| "Talk" | ||||
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| Single byColdplay | ||||
| from the albumX&Y | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | 19 December 2005 (2005-12-19) | |||
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| Coldplay singles chronology | ||||
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| "Talk" onYouTube | ||||
"Talk" is a song by the Britishrock bandColdplay. Built around amotif fromKraftwerk's 1981 song "Computer Love", it was written by all members of the band and appeared on their third album,X&Y. In the United States, the song entered at number 86 on theBillboard Hot 100 and elsewhere in the world its success varied. It peaked at number one in the Netherlands on both theDutch Top 40 andSingle Top 100 charts, becoming the band's first number-one single there.
The song received positive reviews, with critics noting the music's sound and memorable lyrics. Both the song and its "Thin White Duke" remix were nominated for the2007 Grammy Awards, the latter of which won in the category ofBest Remixed Recording, Non-Classical.
Coldplay had difficulties with the recording sessions for months, as to the sound of the track.[3][4] They were skeptical in deciding to add "Talk" to the final track listing ofX&Y.[3] During the recording sessions, which had seen the band scrap huge amounts of material, the song was left out when they sent early versions of the album to its record label,Parlophone. The song, however, made it to the track list, after it was properlymixed.[3]
When asked about the development of the song byNME.com, vocalistChris Martin said, "From that version, [a version that NME.com heard, while visiting the band in the studio] we went and did a whole other version of it. A whole other song. What happened with the song 'Talk' is that it was all going great and then someone said 'That should be the first single' and we all just freaked out and scrapped it all. [...] We’ve just mixed it and it sounds great. I think we’ve had such pain getting to that place, I’m not sure anyone quite knows what to do with it anymore. When we heard it mixed properly, it sounded mega."[3]
The band received permission from theelectronic music German bandKraftwerk to use the mainriff from their song "Computer Love", from its 1981 studioalbumComputer World, for "Talk", replacing Kraftwerk'ssynthesizers with guitars.[5][6][7] In a track-by-track interview given by the band onX&Y, bassistGuy Berryman reported that in response to the band's request, Kraftwerk founding memberRalf Hütter "said something like, 'Yes, you can use it, and thank you very much for asking my permission, unlike that bastardJay-Z'"[8] (a reference to the latter's "(Always Be My) Sunshine", which uses a Kraftwerksample). Martin also recalled in a 2007 article inQ magazine the process of requesting permission to use the melody: He sent a letter through the lawyers of the respective parties and several weeks later received an envelope containing a handwritten reply that simply said "yes".[9] That riff was originally written by former Kraftwerk memberKarl Bartos.
The band recorded three separate versions of the single; the one recorded onX&Y was based on an early cut of the song.[10] An early version of the track – with a different set of lyrics – was leaked onto the internet in early 2005.[11] The track was originally intended to be aB-side for the song "Speed of Sound", before becoming the last addition toX&Y's track listing.[5]
The track begins with a dark, desolate synthesizer beat, resembling 'howling wind', with electric guitar riffs being heard in the background. This slow introduction sets the course for the song's hypnotic pace, withWill Champion adding a metronomic beat to the drums throughout the song.[12][13] As previously noted, the song features the main hook fromKraftwerk's "Computer Love", replicated byJonny Buckland's electric guitar riffs throughout much of the track. Buckland also uses the hook as a chiming note for more abrasive riffs during the bridge (or breakdown) near the end of the song.[12][13] A string section can be heard during the choruses and before the start of the bridge.Guy Berryman also plays uptempo bass lines to complement the track's pace, featuring slower, more abrasive riffs during the song's verses and bridge.
