1001 Songs Challenge #952: Fix You (2005)

On 11 February 2019 I set myself the challenge of reading 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (ed.) and following the book’s advice to the letter. I’ve previously read 1001 Films… and started 1001 Albums… but felt 1001 Songs… would be a sensible place to start for what I have in mind here.

My challenge is to read about one song per day and listen to it (YouTube and Spotify, I need you tonight!) before sharing my own thoughts. Some songs I will love, others I’ll hate, and I’m sure there will be those that leave me perplexed but listen to them I shall.

I’ll also try, and most likely fail, to pinpoint the best song from the 1001 on offer but I’m nothing if not foolhardy. Instead of one song, I’m predicting I’ll have about 100 favourites by the end and may have to resort to a Top 10 so far to maintain any semblance of sanity.

So long as I post every day (including Christmas) then this challenge should come to an end on Wednesday 8 November 2021. Staying with the Barney Stinson theme I am hoping that the whole experience will prove to be… legendary!

 

Coldplay – Fix You (2005)

 

 

We’re leaving Jamaica, dear reader, and making our way back to the UK and to London. Formed in 1996 Coldplay achieved mainstream success with their debut album, Parachutes, which included the big hit, Yellow. We join the quartet in 2005 though and with the release of their third album, X&Y, and from there 1001 Songs have lifted one of the singles – Fix You.

Fix You was written by singer, Chris Martin, and concerns the difficult task of helping a loved one through a dark period of grief. Martin was married to actor, Gwyneth Paltrow, at the time and when her father passed away Martin was there to help her through this difficult moment. The song taps into these tough times with Martin observing a loved one crying, lost and unsure of where they are or what direction they are going in; they are physically and emotionally broken. In the chorus Martin reassures this person that lights will guide them home and that he will fix them. The metaphors of how grief breaks an individual are perfectly apt and though many of us do repair we are never as we once were. 

Coldplay are still going to this day and have eight albums behind them. I find they are either loved or hated by music fans but I find them to be a good group. Fix You is from Coldplay’s earlier days and still considered one of their best songs. It is a tender and poignant piece, a gift from a husband to his then wife, but one that will resonate with millions across the globe.

 

Favourite songs so far:

The Animals – House of the Rising Sun (1964)

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sounds of Silence (1965)

The Beatles – A Day in the Life (1967)

The Doors – The End (1967)

Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (1975)

Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell (1977)

Tracy Chapman – Fast Car (1988)

U2 – One (1991)

Radiohead – Paranoid Android (1997)

Snow Patrol – Run