at podiums on a TV live streaming, which soon escalates into a fight. At the same time, a cat steals a beverage in a bodega, just as a fox evades arrest by a cheetah police officer.[5]
The video was nominated for Best Rock Video (UK) at the UK Music Video Awards on 30 September 2020.[6]
Lyric video[]
Official audio[]
References[]
- ↑ YouTube - Coldplay - Everyday Life: Detrás Del Álbum (Subtitulada) - Apple Music News
- ↑ YouTube - Police unlawful harassment and racial profiling 9/27/13 Philly, Pa
- ↑ https://wmiuk-a.akamaihd.net/download/wmiuk/__fp_tech_m/coldplay.com/pdf/booklet.pdf
- ↑ NME - Coldplay – ‘Everyday Life’ review: a confounding experiment from a deceptively forward-thinking band
- ↑ Rolling Stone - Coldplay Bring ‘Animal Farm’ to the Present in ‘Trouble in Town’ Video
- ↑ https://2020.ukmva.com/nominations-music-video-genre/