Orphans (Coldplay Song)
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"Orphans" is a song by British rock 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 ...
from their eighth studio album '' Everyday Life''. It was released on 24 October 2019, along with the single "
Arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...
" and appears on the second side of the album ''Sunset''. The song was written by the band members and produced by The Dream Team.


Background and promotion

On 24 October 2019, the band announced the release (on the same day) of the songs "Arabesque" and "Orphans" as a dual release and as the first singles off ''Everyday Life''. About the content of the songs, lead singer
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 ...
said in an interview with
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
that "some of it’s very personal, about real things in my life, and some of it’s about things that I see or we see, and some of it’s about trying to empathise about what other people are going through". On the day of the release, the band set up a timer counting down to the release of the songs. The subject matter of the song includes the plight of refugees of the Syrian civil war. Martin told the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, “It seems to me that one of the things that might help people have a better time is to put themselves in other people’s shoes, whether that’s these kids who have to leave Syria, or who grew up in Baltimore, or whatever it might be. Rather than judging from afar, maybe to think ‘I wonder what it’s like to be there.'” Coldplay donated 10% of the worldwide proceeds from the song to the refugee charity Hopeland.


Recording

The song was recorded last-minute during the mixing of the album '' Everyday Life'', for which it served as one of two lead singles.


Music video

The song's music video, directed by
Mat Whitecross Mat Whitecross (born 21 September 1977) is an English film director, editor and screenwriter. He began his career working for filmmaker Michael Winterbottom and producer Andrew Eaton at Revolution Films, being also known for directing ''The Road ...
, premiered on 25 October 2019. The music video shows the development of the song from its earliest roots, a voice memo by
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 ...
in which the singer is heard talking about the tuning of his guitar before playing what would become the song's main riff, to the fully polished song that was released. The music video won an award at the 2020 MTV VMAs for 'Best Rock' music video.


Reception

''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' (#93) and ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' (#41) included the track on their "Best Songs of 2019" lists.


Live performances

The song was performed live for the first time during
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' on 2 November 2019. In a rehearsal, Martin explained to the dancers who accompanied the band's performance, "This song is about, you see all these pictures of young people like you and a bit older people like us, having to leave their countries and everyone calls them refugees or migrants rather than just people. So we were thinking about, this could be any of us who is in these camps or at the border or whatever. And that's what this song’s about, it's like people like us saying, 'I just want to go home and be normal.'" "Orphans" was later played live on the ''Annie Mac Show'' on
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
on 27 November 2019 along with "
Arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...
", " Everyday Life", "
Lovers in Japan "Lovers in Japan" is a song by British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth studio album, '' Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends''. The song is built around an introductory tack piano sound, th ...
", and "Guns".


Personnel

Credits adapted from the "Orphans / Arabesque" liner notes. *
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 *
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 b ...
– drums, percussion, 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 ...
– guitar *
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 ...
– guitar, vocals * Aluna – choir vocal * Garine Antreassian – choir vocal * Jocelyn 'Jozzy' Donald – choir vocal * Nadeen Fanous – choir vocal * Marwa Kreitem – choir vocal * Apple Martin – choir vocal *
Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg (; born 26 February 1971),Max Martin
allmusic.com known profess ...
– keyboards * Moses Martin – choir and backing vocal *
Bashar Murad Bashar Murad (Arabic: بشار مراد; born 7 February 1993) is a Palestinian singer-songwriter and video artist based in East Jerusalem. His music addresses societal norms, the Israeli Occupation, and gender equality in the Middle East. He is ...
– choir vocal * Ben Oerlemans – choir vocal * Bill Rahko – choir vocal * Norah Shaqur – choir vocal * Rik Simpson – keyboards * Daniel Green – producer *
Emily Lazar Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for ...
– mastering * Max Martin – producer, programming * Bill Rahko – producer * Rik Simpson – producer * Erwan Abbas – assistant engineering * Chris Allgood – assistant mastering * Matt Glasbey – assistant engineering * Pierre Houle – additional engineering * Matt Latham – assistant engineering * Baptiste Leroy – assistant engineering * Bastien Lozier – additional engineering * Issam Murad – assistant engineering * Anthony De Souza – assistant engineering * Federico Vindver – additional engineering


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{Authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs Charity singles Coldplay songs Parlophone singles Songs written by Chris Martin Songs written by Guy Berryman Songs written by Jonny Buckland Songs written by Will Champion Music videos directed by Mat Whitecross