Seasonal Streaming: Coldplay, “Christmas Lights”
Welcome to "Seasonal Streaming," where - with an awareness of the holidays on the horizon (no, they're not here yet, but they're literally getting closer every day) - we take a look at a tune from the Rhino digital catalog that, if it isn't already on your radar, certainly should be.
It was a mere eight days ago that Coldplay celebrated the 10th anniversary of their holiday single "Christmas Lights," which was released on December 1, 2010. The song, credited to band members Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin, was actually written in December 2008, with Martin famously (at least to the band's fans) playing a portion of it for Steve Kroft during the band's spotlight segment on CBS's 60 Minutes.
The release of "Christmas Lights" was a pretty big deal, with the band announcing the single's forthcoming release on November 24 with the commencement of a countdown on their website, along with an animated GIF of the artwork for the single. Coldplay also released three making-of videos about the video for the song, which makes for a whole lot of video. Appropriately for a tune that was given this much hype, the song proved to be a hit, debuting and peaking at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #12 on the Hot Digital Songs chart. The song did a bit better in the UK, as one might reasonably expect, hitting #13 on the UK Singles chart.
It's worth noting that "Christmas Lights" has additionally maintained a life beyond Coldplay's version, having been covered by Kylie Minogue, Straight No Chaser, and Yellowcard. Yes, it's just that good...or at least that's how we're viewing it, anyway!