Speed of Sound (song)

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"Speed of Sound"

Single by Coldplay
from the album X&Y
B-side(s)	"Things I Don't Understand", "Proof"
Released	23 May 2005
Format	7", CD, 10", 12"
Genre	Alternative Rock
Length	4:49
Label	Parlophone
Writer(s)	Berryman, Buckland, Champion, Martin
Producer(s)	Coldplay, Ken Nelson, Danton Supple
Chart positions
#2 (Canada, UK Singles Chart) #5 (Latvia, US Modern Rock) #8 (US Billboard Hot 100) #9 (Australia)
Coldplay singles chronology
"God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" (2003)	"Speed of Sound" (2005)	"Fix You" (2005)
X&Y track listing
"X&Y" (6)	"Speed of Sound" (7)	"A Message" (8)

"Speed of Sound" is the lead single from Coldplay's 2005 album, X&Y. It made its radio premiere on BBC Radio 1 with Steve Lamacq on the evening of Monday, 18 April 2005. Beginning with a piano riff reminiscent of Coldplay's "Clocks", the song builds into a huge, synth-heavy chorus: "Birds go flying at the speed of sound, to show you how it all began / Birds came flying from the underground, if you could see it then you'd understand." The song was created as the band attempted to work through a cover version of Kate Bush's song, "Running Up That Hill" ; the main riff of Speed of Sound resembles that of Bush's song.

"Speed of Sound" was infamously beaten to the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart by the novelty song "Axel F" by the Crazy Frog. However, it became Coldplay's first UK Download #1. It also became Coldplay's first and biggest single to chart in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #8, making it arguably Coldplay's most successful single.

1 Track listings
2 Music video
3 Awards and nominations
- 3.1 Awards
- 3.2 Nominations
4 Trivia
5 External links

[edit] Track listings

[edit] Japan

CD TOCP-40179 released 11 May 2005 by Toshiba-EMI

"Speed of Sound" - 4:49
"Things I Don't Understand" - 4:55
"Proof" - 4:10

[edit] UK

CD CDR6664, 7" R6664, 12" 12R6664, 10" 10R6664

"Speed of Sound" - 4:49
"Things I Don't Understand" - 4:55
"Proof" - 4:10 (CD and 10" only)

[edit] Australia

CD 872 9862 released 23 May 2005 by Capitol Records

"Speed of Sound" - 4:49
"Things I Don't Understand" - 4:55
"Proof" - 4:10

[edit] Music video

Jon Buckland in "Speed of Sound" video

The video promo for "Speed of Sound" was shot on a Los Angeles sound stage over 22–23 April 2005. Shooting took place on large sets backed by large LED displays. The performance based video was helmed by Mark Romanek, who was responsible for Johnny Cash's "Hurt" and Jay-Z's "99 Problems". The video earned 4 nominations at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Awards

Year	Award	Category
2005	MTV Europe Music Awards	Best Song
2006	Brit Awards	Best British Single
2006	ASCAP Awards	Song of the Year

[edit] Nominations

Year	Award	Category
2005	MTV Video Music Awards	Video of the Year
2005	MTV Video Music Awards	Best Special Effects
2005	MTV Video Music Awards	Best Editing
2005	MTV Video Music Awards	Best Cinematography
2006	Grammy Awards	Best Rock Song
2006	Grammy Awards	Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals

[edit] Trivia

Coldplay were the first British band to enter directly in the top ten of Billboards Hot 100 chart since "Hey Jude" by The Beatles.
Coldplay premiered "Speed of Sound" at a small warm-up gig in London in March 2005.
During their performance of "Speed of Sound" at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival, Chris asked "Crazy Frog, where are you now?". This was a reference to the fact "Speed of Sound" was beaten to the UK number 1 spot by "Crazy Frog".
There is another song by this title, written by Chris Bell.
"Speed of Sound" appears on the videogame Singstar rocks.
The song is a part of the comedian "Weird Al" Yankovic's polka medley Polkarama in his October 2006 hit album, Straight Outta Lynwood.
"Speed of Sound" was the billionth download from iTunes.