The Hardest Part (Coldplay song)
Encyclopedia
"The Hardest Part" 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
. A piano-based ballad song, it begins with a two-note piano melody, followed with electric guitar lines, that accompanies a slow tempo drumming. It was released on 3 April 2006 as the fourth single from X&Y. The song was released as a radio-only song on United Kingdom radio stations. It appeared on the United States Billboard
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
chart and peaked at number 37. "The Hardest Part" also charted in both the Italian and New Zealand Charts.
The song was well received by critics. The track was complimented for its musical style. Regional singles were released in Canada, Europe, and Australia; a different version was released in Taiwan
. Promo singles were released for the UK and US. The international version of the single was made available in the UK on 19 June 2006.
, "Talk
", was a tribute to the German band Kraftwerk
; similarly, "The Hardest Part" was intended by Coldplay to acknowledge American band R.E.M.
When asked why the song paid a tribute to R.E.M.'s lead singer, Michael Stipe
, Chris Martin
said: "I've lost all respect for fame, but I haven't lost all respect for respect. So the one great thing about being famous is that I get to meet people who I respect. Our relationship is akin to a dog and its master. I'll always look up to him." The band felt the track resembled R.E.M.'s 1991 single, "Losing My Religion
". "The Hardest Part" was left out of the album track list when the band sent an early version of the album to their record label, Parlophone
. The track, however, was included when X&Y was finalized.
"The Hardest Part" features a piano ballad sound. The song starts with a repeating two-note piano riff
, and features an instrumentation of a singsong guitar. It also includes a slow tempo with a drumming rhythm. The track ends with the band playing the repeated instrument riffs.
. The international version of the single was made available in the UK on 19 June 2006. Regional singles were released for Canada, Europe, Australia, and a different version for Taiwan. Promotional singles were released in the UK and US. The track peaked at number 37 on Billboard
's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
chart. Although the song did not chart on the UK Singles Chart, as the song was released as a radio-only song, the single peaked on the Italian charts on 11 May 2006 at number 19 and spent a week in the chart. Afterward, the song peaked on the New Zealand Charts at number 34 on 21 August 2006.
A live piano version of "The Hardest Part" appeared on Coldplay's 2009 live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft
.
review of the album, music contributor David Browne
wrote that the song "is imbued with the sense of regret and letting go that we've heard from the band before, but with added musical muscle." Michael Hubbard of MusicOMH wrote: "'A Message' and 'The Hardest Part' sound like companion pieces, both big songs." Critic Kelefa Sanneh
of Rolling Stone
noted that the song gets "less catchy as it goes along". Adrien Begrand from PopMatters
wrote that "The Hardest Part" is a "pleasant slice of R.E.M.
style pop." Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun
reported that the song sounded "like the Smiths
meets REM." David Cheal of The Daily Telegraph
noted, "...'The Hardest Part' is lovely, straightforward, instantly accessible pop-rock".
. The video uses footage from the television series Attitudes
, a series aired on the Lifetime television network, from 1985–1991. The video is digitally enhanced to appear as though Coldplay is performing the music alongside the act appearing on stage. American actress Linda Dano
, who played Felicia Gallant on the US soap opera Another World
, is also featured. The dancers on the stage are 84 years old Barbara Moseley and 25 years old Gene Spencer whose performance was actually filmed in 1990. The music video was directed by Mary Wigmore.
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
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
. It was written by all four members of the band for their third album, X&Y
X&Y
X&Y is the third studio album by English rock band Coldplay, released 6 June 2005 in the United Kingdom via the record label Parlophone. The album, which features influences of electronic music, was produced by the band and British record producer Danton Supple...
. A piano-based ballad song, it begins with a two-note piano melody, followed with electric guitar lines, that accompanies a slow tempo drumming. It was released on 3 April 2006 as the fourth single from X&Y. The song was released as a radio-only song on United Kingdom radio stations. It appeared on the United States Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
chart and peaked at number 37. "The Hardest Part" also charted in both the Italian and New Zealand Charts.
The song was well received by critics. The track was complimented for its musical style. Regional singles were released in Canada, Europe, and Australia; a different version was released in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Promo singles were released for the UK and US. The international version of the single was made available in the UK on 19 June 2006.
Production and composition
The previous single from X&YX&Y
X&Y is the third studio album by English rock band Coldplay, released 6 June 2005 in the United Kingdom via the record label Parlophone. The album, which features influences of electronic music, was produced by the band and British record producer Danton Supple...
