|
 |
Browse Bands by Name
|
|
Or enter a band name below to search:
|
 Bands Main
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do a Google image search of "Chris Martin" and here's a sampling of what you'll find: Martin and Paltrow walking hand-in-hand, she in a black top and he in a gray "Stop Handgun Violence" tee. Martin and Paltrow wearing green headbands and matching "Make Trade Fair" T-shirts. A wide-eyed Martin wearing a ragged "Make Trade Fair" ringer. And there are thousands of images just like these. The point is, no superstar frontman/pitchman has ever said more while not actually speaking. You'll never hear Martin firing off impassioned missives from the stage, never hear him dedicating songs to Mozambique or Mawai, never catch him dressed in a gold lamé suit and devil horns, speaking in a fake Scottish accent.
For our generation's version of Bono, he's absolutely nothing like Bono at all.
"The reason I always talk about U2 is because U2 are the top of Mount Everest for us. Talking about U2 is our way of motivating us to keep trying, because they are the peak," he laughs, then pauses. "The thing about being a frontman is that people are always talking to you, but you're often saying stupid things. The trouble with being in Coldplay is that everybody knows about it, and everybody inevitably asks you about it."
And for a guy whose personal life has become front-and-center, for a guy who knows that all his lyrics are now going to be placed under the microscope, Martin makes no effort to spread his message through his songs, which makes absolutely no sense at all. But as with most things Chris Martin does, it also makes total sense.
"There has to come a point where you say, 'F--- it; I'm just going to sing what comes naturally. And if people think it's about Dick Cheney, if they think it's about Julia Roberts, that's fine," he says, running his left hand through his curly hair. "There came a point where we thought, 'So what.' Of course I know that anyone who's interested is going to analyze the lyrics. Who cares? It's fine.
"My lyrics — our lyrics — are a reflection of everything going on in our lives. Some of us have got married, some of us have lost people, I've had a daughter, and all that stuff gets poured in," he continues. "There's some confidence in there, but there's also some insecurity. There's happiness, but there's also worry. It's the sound of four humans who just struck it incredibly lucky."
And that's pretty much the way Chris Martin is. Think what you will — you're probably correct. And even if you're incorrect, that's fine too. Rarely has a frontman so clearly resembled the band he fronts: polite, quiet and humble. Never has a celebrity mouthpiece for an international organization been so soft-spoken. There is nothing threatening about Coldplay. Chris Martin realizes that, sees the packed stadiums and hopes that he can simply end world poverty by being nice.
And who's to say he can't?
"All four of us feel like we have this incredible opportunity right now, to do so much — not just musically either," he says. "But we're also prepared for the fact that a lot of people think this is the moment to hate us. I personally think we're going to be slaughtered with this record, but that could just be based on the time of day. But that's always the way with us. We tend to take the rough and the smooth. X and Y, if you will."
|
|
|
|
Photo: Capitol
|
|
|
|
