Reading Comprehension

Yellow (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yellow is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. The band wrote the song and co-produced it with British record producer Ken Nelson. It was for their rst album Parachutes. The songs lyrics are a reference to band vocalist Chris Martins unreturned love. The song was released across the world in June 2000. It was the second single o the album following Shiver. It was the lead single in the United States. The single reached number four in the UK Singles Chart. This gave the band their rst top-ve hit in the United Kingdom. Helped by heavy rotation and usage in promotions, the song made the band very popular. Various recording artists worldwide have since made their own versions of Yellow. It remains one of the bands most popular songs.

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Background and inspiration

Yellow was written in a Rockeld studio in Wales. The studio is called the Quadrangle. It is where Coldplay began working on thei rst album, Parachutes. One night after nishing recording Shiver, the lead single of the album, the band took a break and went out of the studio. Outside, there were few lights on and the stars in the sky were visible and just amazing, according to the songs co-producer, Ken Nelson. He told the band to look at the stars. The band looked at the stars and felt generally inspired. The songs main melody popped into the head of Chris Martin, the bands vocalist. The melody was a chord pattern. At rst, Martin did not take it seriously as he relayed the tune to the rest of the band in his worst Neil Young impersonation voice. Martin has said, The song had the word stars and that seemed like a word you should sing in a Neil Young voice. The melody started o a lot slower according to Will Champion, the bands drummer, and sounded like a Neil Young song. Not long after, despite not taking the song seriously, Martins idea worked out when he had developed the tempo of the verse. When Jonny Buckland, the bands guitarist, started playing it and added to it with his own ideas, they had created the ri, and it sort of got a bit heavier. While composing the songs lyrics, however, Martin could not nd the right words. He was thinking of a specic word to t the songs main idea and theme. He thought that this missing word was a key word in the lyrics. He looked around the studio and found the telephone directory Yellow Pages. Martin later titled the song Yellow as a reference to the directory. But according to him, In an alternate universe, this song could be called Playboy. The lyrics progressed from there with the band collaborating. The bands bassist Guy Berryman came up with the opening line Look at the stars. That night, having quickly composed the song, the band recorded it.

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Recording and production

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The band and Nelson produced the track. Nelson was introduced to the bands music through the bands manager. Nelsons manager gave him a copy of an EP and single by Coldplay. Nelson wanted to work them after seeing the band perform live. Yellow was rst recorded upstairs in the project studio. This was a demo room in Liverpools Parr Street Studios. Nelson and the band had some problems when they were making some parts of the song. Champion said that ... it was really dicult to record, because it worked at about ve or six dierent tempos. It was a tough choice of choosing which tempo to play, because sometimes it sounded too rushed, and sometimes it sounded as if it was dragging... The band was trying to get the tempo correctly, according to Nelson, because a beat either side of the tempo we picked didnt have the same groove. To improve the song, they recorded this part live and Buckland overdubbed his guitar. They recorded it two or three times until Nelson and the band were happy at the output. The backing vocals were recorded in the control room of Quadrangle.

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Nelson used an analogue tape to record most of the tracks in the album. As recording progressed, Yellow was one of a couple of songs that they couldnt quite get on analogue. They recorded dierent versions but it did not satisfy their taste. So Nelson used Pro Tools to get the feel of [the track] just right. Once all of the takes were recorded into the computer, we then put it down to the 2-inch, which I found was a great way to do it, according to Nelson.

Composition
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The song opens with an acoustic guitar part. This is backed by an electric guitar copying the acoustic guitar. It then forwards to the lead guitar line. It then goes back to the acoustic section. Its instrumentation is varied, including the drums, cymbals, and the occasional hihat and ascending bass guitar. Yellow features Martins falsetto, and nearly spoken-word whispers. Martin, after the songs mixing, felt that his voice was too subdued, too quiet. Martin has explained that Yellow refers to the mood of the band. Brightness and hope and devotion. The references in some of the songs lyrics, including the swimming and drawing a line, are all metaphorical slants on the extent of his emotional devotion. The drawing of a line refers to Martins habit of writing lists and underlining those important things on the list. Martin has commented that the song is about devotion. He refers to his unreturned love (Martin was single at the time he wrote the song). Most people have considered Yellow as a happy song, even though the lyrics do not seem to be.

