Coldplay
Parachutes

THE REVIEW

There are things I will never forget. Like the first kiss or the first time I made love. I don't remember which Christmas it was, they all seem alike, the ones now and those from childhood blend together. We opened the presents in the morning that year, that I do remember. The daylight illuminated a disc, or rather the plastic case containing a disc. The cover, well, indescribable, a spinning globe on a black background, insignificant. The title then, "parachutes." Parachutes? My childish prejudice set me up for a resounding letdown. "Another CD my brother didn't have the courage to buy for himself and is passing off as a gift to me" I must have thought at the moment I smiled at him, feigning delight and amazement for the mystery I held in my hands.

The first kiss, well, it was rather ambiguous. I was a charming young chap (not that it's any different now) and more than a few girls were after me, but due to my abysmal shyness, or maybe because I was so narcissistic that I used my brainpower solely for combing my hair, I turned into a block of granite when I was in close quarters with a girl. Her name was, mm, no, I don't believe it matters what her name was, as some might have already labeled me a loser who has the audacity to share these trivial matters. Anyway, I spent an entire day at her place, we stared into each other's eyes for hours at a distance of approximately 3-4 cm from nose to nose. I wanted it, she wanted it and thought "what a retard" yet nothing, nada, zilch. When it came time to say goodbye, she had an expression to use a euphemism, distressed, back hunched against the house wall, arms also gathered behind her, as if seeking support. I, blushing red like Tabasco "Well.....bye". Well, screw you, she must have thought and darting forward she made the fatal mucus contact, saliva transfusions and all.

It's probable that video aired before I was gifted the disc, I wouldn't know. That surreal video was "Yellow." And who could forget it? I think there was already TV channel 'rete A' and regularly you’d see this ugly mug appear, pale as death, a somewhat ugly guy flailing about on a gray beach, in a k-way, in the rain, and while he sang drools strands dangled between his teeth. A shock. Then the lyrics, all yellow. Then the melody, a bit Stereophonics, a bit The Bends, a bit Cranberries, in short, a nonsense on all fronts. Yet the effect it had was a bit like that first kiss, surprising, capable of penetrating straight to the heart, canceling everything else.

The first time I did it instead was a trauma, if you're expecting details I'll disappoint you, I remember hazy fragments, I was so nervous I failed spectacularly, it'll also be the only time from then on fortunately.

What are you saying? Should I say a few words about the album? But you know the album, come on, it's beautiful, an intimate and calm jewel, like only the nineties could give us. Coldplay will release other albums and other videos, the latter thankfully less obscene, with time they will become something else. I like to remember them this way: four Albionic guys whose epithelium has never seen the sunlight, sentimental wimps who spray saliva from excitement in the rare moments of social interaction.