A Sleep Deprived Top Ten List

One would think that being on the road with a huge King bed and no baby crying in the middle of the night that I'd be knocking out some quality sleep, but that just isn't the case. Maybe its the time difference, maybe its the screwed up schedule from a combination of late night Olympics watching and dirty diaper changing but I am turning into an insomniac. Last night I shut the TV off about 11pm central time (which is 10pm for me), and found myself turning it back on after about an hour and a half of tossing and turning.

Somewhere in the course of the night, I resorted to trying to shut my mind down by focusing on something unrelated to all the things racing through my mind. So last night at 12:30, I was laying on the bed trying to listen to some music on my beloved iPhone to clear my mind. Viva la Vida by Coldplay came on and I thought to myself "this is one of their top 10 songs", which then led me down the path of "What are Coldplay's best 10 songs to date"....

Here is what I came up with:

1. Clocks - Instant classic, still gives me the same feeling many, many years since its release
2. God Put a Smile On Your Face - A surprise to me here, but despite listening to numerous other songs I couldn't justify moving it down
3. Till Kingdom Come - Superb song, that seemed almost an afterthought on X&Y
4. Yellow - Can't argue the fact this was Coldplay's springboard to fame, and a great song
5. Politik - Probably another surprise, but the first time I saw them live in concert they opened with this and it blew me away and altered my perceptions of what their concerts would be like
6. Shiver - An often overlooked song, but another song that transcends when played live
7. Viva la Vida - Catchy song that surely will sell a lot of albums, but has very engaging lyrics as well.
8. The Scientist - Slower ballad, but despite not being "hooky" its solid from start to finish.
9. In My Place - At times I find the album version of this song to be a bit whiny, but another song that must be heard live to be fully appreciated
10. Everything's Not Lost - Tough pick, but kept coming back to this song that helps me remember that regardless of what my day has been like I've always got things to look forward to and that life really is a tremendous ride.

Honorable Mention:
Fix You
A Rush of Blood to the Head
Swallowed in the Sea
Death & All His Friends
Speed of Sound
Violet Hill
Green Eyes
Spies
See You Soon

In this process it also made me realize what an amazing album A Rush of Blood to the Head really is. So good that I think it has to start being considered as one of the best albums of all time. The current album, Viva la Vida, is actually refreshingly good as well. It took me several plays of the entire album to really buy into it, I was almost immediately bored with it the first time I listened. Many of the songs change mood, speed and character mid-song which alienated me at first with my 10 second attention span, but I've come to realize that songs like 42 and Death & All His Friends are impressive when given a full listening.

And last but not least, yes I know I'm gay because I like Coldplay.