Tag Archives: in

#626: Coldplay – In My Place

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At some point in time I completely forgot this song existed. I was seven when A Rush of Blood to the Head was released in the autumn of 2002 and I vividly remember the video for ‘The Scientist’ showing on TV. You couldn’t escape ‘Clocks‘ either, its opening was used in almost every advert. ‘In My Place’ was the lead single for the album, made available only two weeks before its eventual release, and I must have completely missed it.

Fast forward years later when I actually got the album (either for a birthday or Christmas) and I realised I hadn’t missed the song at all. I had heard it many times actually. I just didn’t know what the song was or who it was by. The question I hadn’t thought about asking had been answered. This is probably my favourite Coldplay song. It’s all in that guitar riff and the strings that play throughout. As soon as that introduction starts I feel all warm and cosy inside. There’s just a loose and freeing feel about the production that makes the track a very comfortable listen.

Chris Martin’s alright on here. He sings just fine. He doesn’t overdo it which is just what the song needs. When that chorus hits and he goes into that high ‘yeeeeeeah’ along with the rising guitar and cymbals it adds an extra layer of bliss. Never really liked the final verse though, if you could call it that, it doesn’t add much to the song’s substance and I always tend to skip it if I’m singing along to it…… but all in all the whole package is brilliant.

#625: The Beatles – In My Life

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John Lennon and Paul McCartney could never agree on who wrote the music to this particular song. ‘In My Life’ was originally released on Rubber Soul as the album’s eleventh track. Nearing 55 years on and the track along with many others is still one of the band’s most celebrated.

It could have ended up as something entirely different. Initially Lennon’s lyrics for the song were something of a long poem about his childhood, based on a bus route he would usually take in Liverpool. He thought those lyrics sucked and eventually changed the majority of them. Either Lennon or McCartney put those lyrics to music, it’s still undecided, and the rest is history. Oh, and their longtime producer George Martin played the piano solo. That solo was performed at a slower tempo on a lower octave, so when the tape was sped up it resulted in the music you know all too well.

It’s a lovely tune. This is the only moment on the album where things really slow down. You can take a breather, cry about some family members/friends who have passed away and then carry on as if nothing’s happened when the next song comes on. There’s something very sparse about this song that I’ve noticed. There’s no emphasis on the guitar except for George’s lead that plays the song’s riff. There is this rhythm guitar that strums along, but that and the bass blend together that it’s barely noticeable. They cause this sort of low melodic hum that goes along with the track. It’s all about the vocals and Ringo Starr’s percussion.

Lennon was 24 going on 25 when he wrote this. His words go well beyond that age. One of the most admirable and earnest things he ever did.

#624: Queens of the Stone Age – In My Head

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In My Head’ was the second song released as a single from Queens of the Stone Age’s fourth album Lullabies to Paralyze, released in 2005. This was one of, if not the, first songs I ever learned to play on guitar. I was ten, got an acoustic for Christmas 2005 and I think my sister was in her Queens phase then. I believe that’s the only reason I may have heard this track in the first place. The guitar riff during the verses is spicy. Very melodic and very easy to play. It’s a great tune.

The track was originally released as ‘In My Head…or Something’ on Volume 10 of the Desert Sessions series in 2003. Assumedly, Josh Homme saw a lot of potential in it to make it a proper Queens number. There’s not much difference between it and the final album version, just a bit slower in tempo, but it’s all quality. It’s a love song. You know those ones where the narrator’s missing their significant other whilst on tour or something along those lines. That’s this. Quite psychedelic in places though very straight-forward – verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/bridge/chorus repeats/end. Can’t go wrong.

#623: Radiohead – In Limbo

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It wasn’t too long ago that I wrote about another song from Kid A. If you read that post, you’ll know how I came to listen it and what my initial reactions were. If not, I heard it for the first time in 2012. Only liked a few songs from it and went about my days. I came back to it in 2015, gave it a good listen with good headphones and found it was amazing. It was on that second listen that I realised how great of a track ‘In Limbo’ is.

‘In Limbo’ is the seventh song on the album. It starts with a lone fumbling keyboard lick before plunging into the depths with reverbed out guitars, booming drums and Thom Yorke’s buried vocals. Like other songs on Kid A, I believe that this song’s lyrics were randomly put together via the selection of phrases from a hat. Together, they build a vivid image of loneliness and isolation. It’s one of the most unsettling pieces to listen to. I love it though. The guitars play in a swirling triplet rhythm whilst Phil Selway plays this constant standard time groove like some machine. I’ve always enjoyed the fact that with good headphones this song sounds massive, yet really calming. Almost like floating. I like that weird vocal distortion that echoes after every ‘You are living in a fantasy world’ lyric. The whole package when blended together can send you into a trance.

Then just when things seem okay, everything starts falling apart. The track begins to fold in on itself and basically warps out of existence, left as some weird glitchy noises before hurriedly going into the next song. The last 30 seconds are arguably the freakiest that Radiohead ever put down on tape. I remember listening to it and thinking my headphones were breaking or a virus had messed my computer up, no joke. The track isn’t on that’s talked about a lot. If you really listen, it can definitely get a hold on you.

#622: Supergrass – In It for the Money

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So after Supergrass gained a ton of praise from their debut album I Should Coco in 1995, helped tremendously by their most recognisable hit and youth anthem ‘Alright‘, Steven Spielberg approached the band in an effort to make a television series with them based on that of The Monkees. The group declined, instead choosing to record their second album. This was most definitely the better route to take. Coco was a burst of sharp wit and energy. Its production made all the instruments sound very tight, like they were playing together in a tiny, tiny room. In It for the Money took a totally different direction.

Instead of carrying on with the usual breakneck velocity, Money is made of songs that are allowed to breathe. Take a breeze and chill with some slower tempos. The tracks also sound expansive. There’s also a wider variety of instruments. But the group never lost their playfulness and knack for great tunes. The title track shows it all in the three minutes it lasts for and is a fantastic taster for what’s to come It opens the album with an creepy organ drone that transitions into a heavy Beatles-like arpeggiated riff and Gaz Coombes’ vocal.

“Here I see a time to go and leave it all behind/And you know it’s wrong to fall/We’re in it for the money” are three lyrics that when put read together like that don’t seem to make much sense, though Coombes and bassist Mick Quinn on higher harmony deliver them with a power and confidence that make them sound like a formal declaration. There’s a musical build as the last phrase is repeated before the song explodes into its main refrain. The track takes another turn as it leads into another verse of repeated lines, accompanied with a beautiful guitar line and descending bass groove. A glorious fanfare of horns appear. It’s beautiful stuff.

It comes to a very abrupt halt but you have to listen to the album from front to back to understand the effect of that production decision. Summing it up, this was the introduction to a new Supergrass back in ’97 – definitely not a case of the sophomore slump.