Song · Coldplay
“Life in Technicolor” by Coldplay
From the album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008)
“Life in Technicolor” by Coldplay appears on 15 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 2009 and 2025. It was first released in 2008 on the album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Its best result is #6 on the WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2009. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #66 alternative song of 2009.
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On Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Coldplay's fourth album, from 2008, "Life in Technicolor" is an instrumental, and its writing credit runs five names deep: Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion, plus Jon Hopkins. Four people share the mix credit: Michael Brauer, Markus Dravs, Rik Simpson and Andy Wallace.
The band weren't done with it. They built a full-vocal version, "Life in Technicolor II", and made it the first single from the Prospekt's March EP, with a promotional CD in December 2008 and the seven-inch and download following in February 2009. That take rides a looping santoor over tabla-like percussion that keeps cycling through the verses, and it picked up two Grammy nominations, one in the rock group performance category and one for its video.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 691 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century | 909 |
Also listed as: Life In Technicolor II; Life in Technicolor II; Life In Technicolor.
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