Talk (song)
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"Talk" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay and was released as the third single from their 2005 album, X&Y. It was released 19 December 2005 and the radio edit had been available for online purchase since 14 November. The song entered the UK charts at number ten on 25 December 2005.
Coldplay received permission from the electronica band Kraftwerk to use the main riff from their song "Computer Love" (/german basic version: "Computerliebe"), from their 1981-studio-LP "Computer World" (/german basic version: "Computerwelt"), for "Talk", replacing Kraftwerk's synthesizers with guitars. Kraftwerk members Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos and Emil Schult are given songwriting credit for the song, along with Coldplay. Subsequently mash-up artist RIAA combined Computer Love with Talk to create the song Kraftplay. Presciently the I Love Music website had humorously imagined the results of such a collaboration[link] several months before it appeared.
The band recorded three separate versions of "Talk"; the one found on X&Y was based on an early cut of the song. A newer version of the track (with a different set of lyrics) was leaked onto the internet in March 2005. "Talk" was originally intended to be a b-side for the single "Speed of Sound" before becoming the last addition to X&Y's track listing.
This song was performed live at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards on 3 November in Lisbon, Portugal. It was also performed live at the 2006 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.
"Gravity", the single's b-side, was originally written by Chris Martin for the British band Embrace, and is found on their album Out of Nothing. The song charted at #7 in the UK. Many editions of the single also included "Sleeping Sun" as a second b-side.
The song was also used as the basis of a downloadable hoax track entitled "Talk to David" [link] produced as an April Fools Day prank by the UK Guardian newspaper. This featured lyrics purporting to give support to Conservative opposition party leader David Cameron [link].
Chart performance
By mid-October, "Talk" had been added to the playlists of 26 U.S. alternative rock stations. Stations that offered early airtime to "Talk" include KTCL (Denver), WEND (Charlotte), KNDD (Seattle), KUCD (Honolulu), and WFNX (Boston).A month later, "Talk" was being supported by 61 U.S. alternative rock stations. On 18 November 2005, the single debuted at #32 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Talk" eventually climbed to #5 on the chart, a significant improvement from the performance of "Fix You", and matching that of "Speed of Sound" .
On 31 December 2005, it "bubbled under" the Hot 100. It finally charted on the Billboard Hot 100 on 25 February 2006 and peaked at #86.
By then, the song had gained additional exposure in other genres. "Talk" reached #10 on the Adult Top 40, which covers Hot Adult Contemporary music. It also topped the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart as "Talk (Junkie XL/Francois K/J. Lu Cont Mixes)".
It reached #1 for four weeks on the Canadian Nielsen SoundScan BDS radio airplay charts in February 2006.
Music video
The music video for "Talk" was helmed by director/photographer Anton Corbijn. Filming took place on November 5 and November 6 at Ealing Studios, London, just before the band began an European leg on the Twisted Logic Tour. The black-and-white clip invokes a B-movie science fiction theme, with imagery ranging from a flying saucer to 3D glasses.
It seems the entire video can in fact been viewed in three dimensions using Anaglyphic 3D glasses like the ones worn by the band. Due to the red (left eye) & blue (right eye) edges that define a stereoscopic image. However the effect is subtle and best appreciated with a high resolution version.
The main plot line of the music video features Coldplay as astronauts landing on an alien planet, where they re-activate a dormant robot. The robot in the video bears a strong physical resemblance to the original Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy television series. A previous Coldplay track, "Don't Panic" also referenced the series with its title. At one point of the clip, subtitles present the lyrics of the song spelt backwards just like in the video for "No Surprises" by Radiohead. At the very end of the video, there is whistling that resembles The Clangers.
The video was extremely popular in Poland. It spent 13 weeks at #1 on MTV Poland Top 20 Chart and 47 out of 50 days (because it was retired) at #1 on TRL Poland.
The message Make Trade Fair was in X&Y code as the robot's controls in black and white
Track listings
Note: This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.In the UK
- Promo released in early November 2005
- "Talk" (radio edit) – 4:29
In The Netherlands
A special three part single was released over three weeks in December featuring live tracks recorded at the Gelredome in 2005.- CD1 (digipak) 3490932 released 2 December 2005
- "Talk" (radio edit)
- "Swallowed In the Sea" (live)
- "God Put A Smile Upon Your Face" (live)
In Australia
- CD 3507172 released 16 January 2006 by Capitol Records
In Japan
- CD TOCP-40185 released 25 January 2006 by Toshiba-EMI
In the US
- Promo released in February 2006
Cover images
External links
| Coldplay |
| Chris Martin | Jonny Buckland | Guy Berryman | Will Champion |
| Coldplay discography |
|---|
| Albums and extended plays: A Rush of Blood to the Head | Brothers & Sisters EP | Live 2003 | Parachutes | Safety EP | The Blue Room EP | Trouble Live EP | X&Y |
| Singles: "Ode to Deodorant" | "Brothers & Sisters" | "Shiver" | "Yellow" | "Trouble" | "Don't Panic" | "In My Place" | "The Scientist" | "Clocks" | "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" | "Speed of Sound" | "Fix You" | "Talk" | "The Hardest Part" |
| Tours |
| A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour | Twisted Logic Tour |
| Related articles |
| Britpop | Parlophone | Ken Nelson | Make Trade Fair |
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