Life in Technicolor II

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"Life in Technicolor II" (properly spelled and written as "Life in Technicolor ii"), is a song by British rock band Coldplay and the first single from the band's 2008 EP, Prospekt's March. The song is the full, vocal version of the instrumental song "Life in Technicolor" from Coldplay's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. A promo CD single for the song was released in December 2008. The official single was released on 2 February 2009 on 7" vinyl and digital download. The single includes the previously unreleased and unheard track "The Goldrush", one of the few Coldplay songs featuring lead vocals by drummer Will Champion. It was nominated for two Grammy Award for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards; "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" and "Best Music Video".

"Life in Technicolor ii" starts with a loop consisting of a santoor accompanied by tabla-like percussion. The loop is then repeated through the verses and part of the chorus. It strongly resembles the intro of the song "Strangelove", by Depeche Mode.

Video Life in Technicolor II

Music video

The music video premiered on 20 January 2009 on 4Music and Channel 4. The video starts out with kids sitting and awaiting a traditional Punch and Judy puppet show and features the band performing as puppets. However, the puppet show becomes increasingly extravagant as the video goes on, eventually featuring pyrotechnics and frontman Chris Martin crowd surfing over the children. Finally the puppet band members board a small helicopter which crashes through a window and flies away. James Clarkson and Coldplay's unofficial fifth member, Phil Harvey, can be seen in the video.

The director of this video is Dougal Wilson. The video was nominated in the Best Art Direction in a Video and Best Visual Effects in a Video categories at the UK Music Video Awards 2009, as well as Best Music Video at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Maps Life in Technicolor II

References in popular culture

The instrumental version of this song (released on the Viva La Vida album) can be heard as the film Night at the Museum 2 ends during a scene with Ben Stiller and Amy Adams. It was also used on Sky Sports' "Ford Super Sunday" coverage during the 2008/2009 as well as "Match of the Day" during the same season. This version was used at the beginning of the Great Yarmouth (UK) Hippodrome Circus show 2009. NFL Network also used it for their coverage of the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine and also for their coverage of the 2009 NFL Draft. The song was also played during the opening montage of the 2009 ESPY Awards. The instrumental version of the song is used in London Eye's pre-flight 4D Experience show. A portion of the instrumental version is also used in Apple Inc.'s introduction of the 2008 MacBook Air, as well as the introduction of the Late 08 MacBook. The song was also used in a promotional on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for PBS's primary programming. Life in Technicolor II was used in an advertisement for Wimbledon 2013 on ESPN.