A Study in Viva la Vida

We have been listening a lot to the the new ColdPlay CD. I'm fascinated by the song "Viva la Vida", the title track off the album, that was also used in an Apple iPod campaign. It isn't necessarily the lyrics, which are good in themselves. If you listen closely and try to push away the lead vocals, what you'll hear is very specific and intentional. They use strings, drums, and lots of auxiliary percussion along with guitar. They may have even thrown a harpsichord in there, if I heard that correctly. There are virtually no wood winds and no brass appearing. It's a song about a King, yet no trumpets? No pan flutes dancing? I think it's very intentional since the King has fallen. The tympani swells with the bells and chimes sort of trailing in back of the strings. Chris Martin sings in the lyrics that he's a puppet on a string. There's a lot of strings in this song for him to be controlled by. They chase him from the start.

I'm not sure how much of the music is synthetic and how much is in-studio, but my guess is it's a mix of both. I imagine orchestra conductors like painters. If you put paintbrushes in their hands and instead of standing them in front of an orchestra you stood them in front of a canvas, the output would be a wild mess of color and texture. Each arm works entirely independent of the other and each is it's own master of a domain (whichever side of the orchestra it's commanding). The conductor must evoke emotion, restraint, vigor, and peace in each instrumentalist who is only a small speck of the masterpiece. This song paints a four minute colorful Play, scene by scene. An enjoyable ride.