Carrying on this theme of rain on here, and ending it too, comes Coldplay’s song ‘Rainy Day’. I’d assume it’s one that a lot of people don’t know about except those who are really into the group. I’ve got to admit that I was around the time of Viva la Vida‘s release. I’m sure that every time I’ve written about a song from that era of the band, I’ve gone on to mention that it’s my favourite out of everything the band’s ever done. That album actually got me excited for what they would do next. Excited for a new Coldplay album, never thought it would happen to me. Then ‘Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall’ arrived with Mylo Xyloto and they lost me. They dove headfirst into pop territory with that album and have dropped deeper into it ever since. Not the direction I was hoping for, I tell you.

Anyway, I’m digressing, sorry, sorry. ‘Rainy Day’ didn’t actually appear on Viva la Vida, but was released on the Prospekt’s March EP that was released a few months after. This EP was a collection of some tracks that were recorded during the sessions for Viva and were close to being included, but either weren’t finished or just didn’t fit. Even with the status of being a collection of leftovers, Prospekt reinforces this experimental route that Coldplay seemed to be taking during the making of the LP. ‘Rainy Day’ is based on a loop that establishes itself in its opening moments and plays throughout the track. The band play over the top with a notable bass line from Guy Berryman and a delicate guitar lick by Jonny Buckland. I want to say there’s more emphasis on the lyrical imagery rather than the meaning of the words. Chris Martin sings about the scenery and strange things happening when it suddenly begins to rain one day. At a couple of points during the track, these short little breaks of plucked strings and piano runs appear, each of them preceding the most glorious choruses in all of Coldplay’s discography, lifted to the heavens by a backdrop of sensational violins.

Before being included as a section within the song, those breaks and violin instrumentation behind the choruses were originally intended to act as the ending to an instrumental named ‘School’. The composition plays a key part in the making of the album it appears, because its opening was taken to form the first section of ‘Death and All His Friends’, the song, that closes out Viva la Vida. Makes me wonder if they had the two songs first and made the instrumental after, after seeing how well the two pieces fit together, or if the two songs came from that one instrumental. Whichever way you look at it, everything seemed to work out very well. It’s all good music in the end.