Coldplay’s music is the sound of LOVE.

ACTIVITY 1

Watch the video clips below. It will become clear that Coldplay made ‘Moon Music’ with LOVE. How do Coldplay demonstrate that LOVE? Make a list of the different ways in which Coldplay try to show those feelings of love.

This is Coldplay’s position on life and love (Chris Martin’s talking about the band’s ‘Moon Music’ record; he also references the 2019 album: ‘Everyday Life’)..

watch until 36:04

This is a song, ‘We Pray’, which came out of that thinking…

There are so many voices on ‘WE PRAY’. Chris Martin tells us why…

And in this fourth video, Chris Martin talks about the physical making of the record…

ACTIVITY 2

One of the ways Coldplay show love is through their use of the word ‘baraye’…

Now – if you are not too familiar with ‘baraye’, you could work your way through the allusion class (or at least the Coldplay section). Then come back here to finish your love poetry session.

Remember: An allusion is a reference, typically brief, to a person, place, thing, event, or other literary work. If the reader picks up on the allusion and understands the reference, then they will understand the point the writer is trying to make. If a reader doesn’t understand – or maybe doesn’t even notice – the allusion, that extra depth of meaning will be lost.

ACTIVITY 3

You are going to write a poem that in some way presents a moment or feeling of love. Maybe you’ll write a poem about a parent or perhaps you’ll write about a day spent picking litter at the beach. There are a million things you could write about! You can even write a collection/collage of poems that when looked at together act as a microcosmic vision of a world full of loving thoughts and actions.

Brainstorm some ideas/possible titles for your poem.

‘Moon Music’ is an interesting title because the moon is a motif we’re familiar with. The moon appears in ‘Romeo & Juliet’, ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ and lots of other texts. In the below video, Chris Martin talks also references the sun and hints at the purpose of poetry! (until 47:30 – although carry on watching if you don’t mind the swearing for a reminder about why we keep our mean thoughts to ourselves!).

ACTIVITY 4

Hafiz (who you’ll have heard Chris Martin mention) was a 14th Century poet. According to a Hafiz expert, translating his writing into English is a difficult task. The expert says that the most important matter is about things like metonyms* that carry a lot of weight behind them and can’t be brought to English easily. Nonetheless, the translation carries a lot of weight.

*a word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated. For example, Washington is a metonym for the US government.

Just for pleasure, read the Hafiz poem (below) that Chris Martin references in his interview with Zane Lowe.

ACTIVITY 5

Now, before you get to the writing of your poem, have a read though the lyrics to ‘Everyday Life’. Answer the questions directly below and add in any other ideas that you think might be useful in helping us understand how Coldplay present ideas about love.

How do Coldplay present ideas about love?

  1. What alliteration do you notice at the start of the poem and how does it link to Coldplay’s feelings about love?
  2. There are very few hard/harsh-sounding consonants in the first ‘stanza’. Why?
  3. ‘Dreams’, ‘doubts’ and ‘dancing’ are all words, however, that do begin with a heavy plosive ‘d’ sound. What is the effect of that solid consonant sound?
  4. What comment might you make about the pronoun, ‘ everyone’?
  5. Spot the metaphor in ‘stanza’ 3 and explain why it’s effective.
  6. The idea of having hearts “ripped out” is striking. What techniques would you explore in that quote – and how is the phrase useful in helping Coldplay make their point about love?
  7. Spot the imperative in stanza 4 and explain its effect.
  8. Structurally, the idea of “first light” coming at the end of the ‘poem’ might seem strange. How does this structural choice fit with Coldplay’s message about love?
  9. Why do people use the word “hallelujah”? Why is it repeated at the end of the poem?

You can scroll down to the bottom of this page for some of the thoughts I had. Don’t scroll down, though, until you’ve had a chance to consider ‘Everyday Life’ by yourself.

“Everyday Life”

What in the world are we going to do?
Look at what everybody’s going through
What kind of world do you want it to be?
Am I the future or the history?

‘Cause everyone hurts, everyone cries
Everyone tells each other all kinds of lies
Everyone falls, everybody dreams and doubts
Got to keep dancing when the lights go out

How in the world am I going to see
You as my brother, not my enemy?

‘Cause everyone hurts, everyone cries
Everyone sees the colour in each other’s eyes
Everyone loves, everybody gets their hearts ripped out
Got to keep dancing when the lights go out
Gonna keep dancing when the lights go out
Hold tight for everyday life
Hold tight for everyday life

At first light, throw my arms out, open wide
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelu-halle-hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelu-halle-hallelujah

This is a recording of Coldplay performing their ‘Everyday Life’ album at sunrise and sunset in Jordan:

Here are some of the techniques I identified in Coldplay’s Everyday Life; and some of my thoughts about how they underpin the feeling of LOVE:

‘Everyday Life’

  • The alliterative ‘w’ at start is quite a woeful sound and so emphasises the sadness that comes from realising love is not as present as it should be.
  • Very few hard/harsh-sounding consonants; this feels appropriate given the need for softness and the intent of love.
  • ‘Dreams’, ‘doubts’ and ‘dancing’ are all words, however, that do begin with a heavy plosive ‘d’ sound, but that solid consonant underlines the sense of things that are – or need to be – solid in our life. Dancing is an act of love, our dreams need love to ‘grow’, our doubts need to be eased by love. The impact of these things on our lives – and the need to treat with them with love – is emphasised by the weighty ‘d’ sound.
  • The pronoun ‘ everyone’ confirms the idea that we all need love. It’s a universal priority.
  • The desire to see each other as ‘brothers’ is useful – the metaphor hints at our need to love unconditionally.
  • The idea of having hearts “ripped out” is striking too – the verb/metaphor “ripped” underlines how damaged we can be by life (our heart is at the centre of us in so many ways). The violence inherent in that image should prove to us how much love we need to show to anyone who’s been – or is going – through that experience.
  • The imperative “Hold” reminds us of Coldplay’s encouraging, loving tone – they’re giving us directions that will help us to endure.
  • Structurally, the idea of “first light” coming at the end of the ‘poem’ is significant. If the light symbolises hope and comfort and LOVE, then it serves as a reminder that love will arrive. This reminder feels reassuring/loving.
  • “Hallelujah” is a word people use as an expression of rejoicing. If the arrival of light indicates the arrival of love, then the repetition of the word “hallelujah” is indicative of the ongoing and all-consuming joy we feel when love arrives – because it is important.

ACTIVITY 6

Now, write your own poem, and have a go at using those same techniques in your own writing.

Writing poetry is as important as reading it. When you play with the poetic techniques yourself, you build a much deeper, broader understanding of how they work and what they might mean.

Your job is to write a poem about love. If you can make use of an allusion, even better, but that’s not a requirement.

Here’s an example of a poem (packed with allusions) that I wrote, You could take a similar approach, simply packing your poem with things that you LOVE. But, as mentioned earlier in this class, there are a zillion things you could write about: something you did for a friend or family member which serves as evidence of LOVE; watching a sunrise that filled you with LOVE; an experience you LOVED.

My So-Called Life

The cold wind at night
That teenage life
Shannon Hoon and Kurt Cobain
Jeff Buckley and Richey James
Reading Festival 94
Band t-shirts, power chords

Club UK and Bagleys
London in the nineties
Raves and sunrises
Glastonbury and No Surprises
Phone numbers off by heart
The romantic, prismatic dark

Camden Falcon’s back room
Yesterday Went Too Soon
Rachel Stamp, The Crocketts
Never-ending skyrockets
Dawson and Joey, Britney Spears
How the hell did I get here?