The Hardest Part (Coldplay song)
{{Short description|2006 single by Coldplay}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox song
| name = The Hardest Part
| cover = ColdplayTheHardestPart.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Coldplay
| album = X&Y
| B-side = "How You See the World" (Live from Earls Court)
| released = {{Start date|2006|04|03|df=y}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Pop rock
| length = {{Duration|m=4|s=25}}
| label =
| writer =
| producer = * Danton Supple
- Coldplay
| prev_title = Talk
| prev_year = 2005
| next_title = Violet Hill
| next_year = 2008
| misc = {{External music video|{{Youtube|WAGbq3A9HfA|"The Hardest Part"}}}}
}}
"The Hardest Part" is a song by British 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 piano melody, followed with electric guitar lines, that accompanies slow-tempo drumming.
It was released on 3 April 2006 as the fourth and final 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, making it Coldplay's first appearance on that chart and helping establish moderate success at AC radio for future singles like "Viva la Vida", "Paradise", and "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall". "The Hardest Part" also charted in Australia, Italy and New Zealand.
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.
Production and composition
The previous single from X&Y, "Talk", was a tribute to the German band Kraftwerk; similarly, "The Hardest Part" was intended by Coldplay to acknowledge American band R.E.M.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/coldplay_quiet_storm/page/4 |title=Coldplay's Quiet Storm |last=Scaggs |first=Austin |date=11 August 2005 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=13 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114111109/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/coldplay_quiet_storm/page/4 |archive-date=14 January 2009 }}{{cite magazine|title=Summer Music Preview: Coldplay|last=Willman|first=Chris|date=27 March 2005|magazine=Entertainment Weekly}} 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".{{cite web|url=http://www.coldplay.com/content/ezine/documents/ezine17.pdf|title=Coldplay Ezine: Issue 17|date=April 2006|publisher=Coldplay.com|access-date=29 October 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070213074409/http://www.coldplay.com/content/ezine/documents/ezine17.pdf |archive-date = 13 February 2007}}{{cite news|title=World Exclusive: Coldplay|date=June 2005|work=Q}} "The Hardest Part" was left out of the album track list when the band sent an early version of X&Y to their record label, Parlophone, but was included when the album was finalised.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/may/28/popandrock.coldplay|title=The importance of being earnest|last=McLean|first=Craig|date=28 May 2005|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 November 2008}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/63421/coldplay-finalizes-new-album-track-list|title=Coldplay Finalizes New Album Track List|last=Cohen|first=Jonathan|date=4 April 2005|magazine=Billboard|access-date=12 November 2008}}
Release and reception
Coldplay released "The Hardest Part" in the US and UK on 3 April 2006 and in Japan on 24 May as the fourth single from X&Y.{{cite web|url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/68959/products/645430/1/|title=ザ・ハーデスト・パート {{!}} コールドプレイ|trans-title=The Hardest Part {{!}} Coldplay|publisher=Oricon|language=ja|access-date=30 August 2023}} The single was pressed with a B-side, "How You See the World", recorded live at Earls Court. 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.{{cite magazine|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=coldplay|chart=all}}|title=Artist Chart History|magazine=Billboard|access-date=10 November 2008}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://italiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Coldplay&titel=The+Hardest+Part&cat=s|title=Coldplay — The Hardest Part|date=11 May 2006|publisher=Italian Charts|access-date=10 November 2008}} Afterward, the song peaked on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 28 on 28 August 2006.{{cite news|url=https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Coldplay&titel=The+Hardest+Part&cat=s|title=Coldplay — The Hardest Part|date=11 August 2006|publisher=New Zealand Charts|access-date=10 November 2008}} A live piano version of "The Hardest Part", paired with the Prospekt's March track "Postcards from Far Away", appeared on Coldplay's 2009 live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/05/01/coldplay-reward-fans-with-free-live-lp-leftrightleftrightleft/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503141948/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/05/01/coldplay-reward-fans-with-free-live-lp-leftrightleftrightleft/|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 May 2009|title=Coldplay Reward Fans With Free Live LP "LeftRightLeftRightLeft"|last=Kreps|first=Daniel|date=1 May 2009|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=21 May 2009}}
