"Cemeteries of London" is a song by English alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, often referred to as simply Viva la Vida is the fourth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 11 June 2008 on Parlophone. The album was named after a Spanish phrase that translates in English as "long live life"...

. The song is darker than Coldplay's previous recordings.

Writing and composition

The song was inspired by ghost stories, the Medieval practice of burning witches, and graphic novels. The idea was to bring the feeling of the old London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to the song, transforming it into the most visual song in the album along with Violet Hill

Violet Hill (song)

"Violet Hill" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends . Built around a repeating guitar sound, it utilises a marching tempo, supported by the pianos and rhythms that accompany...

. "Cemeteries of London" was influenced by other styles like folk

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 and Spanish songs, in a interview for NG-Magazine Will Champion said: "For me it's a folk song...in its structure."

The song was written after producer Markus Dravs deemed one of the band's songs as “good” but not yet “great”. As Chris Martin

Chris Martin

Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...

 said to Q magazine: "So I was, OK, fuck you, man! And the next day I came in and played Cemeteries Of London.”

Entertainment Weekly printed an article on Coldplay and the new album with a new song slant on some of the songs, on that interview the band's bassist Guy Berryman said: "When I imagine the song in my head, I see London in 1850, a hell of a lot of rain and men in top hats".

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	134
Belgian Chart	37