"Life in Technicolor II" (stylised as "Life in Technicolor ii") is a song by British rock band Coldplay released as the first single from the Prospekt's March EP.[1] It is the full-vocal version of the instrumental track "Life in Technicolor", from the band's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.[2] The songs starts with a loop consisting of a santoor accompanied by tabla-like percussion. The loop is then repeated through the verses and part of the chorus.
A promotional CD single was released in December 2008 while the 7-inch vinyl and digital download came out on 2 February 2009.[3][4] While the promotional CD includes two different edits of the song ("Radio edit" & "Prospekt's March Version"), the vinyl includes a previously unreleased and unheard track called "The Goldrush", one of the few Coldplay songs featuring lead vocals by drummer Will Champion.[5] The track was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Music Video at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.[6]
Coldplay performing "Life in Technicolor II" at the Parque Simon Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia, on March 4, 2010
The music video premiered on 20 January 2009 on 4Music and Channel 4.[7] The director of this video is Dougal Wilson.[8] It starts out with a group of children sitting and awaiting a traditional Punch and Judypuppet show in the Aldenham War Memorial Hall. Suddenly, the band appears as puppets "onstage" and begins performing the song, which confuses and somewhat unsettles the children and the adults in the room. A girl in the audience recognizes the band members as she looks back and forth between them and the cover of a book she is holding, which is a fictional "unofficial biography" of Coldplay called Playin' It Cool. The puppet show becomes increasingly extravagant as the video goes on, eventually featuring pyrotechnics, frontmanChris Martincrowd surfing over the children, and Punch and Judy performing motorcyclestunts across the stage. Finally, after finishing the song, the puppet band members board a miniature helicopter and after taking off, drummerWill Champion tosses his drumsticks to the girl in the audience before the helicopter crashes through a window as they fly away. The girl looks down at the tiny drumsticks in her hands and smiles.[9] James Clarkson and Coldplay's fifth member, Phil Harvey, can be seen in the video.[10]
The video was nominated for Best Art Direction in a Video and Best Visual Effects in a Video categories at the UK Music Video Awards 2009,[11] and for Best Music Video at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. Pitchfork included the track on their unranked "Top Music Videos of 2009" list.[12] In the same year, NPO Radio 2 ranked the song at number 418 on their annual Top 2000.[13]
The short instrumental version of this song (released on Viva la Vida) can be heard as the film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian ends during a scene with Ben Stiller and Amy Adams. It was also used on Sky Sports' "Ford Super Sunday" coverage during the 2008/2009 as well as "Match of the Day" during the same season. This version was used at the beginning of the Great Yarmouth (UK) Hippodrome Circus show 2009. NFL Network also used it for their coverage of the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine and also for their coverage of the 2009 NFL draft. The song was also played during the opening montage of the 2009 ESPY Awards. The instrumental version of the song is used in London Eye's pre-flight 4D Experience show. A portion of the instrumental version is also used in Apple Inc.'s introduction of the 2008 MacBook Air, as well as the introduction of the Late 08 MacBook.[14] The song was also used in a promotional on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for PBS's primary programming. Life in Technicolor II was used in an advertisement for Wimbledon 2013 on ESPN.
^"Top 2000 – Jaar 2009" [Top 2000 – Year 2009]. NPO Radio 2 (in Dutch). 31 December 2023. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
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