Release and reception

Yellow and Shiver were rst released as EPs in the spring of 2000. Yellow was later released as a single in UK on 26 June 2000. The single includes the songs Help Is Round the Corner and No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground. The third song was taken from the bands rst EP, Safety. In the United States, however, the song was released as the lead single o the album. In October 2000, the track was sent to US college and alternative radio outlets. The band released a limited-edition CD of Trouble, the third single o Parachutes, which features a remix of Yellow. It was pressed to 1,000 copies, and was issued only to fans and journalists. The single received a massive radio airplay, particularly on BBC Radio 1. This was helped by its TV reception through its music video. The reaction was mostly positive. Even BBC Radio 2 played the track repeatedly. This heavy rotation continued for months after its release. Yellow eventually became 2000s most played song on the radio. The song is also regularly played at various British clubs, bars and sporting events. People often sing along when it is played. The song is often played during home games at English Championship club Watford. Yellow was used as the theme song for ABC fall television ads a month after the album was released in the United States. The song was also used as the theme music for The Cancer Council Australias Daodil Day. This was in recognition of that organisations ocial owers yellow hue. Critics were positive towards the song. Matt Diehl of Rolling Stone magazine has noted Yellow is unrepentantly romantic. He added that the band creates a hypnotic slo-mo otherworld where spirit rules supreme. Yellow won Best Single at the 2001 NME Carling Awards. It was nominated at the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Billboard said that every time that electric-guitar ri barges in, youre hooked all over again.

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Impact and legacy

Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone magazine has said that the song was a career-making record. Roach has claimed in his book, Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy, that although Shiver earned the band their rst UK Top 40 single, it was Yellow that has changed everything, and that it exemplies so much of what had made Coldplay so popular. In the US, after it was being used in promos of ABC, the band grew in popularity which continued in 2001. According to Barry Walters in his review of Coldplays second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head for Spin magazine, the band is still known in the United States for their surprise smash Yellow. A Billboard magazine review said, After one single (Yellow) and its 2

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accompanying album (Parachutes ... ), Coldplay have already been anointed heir to the Brit-rock throne. The song has since been regarded as the centerpiece track on the album. Following the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Yellow was the rst video played on MTV once normal programming resumed. ... (Taken from http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_(song))

Answer the following questions

In what album was the song Yellow released? Possible answers: X&Y A Rush of Blood to the Head Parachute Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends What is the genre of the song? Possible answers: Alternative Rock Gospel Country Metal What is the song Yellow about? Possible answers: A band members unrequited love The suerings of war victims The color of the dusk sky An unfullled promise Who wrote the lyrics for the song? Possible answers: The drummer The vocalist The bassist The producer

Which one of the following is not true according to the passage? Possible answers: The song was the bands rst top-ve hit in the UK The song did not gain worldwide popularity The song has been covered by other artists The song is still popular When did the band got their inspiration for the song? Possible answers: While having a dinner at a restaurant On a bus ride to a gig After doing a concert While walking outside at the night after recording a song From what thing did the song take its title? Possible answers: A telephone A fence A directory book A ower Who contributed the opening line for the song? Possible answers: The vocalist The bassist The drummer The producer The songs lyrics was mostly... Possible answers: metaphorical straightforward set in rhymes telling about disappointment

Why was the song dicult to record? Possible answers: There were tricky solo passages The song had six dierent tempos The duration was very long The recording needed a sophisticated devices Which one of these statement is implied in the fth paragraph? Possible answers: The band could record the song fairly easily The recording didnt take much time The song was kept secret before the launching of the album Before the album was released, the song had been performed live The word heavy rotation in line-78 has the closest meaning to... Possible answers: slowly changing melody a slow rotation very frequent plays over the radio heavy use of repetitions According to Billboard, the song is... Possible answers: boring monotonous emotional addicting Why did a reviewer claim that the song Yellow was the bands turning point? Possible answers: It sets an example of Coldplays musical style It was the bands rst song It reached top-ve hits It is very popular