Wonder of the World / Power of the People

"Wonder of the World / Power of the People"
General information
Artist	Coldplay
Released	22 November 2019
Recorded	16 November 2017 (La Plata, Buenos Aires)
Genre	Folk
Length	1:16
Labels
Songwriter(s)	Guy Berryman Jonny Buckland Will Champion Chris Martin
Producer(s)	Rik Simpson Daniel Green Bill Rahko
Album	Everyday Life
Everyday Life track listing
"Daddy"
"Wonder of the World / Power of the People"
"Arabesque"

"Wonder of the World / Power of the People" (abbreviated as "WOTW / POTP") is a song by British rock band Coldplay from their eighth studio album, Everyday Life (2019). It is the sixth track on the first side of the album, Sunrise.

Background and recording

In an interview, Chris Martin revealed that the song is a voice memo recording from the day after Coldplay's A Head Full of Dreams Tour finished, recorded in a balcony in La Plata, Buenos Aires, on 16 November 2017. Although unfinished, Chris showed it to the rest of the band, who decided to include it on the record as it was.

Composition

"Wonder of the World / Power of the People" was described as “a hushed, acoustic folk song” that "portrays people's determination to make a difference in spite of adversity.” As described by Chris himself, the song is “either really charming and human, or it's very cheap, depending on [the listener's] politics.”

The song segues following the end of the previous track, "Daddy", and segues into the next track, "Arabesque".

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
In a world gone wrong
I shall be strong
Wonder of the world, power of the people
I will not want
My faith is strong
Wonder of the world, power of the people

[Verse 2]
Our world tonight
Get it right
Holding on to the steeple
Our world tonight
I'm off in light
Wonder of the world, power of the people

[Outro]
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

Official audios

Coldplay - WOTW POTP (Lyric Video)

WOTW - POTP

Critical reception

Mark Kennedy from Associated Press praised the track, saying, “It's an astonishing, unsafe step from a band who could have just kept giving us 'Something Just Like This'”.