Critics were positive towards the song. In the Entertainment Weekly 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."{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2005/06/13/xy/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711134624/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1070629,00.html|archive-date=11 July 2007|title=X&Y (2005)|last=Browne|first=David|date=13 June 2005|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=10 November 2008}} Michael Hubbard of MusicOMH wrote: "'A Message' and 'The Hardest Part' sound like companion pieces, both big songs."{{cite news|url=http://www.musicomh.com/albums/coldplay-3.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205022136/http://www.musicomh.com/albums/coldplay-3.htm|archive-date=5 December 2006|title=Coldplay — X&Y|last=Hubbard|first=Michael|date=6 June 2005|website=MusicOMH|access-date=10 November 2008}} Critic Kelefa Sanneh of Rolling Stone noted that the song gets "less catchy as it goes along".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/coldplay/albums/album/7372421/review/7373521/xy|title=Coldplay: X&Y|last=Sanneh|first=Kelefa|date=16 June 2005|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=18 November 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919011341/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/coldplay/albums/album/7372421/review/7373521/xy |archive-date=19 September 2008}} Adrien Begrand from PopMatters wrote that "The Hardest Part" is a "pleasant slice of R.E.M. style pop."{{cite news|url=http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/c/coldplay-xandy.shtml|title=Coldplay: X&Y|last=Begrand|first=Adrien|date=6 June 2005|publisher=PopMatters|access-date=18 November 2008}} Cameron Adams of the Herald Sun reported that the song sounded "like the Smiths meets REM."{{cite journal|first=Cameron|last=Adams|title='play it again|date=2 June 2005|journal=Herald Sun |location=Australia|page=105}} David Cheal of The Daily Telegraph noted, "...'The Hardest Part' is lovely, straightforward, instantly accessible pop-rock".{{cite journal|first=David|last=Cheal|title=CDs of the Week|date=4 June 2005|journal=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3643169/Pop-CDs-of-the-week-The-White-Stripes-Coldplay-Ry-Cooder-and-more.html |access-date=7 April 2022}}
Music video
The music video for "The Hardest Part" was shot on 3 March 2006 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The video uses footage from the television series Attitudes, which aired on the Lifetime television network from 1985 to 1992. The video is digitally enhanced to appear as though Coldplay is performing the music alongside the act appearing on stage.{{cite web|url=http://www.virginmedia.com/music/musicvideos/coldplay_thehardestpart_hi.php|title=Coldplay — The Hardest Part|date=10 April 2006|publisher=Virgin Media|access-date=6 January 2009}} 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-year-old Barbara Moseley and 25-year-old Gene Spencer, whose performance was actually filmed in 1990.YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSTISHdiEeo Barbara, 84 and Spencer, 25 in a beautiful acrobatic dance routine.] The music video was directed by Mary Wigmore.
Track listings
{{Track listing
| headline = European, Australian, and Japanese CD single{{cite AV media notes|title=The Hardest Part|others=Coldplay|year=2006|type=European & Australian CD single liner notes|publisher=Parlophone|id=0946 363242 2 7}}{{cite AV media notes|title=The Hardest Part|others=Coldplay|year=2006|type=Japanese CD single liner notes|publisher=Parlophone|id=TOCP-40189}}
| title1 = The Hardest Part
| length1 = 4:25
| title2 = How You See the World
| length2 = 4:16
| note2 = live from Earls Court
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = UK 7-inch vinyl {{small|(The Singles 1999–2006)}}{{cite AV media notes|title=The Singles 1999–2006|title-link=The Singles 1999–2006|others=Coldplay|year=2007|type=UK box compilation liner notes|publisher=Parlophone|id=388 3247}}
| title1 = The Hardest Part
| length1 = 4:25
| title2 = Pour Me
| length2 = 5:01
| note2 = live at the Hollywood Bowl
}}
Personnel
- Chris Martin – vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, organ
- Guy Berryman – bass guitar
- Jonny Buckland – electric guitars
- Will Champion – drums, backing vocals
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Weekly chart performance for "The Hardest Part" !Chart (2006) !Peak |
| {{single chart|Australia|40|artist=Coldplay|song=The Hardest Part|rowheader=true|access-date=17 June 2011}} |
| {{single chart|Flanders|48|artist=Coldplay|song=The Hardest Part|rowheader=true|access-date=17 June 2011}} |
| scope="row"|Canada Hot AC Top 40 (Radio & Records){{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Archive-RandR/2000s/2006/RR-2006-06-09.pdf|title=R&R Canada Hot AC Top 40|magazine=Radio & Records|issue=1661|page=51|date=June 9, 2006|access-date= June 20, 2024}}
|6 |
|---|
| {{single chart|CIS|138|artist=Coldplay|song=The Hardest Part|songid=5068|rowheader=true|access-date=5 October 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Italy|19|artist=Coldplay|song=The Hardest Part|rowheader=true|access-date=17 June 2011}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch40|25|year=2006|week=22|rowheader=true|access-date=18 April 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Dutch100|39|artist=Coldplay|song=The Hardest Part|rowheader=true|access-date=18 April 2021}} |
| {{single chart|New Zealand|28|artist=Coldplay|song=The Hardest Part|rowheader=true|access-date=17 June 2011}} |
| {{single chart|Slovakia|15|year=2006|week=35|rowheader=true|access-date=18 April 2021}} |
| {{single chart|Switzerland|44|artist=Coldplay|song=The Hardest Part|rowheader=true|access-date=17 June 2011}} |
| {{single chart|UKdownload|56|date=20060423|rowheader=true|accessdate=9 May 2022}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardadultalternativesongs|20|artist=Coldplay|rowheader=true|access-date=9 January 2018}} |
| {{single chart|Billboardadultcontemporary|37|artist=Coldplay|rowheader=true|access-date=21 October 2017}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|http://www.coldplay.com/}}
{{Coldplay songs}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardest Part, The}}
Category:Songs written by Chris Martin
Category:Songs written by Guy Berryman