Shiver (Coldplay song)

"Shiver" was written two years before its release. Martin allegedly wrote the song about Australian singer-songwriter Natalie Imbruglia, a woman he was romantically linked with at the time, but he later denied it was about her.^[3] Other accounts have claimed that Imbruglia was not the inspiration for the lyrics. Instead, Martin appeared to have been inspired by girlfriends in his teenage years and early 20s. Martin wrote the song on a "glum" day, when he felt he would never find the right woman for him. He described it as something of a "stalking song", admitting he wrote it for a specific woman. In addition, Martin wrote the song while listening to music of Buckley, and had claimed it is their "most blatant rip-off song".^[4]

"Shiver" was recorded in Rockfield Studios in Wales, United Kingdom, where the band was booked by A&R representative Dan Keeling to begin working on the band's debut album, Parachutes.^[5][6] Keeling was disappointed with the early demos presented to him,^[3] saying it "didn't have any of their passion, their energy", a result of the band's freshly resolved internal pressure in the time. Keeling deemed the demos as "limp" and asked the band to redo it.^[5] Smaller parts of the song were recorded at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool, England,^[3] where the band relocated after Christmas in 1999.

The song was produced by Coldplay and British record producer Ken Nelson.^[6] As with most songs in the album, Nelson used an analogue desk in recording "Shiver". The guitar was re-dubbed in search of perfection, while Martin de-tuned his guitar to easily generate complex chord sequences.^[3] Martin's vocals were recorded in more than one take, but the band chose the one with a single take.^[6]

"Shiver" is in the alternative rock genre. A review claims that Coldplay's indie rock inclinations are obvious in the song.^[7] "Shiver" has been perceived to have influences of Buckley,^[8] whom Coldplay's early song influences were drawn from.^[9] Martin later said of the song that it was "a blatant Jeff Buckley attempt, not quite as good, that's what I think".^[10]

The song is written in B major with a tempo of 78 beats per minute.^[11]

"Shiver" is one of the older songs in Coldplay's catalogue, and had been performed at their early concerts in 1999. Later, it was initially released as an EP in the spring of 2000.^[12] It was released as the album's lead single in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2000, months before the release of the album.^[3][13] The single had been picked up for B-play lists on some European prominent radio stations.^[14] In the United States, the song was released as the second single, following "Yellow", on 9 April 2001.^[15][16][17] Website IGN posted a video at the 2008 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, revealing "Shiver" to be part of the song list on Guitar Hero World Tour.^[18]

The music video for "Shiver" was directed by English film director and cinematographer Grant Gee.^[14] It features Coldplay performing in a small studio. The yellow globe featured on the Parachutes cover can be seen on top of an amplifier in the video. The music video received "strong exposure" on MTV.^[14] "Shiver" was featured on Coldplay's Live 2003.^[26]

• Chris Martin – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Jonny Buckland – lead guitar
• Guy Berryman – bass guitar
• Will Champion – drums