The Scientist
From WikiColdplay
"The Scientist" is the second single from Coldplay's sophomore album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. Regional singles included UK/Europe, the Netherlands, Germany, and Canada. Promos were released for the UK and U.S.
The song is a piano-driven ballad; Chris Martin opens the song and is joined by the rest of the band after the first chorus. Martin was inspired to write "The Scientist" after listening to George Harrison's "Isn't it a Pity" on the album All Things Must Pass. The song also shows strong allusion to the short story "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne; where a scientist forgets about the love of his life due to his devotion to science. He then realizes his mistake when it is already too late, as her death now haunts him.
The song was covered live by Aimee Mann and released on a special edition of her album Lost in Space. Natasha Bedingfield covered the song on Jo Whiley's Live Lounge radio show. Also, Belinda Carlisle did a live rendition on the ITV1 reality show Hit Me Baby One More Time. The television show MAD TV also did a parody of the video called "The Narcissist."
Contents |
Track listing
- "The Scientist"
- "1.36" featuring Tim Wheeler from Ash on guitar
- "I Ran Away"
- The DVD single included a backwards playing version of "The Scientist".
Cover images
 UK Promo CD |
 DVD Single |
The single cover features drummer Will Champion, art-directed by Sølve Sundsbø.
Music video
The music video for "The Scientist" was very popular with its reverse narrative. A similar concept was previously used for Spike Jonze's music video for The Pharcyde's "Drop". This reverse style can also be seen in Enigma's, "Return to Innocence", Jack Johnson's video for "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" and also Beyonce Knowles' video for Me, Myself and I. It took Chris Martin a month to learn the lyrics backwards.[1]
The video was filmed at various locations including London and Surrey before the first leg of the A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour. It was directed by famed director Jamie Thraves, best known for his work on Radiohead's enigmatic "Just" video. Though it was filmed in England, the car driven in the music video features a Wyoming license plate which had a design that was in use from 1983 to 1988 (although the car itself is right-hand drive). The vehicle in the video was a BMW E28 5-series, manufactured from 1982 to 1988.
Irish actress Elaine Cassidy is also featured in the video.
In 2003, "The Scientist" won multiple MTV Video Music Awards for Best Group Video, Best Direction, and Breakthrough Video. It was also nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best Music Video:Short Form.
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Quotes
Chris Martin on "The Scientist": "That's just about girls. It's weird that whatever else is on your mind, whether it's the downfall of global economics or terrible environmental troubles, the thing that always gets you most is when you fancy someone." [2]
However, inside the cover to A Rush of Blood to the Head it is stated that 'The Scientist is Dan.' Possibly relating to Dan and relationships, or alternatively, a reference to the Beatles' "The walrus is Paul" quote.
Chris Martin comments on the official site (19th June 2007): "The video for the scientist - made Jamie Thraves, a clever and lovely man. Was pretty good. But every time I see Simon Pegg he teases me about it, so now I can't watch it. He wonders why somone after a car crash would go into a town and have a nap. He can fuck off. cm."
Notes
The chords to this song are replicated by Sum 41, in their song "Pieces"
The Oracle on The Scientist
September 23, 2010 - submitted by Frances, Mexico
Q. Hi Oracle :B
Wazzuuup?
My question is... is the girl from the Trouble video the same of The Scientist video ?
thanks for answer !!
The Oracle replies:
As mentioned before Elaine Cassidy is the actress in the The Scientist video. As I am sure you know there are two video for Trouble; there isn't a girl in the original video and Elaine didn't appear in Tim Hope's alternative U.S version so the short answer is no.
February 23, 2009 - submitted by Luisa, Venezuela
Q. Hi Oracle,
I was wondering... What happened with the girl form The Scientist video?... Is she dead?... Thanks, and sorry for my English...
The Oracle replies:
In the story within the video yes, we can assume she died in the accident. The actress Elaine Cassidy however is alive and well!
February 16, 2009 - submitted by Jean, Canada
Q. Respected Oracle,
During the Twisted Logic tour, at the conclusion of "The Scientist", one could hear an added part that was, in fact, a recording of "The Scientist" played backwards. If you take this recording, and play it backwards, it sounds exactly like "The Scientist" from the album. Can you explain how Coldplay pulled this off?
The Oracle replies:
I'm not sure how you mean pulled this off? Basically what you heard was, as you say, the track played backwards, not the band playing live.
As the video (by Jamie Thraves) was a reverse narrative, Chris did actually have to learn the song backwards. There's a version of the video available on The Scientist DVD single that plays it running backwards.
January 12, 2009 - submitted by Durl, Canada
Q. Hullo, kind Oracle!
I have recently discovered that Coldplay's beautiful video 'Yellow' was shot with Chris alone because Will's mother's funeral was scheduled on the same day of the shooting. But as for one other beautiful Coldplay video, "The Scientist", I am quite unsure as to why Chris is alone in it. What was the reason?
By the way, with or without fellow band members, these videos are extremely stunning.
Thank you, all knowing Oracle.
Durl
The Oracle replies:
Jamie Thraves directed The Scientist and he said, "Originally it was just a story with a character not featuring the band, but Chris is a really great performer it made sense to use Chris".
August 22, 2008 - submitted by Mollie, United States of America
Q. Who's the girl with the short dark hair thats in The Scientist video and she's also in one of the Tim Hope-made videos?
The Oracle replies:
That's Elaine Cassidy.
August 19, 2008 - submitted by Kate, Australia
Q. Was The Scientist a song for a friend of Chris Martin's from university? Oh please shed some light on this, oh great one.
The Oracle replies:
No, the song was actually inspired by someone close to the band who was going through a bad time after a relationship break-up.
July 30, 2008 - submitted by Cindy, Canada
Q. Some of Coldplay's popular videos are filmed backwards, which must make the process of filming quite difficult. Should we expect to see any more of these original videos?
The Oracle replies:
Actually Cindy there is only one video that uses a backward technique in its entirety. The Scientist was shot (by Jamie Thraves) in the usual way but then reversed. This meant Chris had to learn the lyrics backwards so that when the video was reversed, it would appear he's saying the words correctly as if filmed forwards.
Lyrics
Come up to meet you, tell you Im sorry You dont know how lovely you are I had to find you, tell you I need you Tell you I set you apart Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions Oh lets go back to the start Running in circles, coming up tails Heads on a silence apart Nobody said it was easy Oh its such a shame for us to part Nobody said it was easy No one ever said that it would be this hard Oh take me back to the start I was just guessing at numbers and figures Pulling your puzzles apart Questions of science, science and progress Do not speak as loud as my heart Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me Oh and I rush to the start Running in circles, chasing our tails Coming back as we are Nobody said it was easy Oh its such a shame for us to part Nobody said it was easy No one ever said it would be so hard Im going back to the start Oh ooh ooh ooh ooh ohh (x4)
External links
References
- Roach, Martin (2003). Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9810-8.
