I’m bridging the gap of the last couple of years since I’ve posted here with a series of music reviews that view life through the lens of these albums.

Three years ago does not seem that long ago and yet I still catch myself referring to it as the “Before Times” when 2020 bent everything out of shape and changed all of our lives. Three years ago Coldplay released “Everyday Life” a double album that starts with sunrise on the first album and ends with sunset on the second album. For the release of the album, Coldplay played the album live on YouTube from Amman, Jordan at sunrise and at sunset. The video is filled with gorgeous video, utilizing then new drone cameras and bringing in guest artists throughout the performance. Between video of the band, the normal business of Amman features in the video for a normal day.

The album is something of a time capsule of 2019 as turmoil roiled around the world. “Trouble in Town” interleaves threatening voices from a racial profiling incident. “Orphans” sounds cloying and cute but the lyrics “I wanna know when I can go back and get drunk with my friends” only sound cute until you find out it is about Syrian refugees, and even now it works for Ukranians as well. Chris Martin’s frustration boils over, first in “Arabesque” and then in “Guns” when he says “Everyone is going f*cking crazy. Maybe I am, too.” (Oh boy, do those lyrics resonate.) “Arabesque” in the center piece of the album with driving bass, pulsing horns and as it builds to a climax a voice intones “music is the weapon of the future.” When it hits the peak, Martin wails “same f*cking blood!” and it is a goosebump inducing moment. The album is also personal, with a choral-like “When I Need a Friend” and the mournful “Daddy” reflecting on a failed relationship. The album enters the homestretch with “Champion of the World” which is the most anthemic and arena-rock-like song of the album and winds the album down the title song as “alleluias” finish the song. In the live version on YouTube, the sun finishes setting as the last alleluia ends and the minarets begin their call to prayers in Amman, it’s really a moment. Back in 2019 and even now I’ve been on a lot of conference calls with co-workers in the middle East and drone of the call to prayers at end of their day is a familiar background noise during those meetings.

Everyday Life was the last album I bought in 2019 and I didn’t listen to it much because December rolled around and I switched to listening mostly to Christmas music. When I came around to it in January and February, we were weeks away from everything shutting down and for me the album became something of a time capsule. It wasn’t long before the idea of flying to another country and milling about in a crowded city became completely foreign and the whole album took on a bittersweet memory for me. The album is a reminder of what a fractured and contentious culture we were then and very little of those fracture lines have healed since then.