, "Talk
Talk (song)
"Talk" is a song by the British alternative rock band Coldplay. Built around a motif from Kraftwerk's 1981 song "Computer Love", it was written by all members of the band and appeared on their third album, X&Y...
", was a tribute to the German band Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
; similarly, "The Hardest Part" was intended by Coldplay to acknowledge American band R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
When asked why the song paid a tribute to R.E.M.'s lead singer, Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
, 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: "I've lost all respect for fame, but I haven't lost all respect for respect. So the one great thing about being famous is that I get to meet people who I respect. Our relationship is akin to a dog and its master. I'll always look up to him." The band felt the track resembled R.E.M.'s 1991 single, "Losing My Religion
Losing My Religion
"Losing My Religion" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. The song was released as the first single from the group's 1991 album Out of Time. Based around a mandolin riff, "Losing My Religion" was an unlikely hit for the group, garnering heavy airplay on radio as well as on MTV due...
". "The Hardest Part" was left out of the album track list when the band sent an early version of the album to their record label, Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
. The track, however, was included when X&Y was finalized.
"The Hardest Part" features a piano ballad sound. The song starts with a repeating two-note piano riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
, and features an instrumentation of a singsong guitar. It also includes a slow tempo with a drumming rhythm. The track ends with the band playing the repeated instrument riffs.
Release
Coldplay released "The Hardest Part" in the US and UK on 3 April 2006 as the fourth single of their third album. The single was pressed with a B-side, "How You See the World", recorded live at Earls CourtEarls Court Exhibition Centre
The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre, conference and event venue located in west London, United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . It is the largest exhibition venue in central London. It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West...
. The international version of the single was made available in the UK on 19 June 2006. Regional singles were released for Canada, Europe, Australia, and a different version for Taiwan. Promotional singles were released in the UK and US. The track peaked at number 37 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
chart. Although the song did not chart on the UK Singles Chart, as the song was released as a radio-only song, the single peaked on the Italian charts on 11 May 2006 at number 19 and spent a week in the chart. Afterward, the song peaked on the New Zealand Charts at number 34 on 21 August 2006.
A live piano version of "The Hardest Part" appeared on Coldplay's 2009 live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft
LeftRightLeftRightLeft
LeftRightLeftRightLeft is a live album by English alternative rock band Coldplay, released at 9:00 am GMT on 15 May 2009. The album was given away for free at all of the remaining concerts on the Viva la Vida Tour and is available as a free download on the band's official website...
.
Reception
Critics were positive towards the song. In the Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
review of the album, music contributor David Browne
David Browne
David Browne is an American journalist and author. He was the resident music critic at Entertainment Weekly between 1990 and 2006. He was an editor at Music & Sound Output magazine and a music critic at the New York Daily News before EW...
wrote that the song "is imbued with the sense of regret and letting go that we've heard from the band before, but with added musical muscle." Michael Hubbard of MusicOMH wrote: "'A Message' and 'The Hardest Part' sound like companion pieces, both big songs." Critic Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa T. Sanneh is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for the New York Times, covering the rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
noted that the song gets "less catchy as it goes along". Adrien Begrand from PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
wrote that "The Hardest Part" is a "pleasant slice of R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
style pop." Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
reported that the song sounded "like the Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
meets REM." David Cheal of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
noted, "...'The Hardest Part' is lovely, straightforward, instantly accessible pop-rock".
Music video
The music video for "The Hardest Part" was shot on 3 March 2006 in St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
. The video uses footage from the television series Attitudes
Attitudes (TV series)
Attitudes was an American television talk show on Lifetime Television from 1985–1991. Hosted originally by Linda Dano and Nancy Glass, it was taped before a live studio audience at EUE Screen Gems Studios, 222 East 44th Street in New York City...
, a series aired on the Lifetime television network, from 1985–1991. The video is digitally enhanced to appear as though Coldplay is performing the music alongside the act appearing on stage. American actress Linda Dano
Linda Dano
Linda Dano is an American soap opera actress. A longtime performer in daytime dramas and a bestselling author and businesswoman, Dano was married for over 20 years to advertising executive Frank Attardi....
, who played Felicia Gallant on the US soap opera Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
, is also featured. The dancers on the stage are 84 years old Barbara Moseley and 25 years old Gene Spencer whose performance was actually filmed in 1990. The music video was directed by Mary Wigmore.
International CD release
- "The Hardest Part" – 4:27
- "How You See the World" (Live from Earls Court) – 4:16
Charts
| Chart (2006) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Polish Singles Chart | 8 |
| Slovakia (IFPI IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... ) |
15 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
37 |