In the fourth line of the second verse, Martin sings: "Or write a song nobody had sung/Or do something that's never been done."[14][15]The third line of the third verse is: "Tell me how do you feel?/Well I feel like they're talking in a language I don't speak/And they're talking it to me."[14] In the fifth verse, Martin summarises about an individual who is lost and trying to discover the unknown: "So you don't know where you're going/But you want to talk/And you feel like you're going where you've been before/You'll tell anyone who will listen but you feel ignored."[14]
According toJosh Tyrangiel ofTime magazine, the meaning to "Talk" is based on how Martin "wants to teach us how to feel better about ourselves, and his lessons have the moral superiority disguised as sensitivity that markedBono's mighty mullet period."[16] Tyrangiel interpreted the lyrics, "Are you lost or incomplete/ Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your missing piece/ Tell me how you feel", with Martin begging in the song.[16]
Coldplay released "Talk" in the UK and US on 19 December 2005 as the album's third single.[17] The single was pressed with twoB-sides: "Gravity" and "Sleeping Sun".[17][18] In Australia, the single was issued on 16 January 2006.[19]
"Talk" peaked at number 10 in theUK Singles Chart on 31 December 2005.[20] The song charted at number 86 on theBillboard Hot 100 and reached number five on theBillboardHot Modern Rock Tracks in 2005.[21] The song was released early in the Netherlands,[17] thus charting in theDutch Top 40. It reached number one the closing week of 2005. The band performed the song live at the 2005MTV Europe Music Awards inLisbon,Portugal, the2006 Juno Awards inHalifax,Nova Scotia, and the2006 Grammy Awards inLos Angeles,California.[17][22]
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Critics were positive towards the song. In thePopMatters review of the album, critic Adrian Begrand wrote: "It's the excellent, and much talked-about 'Talk' that has the band showing tremendous creativity, delving straight into mid-'70skrautrock, and piecing together a gorgeous pop song."[12] Bud Scoppa ofPaste magazine wrote: "'Talk' stands out as an anthem in an album full of them."[23] Dan Tallis of theBBC noted that the track was "fantastic" and "positively gargantuan".[24] Jonathan Keefe ofSlant magazine wrote: "'Talk' is given one of the album's most memorable melodies, but its impact is reduced by the song's structure, in which the lead guitar echoes Martin's vocal melody after every line, so that melody becomes tiresome well before the first chorus hits."[25] Despite the positive reception of "Talk", Martin has stated that Berryman dislikes it, and thus they no longer perform the song live.[26]
The song wasremixed byJacques Lu Cont, with the title "Talk (Thin White Duke Mix)".[27] The song by Lu Cont won the covetedBest Remixed Recording, Non-Classical award at the2007 Grammy Awards.[28][29] "Talk" was also nominated for a Grammy award in the category ofBest Rock Performance by a duo or Group with Vocals.[28]
The song was also used as the basis of a downloadablehoax track titled"Talk to David" produced as anApril Fools' Day prank by the British newspaperThe Guardian. This featured lyrics purporting to give support toConservative opposition party leaderDavid Cameron.[30] The song was featured heavily in the season twoCSI: NY episode "Jamalot", in which the characterDanny Messer plays the song as a ringtone on his cell phone.[31] The band's American record label,Capitol, paid for promotional consideration to place the song in the episode and for the character to talk about Coldplay.[31]Billboard included the track on their unranked "50 Best Song Interpolations of the 21st Century" list.[32]RTÉ Gold placed it at number 42 on their list of 100 Best Songs That Use Samples.[33]
Themusic video for "Talk" was helmed by Dutch director/photographerAnton Corbijn.[17][34] Filming of the video took place on 5 and 6 November 2005 atEaling Studios, London, England.[17] Theblack-and-white clip invokes aB moviescience fiction theme, with imagery ranging from aflying saucer to3D glasses. The video features the band asastronauts landing on an alien planet, where they discover a giant dormantrobot and take one of its dials before re-activating it. They play music for the robot and the robot finds a giant-robot-shaped hole in a mountain, where it prepares to sleep again. The band say farewell to the robot and begin to fly away in their spaceship, but as the robot is powering down, it notices one of its dials is missing and becomes enraged, using atractor beam to grab the spaceship. The robot eats the band and their spaceship and walks away whistling.
Coldplay
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (radio edit) | 4:29 |
| 2. | "Sleeping Sun" | 3:09 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (radio edit) | 4:29 |
| 2. | "Gravity" | 6:17 |
| 3. | "Talk" (video) | 4:59 |
| 4. | "Speed of Sound" (video) | 4:29 |
| 5. | "Behind-the-scenes footage from "Talk" video shoot" (video) | 2:00 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (Thin White Duke mix) | 8:17 |
| 2. | "Talk" (François K dub) | 9:04 |
| 3. | "Talk" (Junkie XL mix) | 11:45 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (radio edit) | 4:29 |
| 2. | "Sleeping Sun" | 3:09 |
| 3. | "Gravity" | 6:12 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (radio edit) | 4:29 |
| 2. | "Sleeping Sun" | 3:09 |
| 3. | "Gravity" | 6:12 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (radio edit) | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Talk" (album version) | 5:12 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (Junkie XL mix) | 11:45 |
| 2. | "Talk" (François K dub) | 9:04 |
| 3. | "Talk" (Thin White Duke mix) | 8:27 |
A special three part single was released over three weeks in December featuring live tracks recorded at theGelreDome in 2005.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (radio edit) | 4:27 |
| 2. | "Swallowed in the Sea" (live in Holland) | 4:22 |
| 3. | "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" (live in Holland) | 4:22 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (album version) | 4:11 |
| 2. | "Square One" (live in Holland) | 5:13 |
| 3. | "Clocks" (live in Holland) | 7:05 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Talk" (live in Holland) | 5:20 |
| 2. | "Til Kingdom Come" (live in Holland) | 4:27 |
| 3. | "Fix You" (live in Holland) | 7:10 |
Weekly charts[edit] | Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[76] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 5 December 2005 | Triple A radio | Capitol | [77] |
| United Kingdom | 19 December 2005 | CD single | Parlophone | [78] |
| Japan | 25 January 2006 | [79] |
