Coldplay - Fix You

"Fix You" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third album, X&Y. The track is built around a church-style organ, that is accompanied by slow tempo drums, and a singalong chorus. It was released on 5 September 2005 as the second single from X&Y and has reached number four in the UK Singles Chart. The song reached number 18 in the United States Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks. Promo singles were released for the UK and US.
"Fix You" was well received by critics. The song was complimented for its music and profound lyrics. It has been widely sampled, with different covers and sounds. The song, itself, was nominated for multiple awards in the categories of Best Song Musically and Lyrically and Anthem of the Summer. The music video was garnered as a tribute to the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

When writing the song, vocalist Chris Martin was inspired to use a church organ for the track. Unable to gain access to the instrument, Martin instead used an old keyboard that his late father-in-law, Bruce Paltrow, gave to his daughter Gwyneth.[1] However, in other instances Martin has claimed that "Fix You" is a copy of English alternative rock band Elbow's 2003 anthem "Grace Under Pressure".[2] Some sources claimed Martin wrote the song for his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, following the death of her father, Bruce Paltrow.[3][4]
When asked about the development of the song, Martin said: "My father-in-law Bruce Paltrow bought this big keyboard just before he died. No one had ever plugged it in. I plugged it in, and there was this incredible sound I'd never heard before. All these songs poured out from this one sound. Something has to inspire you, and something else takes over. It's very cloudy."[5] Martin also called it "probably the most important song we've ever written".[6]
During a track-by-track reveal, bassist Guy Berryman noted: "'Fix You' takes a bit of its inspiration from Jimmy Cliff's reggae classic, 'Many Rivers to Cross' [...] It becomes its own thing, kind of like points of inspiration that kind of lead you down certain paths. Whenever you want to write a song like someone else, it ultimately ends up sounding like something different anyway."

The song features an organ and piano sound.[8] The song starts with a hushed electric organ ballad, including Martin's falsetto.[9] The song then builds with both an acoustic guitar and piano sound. The sound then shifts with a plaintive two-note guitar line, ringing through a bringing rhythm upbeat tempo. Its instrumentation is varied with the sound of church-style organs, piano notes, acoustic and electric guitar riffs, drums, and a singalong chorus.[10]
The message throughout the song, in which Martin's sings, is words of encouragement: "Lights will guide you home/And ignite your bones/And I will try to fix you."

Critics were positive towards the song. In the Rolling Stone review of the album, critic Kelefa Sanneh wrote: "One of the best is 'Fix You', an unabashedly sentimental song where Martin delivers words of encouragement in a gentle falsetto [...] Proving once more that no band can deliver a stately rock ballad like this one."[11] Paul McNamee of NME wrote: "Its a wonderful song that shifts from simple stark piano and voice to a ringing, clattering burst of intent and proto-prog four-part harmony."[20] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters in his review of the album, noted the song as the "best ballad" off X&Y.[21]
In 2005, Coldplay performed the song live in Saturday Night Live and the Live 8 event in July.[22] "Fix You" was also played on Shelter from the Storm.[14] It has also become a tribute song for the victims and eventually became the anthem for the event.[14] The song was featured in an episode of American teen drama television series The O.C..[23][24] The half part of the song was played over the trailer for the 2006 film World Trade Center. The track was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the category of Best Song musically and lyrically. The song was also nominated for an UK Festival Award in the category of Anthem of the Summer. [info courtesy: wikipedia.org]