In My Place

Album: A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)
Charted: 2
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Songfacts®:

  • Another love song from Coldplay, this one is about a guy who loves a girl who doesn't reciprocate. He is telling her that he will always wait for her, but he doesn't think she should stay where she is any longer. Chris Martin elaborated on the meaning to Billboard Magazine: "That's about where you're put in the world, and how you're given your position, and the way you look, and how you have to get on with it."
  • "In My Place" was written a few weeks before Coldplay released their debut album, Parachutes, and was one of the first songs the band recorded for A Rush of Blood to the Head. Coldplay later credited it for giving them the confidence to continue following the overwhelming success of Parachutes. Martin recalled to Q Magazine in 2002: "After we'd recorded Parachutes we had one song left – 'In My Place.' Apart from that I was dry. And I thought, 'That's it, we're done.' But when Jonny played me the guitar for 'In My Place' I thought, 'Well we have to record that. It's the best thing we've ever written.' And that was the song that saved us."
  • Chris Martin is a big fan of Ian "Mac the Mouth" McCulloch, lead singer and founder of the Liverpool band Echo And The Bunnymen. McCulloch was physically present when Coldplay recorded this song, with the "Killing Moon" singer even lending Martin his signature trench coat. Martin detailed the moment to Q: "I did the vocals to 'In My Place' wearing Mac's coat and with him sitting next to me in the booth. I felt like the little boy at the school disco not knowing what to do. I mean, you can't try and upstage him can you?"
  • Even though it dated back to Parachutes, the band went through multiple versions of this song before settling on the final one heard on A Rush of Blood to the Head. Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland told the band's e-zine in 2002: "It was hard recording 'In My Place' because we'd been playing it live for a couple of years, so when we actually finally sat down to record it in the studio, we didn't know how it should sound, because we'd had so many different ideas in our heads, so that was quite hard."
  • This won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
  • The simple performance video was directed by Sophie Muller, who helmed clips for the band's "Trouble" and "Fix You. The video takes place in a large empty room. During the guitar solo, Martin runs off to chat with two women sitting on a step behind him. This was the makeup artist and the commissioner who were working on the set.

    In 2012, the YouTube comedy channel Bad Lip Reading uploaded a spoof of the video overdubbed with an intentionally poorly lip-read version of "In My Place." Entitled "Yeti," the clip has since gained over 3 million views.
  • This song is playable in Guitar Hero 5. "Yellow," "Shiver," and "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face" are among the other Coldplay songs to have appeared across the popular Guitar Hero video game series.
  • "In My Place" was released as the first single from Coldplay's sophomore studio album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, on August 5, 2002. Speaking in an interview with VH1, Buckland said the band selected it as the lead single "because it was the song that made us want to do a second album. It kept us going and made us think we could still write songs." It peaked at #2 in the UK.

Comments: 28

  • Luna Loud from Royal Woods, MichiganThis song is really easy to play on guitar, 3 chords in total. And then there's that lick played by Jonny, sweet, and really easy to play. While a lot of Coldplay songs are in alternate tunings, I'm pretty sure this one is in standard. At least I play it that way.
  • Metal from OhI think this song is about a guys ex-girl friend who breaks up with him and the guy is saying he will always wait for her
  • Zero from The Abyss, NjThat drum beat has been used in so many songs, it's not fair to say that they ripped of Led Zeppelin; the beats aren't completely identical anyway.

    I like the interpretation of accepting yourself for who you are. I've tried to change myself so many times, I've tried to be the "cool" guy, the funny guy, but I'm just a freakin' nerd, that's who I'll always be. I've "crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed" I tried in vain to change myself, but in the end it's just futile, you can't change who you are, and I can't change who I am. At least I know I'm an awesome singer and a great guitarist, and I can always vent my frustrations through my music, maybe I should focus on that, everyone has good qualities, and stuff they excel at. Though sometimes it's hard to, you should always focus on the positive.

