ALBUM REVIEW
COLDPLAY – X&Y
[EMI]


Coldplay have done it- they’ve come up with the most ironic lyric of the year! The lines come in the first two choruses of the fifth song on X&Y, “Talk�- “[You can] write a song nobody had sung/or do something that’s never been done�. The melody of “Talk� having been largely adopted from Kraftwerk’s 1981 track 5, “Computer Love�, the aspiring lyrics can be more than a little amusing.

That said, they’ve also come up with another good album. It’s not A Rush of Blood to the Head, but Coldplay are in the midst of a (perhaps overly) cautious transition. When they get a hold of what they’re reaching for- “Square One�, “White Shadows�, “Talk�- or when they stick to what they already do best- “Speed of Sound�, “A Message�- the results are outstanding. However, sometimes the band gets caught in the middle with mixed results.

Coldplay are now well on their way to becoming the biggest band in the world, and the reason why is simple: you’ll enjoy this album- it doesn’t matter who you are.

4/5

That's not irony.

Though I'm sure there's a term for making yourself seem sententious by constantly making banal and obvious statements.

ironic

2: characterized by often poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is; "madness, an ironic fate for such a clear thinker"; "it was ironical that the well-planned scheme failed so completely"

from Dictionary.com

so, from that, it is ironic that while singing about a song that's never been sung or a something that has never been done, Coldplay are actually performing a song which has most definitely been done and to which they giv credit to in the liner notes. even if they dont mean it to be ironic, its still ironic.

That's fair...I expect more from people, though. Anyway, poor usage often changes the meaning of the words in popular dictionaries.

Anyway, people should know better.

It would be ironic if I said, "Man, this Kenny G. record is amazing!"

The elevation of lunacy.

Alright. I don't dislike you or anything and I don't want to give the (possibly true) impression that I'm some sort of asshole who likes to start petty arguments.

Basically, the whole argument was brought to the public's attention with Alanis Morissette's song "Ironic." The word incongruous is more accurate to describe that sort of concept.

The latest dictionary definitions reflect common usage...loosely based on the concept of Irony of Fate (you wash your car, then it rains...the Gods laugh). Basically, there are some people like me who hate to see a word like irony bastardized by the masses...so that when I actually use the word "correctly" (whatever that means anymore), no-one knows what the hell I'm talking about.

There are PLENTY of instances where this sort of thing has occurred.

On the other hand, what do you say when someone pulls out the DICTIONARY in defense of their point? That's the final word in any argument, right?

Here's a decent explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony

im aware of the whole Alanis Morrisette "contraversy". iknow that many [if not all] of the situations pointed out in her lyrics to the song "Ironic" are not ironic in any true sense. neither is the car wash/rain situation you bring up- they are simply negative coincidences. iknow the meaning of the word and my usage is correct and not comparable to these misuses.

Hmm...okay, I guess that does constitute a "double audience." I reread the first post again. You're saying Coldplay is extolling the virtues of originality with those particular lyrics while unconsiously stealing a melody from Kraftwerk. The other "audience" being the folks buying the record who subsequently recognize the melody from Computer Love?

Excellent!

I was just referring to the lyrics themselves. Touche, my friend.

well, Coldplay are conscious of how theyve lifted the melody- they credit Kraftwerk in the liner notes- but im sure they didnt intend on the subsequent lyrical irony. idoubt they thought about it, or if they did they simply had a laugh and said to hell with it. but yeah, you get what im saying now.

I'm going through Post-Morrisette-Shock-Syndrome or something.

thats okay, it happens. iwouldnt think it ususal for it to hav such long lasting repercussions, but im sure yule work through it.