Songfacts®:

• According to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, this acoustic ballad is about "the joy someone leaves you with after they've gone." Martin explained the story behind the song during a Beats 1 interview:
  
  "I was in the ocean one day with this surfer guy, who spoke just like you'd imagine a surfer guy to speak... He was like, 'Yo dude, I was doing this thing the other day man, it gave me this total everglow!' I was like, 'What an amazing word!' Then the song came completely out. To me, it's about – whether it's a loved one or a situation or a friend or a relationship that's finished, or someone's passed away – I was thinking about, after you've been through the sadness of something, you also get this everglow. That's what it's about."
• Gwyneth Paltrow provided additional vocals despite separating from Chris Martin in March 2014. It is possibly the only break up song in history to have the ex–other-half on backing vocals. "We just did it in the studio one day," Martin told Rolling Stone "It was just a friendly kind of thing."
• Martin asked Paltrow to contribute to the song after coming up with the lyric, "How come things move on. How come cars don't slow." The Coldplay frontman credits Paltrow with giving him the idea for the song after she said to him, "Isn't it strange that when someone dies the world keeps on moving?"
  
  Martin told Q magazine, "She came up with the idea so I said, 'Is there any chance you'd sing that line cos it's your idea' Like any human, she was like, 'I can't do that! I'm not a professional!'"
• The song marked Paltrow's first credited appearance on a Coldplay cut. However, the actress has several other recordings on her resume. Her duet cover with Huey Lewis of Smokey Robinson's "Cruisin''' for the 2000 film Duet, topped Adult Contemporary the week of December 16, 2000. She also performed versions of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" and Ce-Lo Green's "Forget You" on Glee and sang honky-tonk in Country Strong.
• Chris Martin explained the song's meaning during a live Q&A session with Radio 1 presenter Greg James. "It's a song about when someone passes away or when a relationship ends and you miss somebody in whatever capacity," he said. "It's about holding onto the good parts of that. A song like 'Fix You' is about the sadness of someone leaving and this is about the joyful residue [from that]."