    Maybe that's what the song is about.
  • Chris from TennesseeI think you guys need to listen a bit closer.......this song is about wanting forgiveness.
  • Chris from TennesseeI think you guys need to listen a bit closer.......this song is about wanting forgiveness.
  • Megan from Stevenson, AlThis song is beautiful! Love the beginning! I am amazed by Chris' voice in this!
  • Riah from Auckland, New ZealandI think the song in general is about an ex-girlfriend and that he now realises he wants her back.
    To me the first verse is more of an apology or explanation as to why the relationship went wrong..."I was lost, I was lost
    Crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed, i was lost, oh yeah."
    And the chorus i think he asks the ex, How long do you have to wait for him (the current boyfriend) before you realise you should be with me. "Yeah, how long must you wait for him?..."
    The next verse goes on to say that regardless of if he's scared or afraid of being alone...he'll continueally wait for her..."If you go, if you go, Leaving me here on my own, Well I wait for you"
    Then there's the bridge of the song where it sounds like he's beggin or pleading for her to come back to him and to profess her love for him..."Please, please, please
    Come on and sing to me
    To me, me"
    Then to finish the song off he ends it by apologising again...realising that despite all his beging and pleading she'll probably wont come back to him.
    Well at least thats what i think the song kinda goes on about.
  • Dr V from Missouri City, TxThis song is obviously about a man who has fallen for a woman who is in a relationship with another. She corresponds to him and may even love him, but she feels bad, maybe guilty, for her significant other. She doesn't have the guts to leave the guy, leaving our singer alone "in his place", "waiting for her". "Crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed" implies getting involved in the love triangle.
  • Bashar from Aleppo, Syrian Arab Republici think that the song talks about a guy who made a mistake with a girl..and she lefts him...so..he is telling her thathe will wait for her even if she goes....awsome song !
  • Sal from Mississauga, OnA few years ago, my previous church pastor was a big fan of Coldplay. He did a sermon about the story of the Prodigal Son, and then he played this song. So that's what it means to me, and I think it makes more sense than about relationships. But that's just me.
  • Melanie from Seattle, WaWhen I heard this the first time I thought I was listening to Led Zeppelin because the drums at the beginning sound incredibly similar to Zep's "When the Levee Breaks." anyway, this song is one of my favorite Coldplay songs, so relaxing but with a message of uncertainty.
  • Paul from Kingston, CanadaIt's about guilt. The thing that keeps most relationships together. Whether someone cheated, lied or abused.

    The key to almost any song is in the chorus. "How long must you wait/pay for him?"

    My best guess is it's about a woman, struggling to move on, but having difficulties because she left him while he was in a bad place.

  • Emily from Chicken, NvThis is more a song about where your place in the world is, I think, and not a love song.
  • Brendan from Dallas, TxWhile many Coldplay songs are spiritually evocative, they are not a Christian band and have not professed any particular religious beliefs. "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face"--with lryics "where do we go, nobody knows" and "your guess is as good as mine"--suggests uncertainty, not evangilism. And "Moses" gets its title from an anology: "like Moses had power over sea/ so you've got power over me".
  • Alicia from Madrid, MaI don´t think that was a "love song" either.
    I think that it was the girl the one who loved the boy.
    Alicia,Madrid, Spain
  • Steve from Tonawanda, NyI think this song has to maybe do with being confused with your own relationship and waiting for urself, sorting stuff out. If you think about it the majority of coldplay songs have to do with doubt, fear, and confusion
  • Paul from London, EnglandThis is one of my favourite Coldplay tracks. I really like the way Chris Martin gets the message across in this track.
  • Jay from Hell, TxI love this song. It completely touched me. I have had this feeling and I can relate. it made me cry
  • J-o-n-a-than from Petersfield, EnglandI think this song is about Salvation and being lost in the darkness of sin. It is possible that Coldplay are Christians as they wrote a song called Moses and God Put a Smile Upon Your Face.
  • Alissar from Sydney , AkI think this song is about a frightening and exciting love or something he has never experience. something that is calling for him but in his fear he's just not ready to reach out and join them. Its about being in your comfort and where you've always been, and pushing the boundaries, getting out there, leaving your inhibitions behind and feeling all the excitment which is waiting for you
  • Gary from Seattle, WaI think the song is about writer's block. Chris Martin and the band are waiting and waiting for something to inspire them to write a worthy song. Those lines that are "crossed" are lines of a song that did not fit and some that perhaps should have been kept.
  • David from Cooltown, MiThe opening drum beat is a rip from the opening drum beat of Led Zeppelin's 'When the levee breaks'.
  • Alex from Las Vegas , NvI still have this immortal image of Coldplay playing "In My Place" at the European MTV VMA Awards. I remember bright light and the sweet, beautiful riff being played.
  • Dennis from Toledo, OhI've been in a situation like this song describes before, its awful. I love how he's captured the feeling of loving someone, then adds in the pain of not getting that love back.

    This song uses a mellotron, which is very present during the rhythm guitar and mellotron solo. it plays notes in the background corresponding to the chords.
  • Dusan from Berkely, IaWhen i listen to this song i get the imagery that its about someone who doesnt want to be who they are. But in the end he comes back to being himself. "in my place were lines that i couldnt change" He is who he is. "I was Lost, crossed lines i shouldnt have crossed" He is confused and he changed but he shouldnt have. "if you go leaving me here on my own well i wait for you" He is saying if he changes he can always rely on his real self.
  • Drew from Baltimore, MdIf you gather your own meaning everyone is right, you cant be wrong
  • Rachel from Waurika, OkWhen people listen to music they gather their own meaning so the both of you may be right.
  • Woody from Sydney, AustraliaI'm not so sure that its a love song.When Coldplay was in Australia,i heard an interview with Chris Martin and they asked him what this song was about and he said that it was about being thankful for being who u are and making the best of it rather than wishing u were someone or something else.
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