"Death and All His Friends" is a song by British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, ''

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends ''Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'', often referred to as simply ''Viva la Vida'', is the fourth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 12 June 2008 on the Parlophone label. "Viva la vida" is a Spanish phrase that tra ...

'', and is the tenth and final track on the album. The song begins with

Chris Martin Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist, pianist, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Born in Exeter, Devon, he went to Univ ...

singing softly to a piano accompaniment before morphing into an uplifting arrangement featuring drums, chiming guitars, and a choir recorded in an art gallery in Barcelona. After the song fades out, a hidden song featured on the album, entitled "The Escapist", brings the total length of the track up to over six minutes and concludes the album. "The Escapist" is an

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody.The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003. It u ...

piece that consists of a

sample Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of s ...

of " Light Through the Veins" by

Jon Hopkins Jonathan Julian Hopkins (born 15 August 1979) is an English musician and producer who writes and performs electronic music. He began his career playing keyboards for Imogen Heap, and has produced but also contributed to albums by Brian Eno, Co ...

, with different mixing and with added vocals and lyrics by Chris Martin. A brief 40 second section of the instrumental of "The Escapist" is what begins the first track on the album, " Life in Technicolor", making the album cyclical. A live version of "Death and All His Friends" was featured on the band's 2009 live album, ''

LeftRightLeftRightLeft ''LeftRightLeftRightLeft'' is the second live album by British alternative rock band Coldplay. It was released on 15 May 2009 and given away for free at all of the remaining concerts on the Viva la Vida Tour, being also available as a free downlo ...

''.

Writing and composition

The "quiet half" of the song was originally a separate song altogether named "School". "School" was originally intended to be an introduction to another Coldplay song entitled "Rainy Day" that was later featured on the ''

Prospekt's March ''Prospekt's March'' is the seventh EP by British rock band Coldplay and their first since ''Remixes'' (2003). It came out on 21 November 2008 in Europe and Japan, enjoying a worldwide release during the following week. The EP features several ...

'' EP. However, "School" was eventually re-worked into the current state of "Death and All His Friends". Singer

also revealed in an interview for

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

that the name of the song was supposed to be the theme of the album. He said, "We're aware of all the bad stuff in life, you know, but that doesn't mean you should ever give in to it, you know? So we all sing that bit together really loudly, as kind of a message to ourselves: never giving up and never focusing on the bad stuff too much." While the band was working on the song, producer

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

was the most obsessed with finishing it, even creating the line "I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge". The song was recorded in several different places around the world such as

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, taking several months for it to be finalized.

Credits and Personnel

– lead vocals, piano *

Guy Berryman Guy Rupert Berryman (born 12 April 1978) is a Scottish musician, songwriter and producer, best known as the bassist of the rock band Coldplay and electronic supergroup Apparatjik. Raised in Kirkcaldy, he began to play bass from an early age, ...

– bass guitar, synthesizers, backing vocals *

Jonny Buckland Jonathan Mark Buckland (born 11 September 1977) is an English-born Welsh musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he began to play guitar from an early age, being in ...

– electric guitar *

Will Champion William Champion (born 31 July 1978) is an English musician and songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Southampton, he learned various instruments during his childhood, being influenced by ...

– drums, percussion, backing vocals

Charts and certifications

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Death And All His Friends 2008 songs Coldplay songs Song recordings produced by Brian Eno Song recordings produced by Jon Hopkins Song recordings produced by Markus Dravs Song recordings produced by Rik Simpson Songs written by Guy Berryman Songs written by Jonny Buckland Songs written by Will Champion Songs written by Chris Martin