Fix You

"Fix You" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third studio album, X&Y (2005). It was released on 5 September 2005 as the second single from X&Y and reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The song reached number 18 in the United States Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks. Promo singles were released for the UK and US.

The song is a sobering meditation on grief in the face of the death of a loved one; frontman Chris Martin developed the song to comfort his then-wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, after her father Bruce Paltrow died. The anthemic track builds around an organ accompanied by piano and acoustic guitar, and develops into a spirited second half with group vocals, drums, and strings. The hopeful message of the song, and its two-part arrangement, was critically acclaimed. The song has been performed at memorials such as by Coldplay at the One Love Manchester benefit concert in 2017. In September 2021, the song was ranked number 392 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin met American actress Gwyneth Paltrow in late October 2002, three weeks after the death of her father, television director Bruce Paltrow. As their relationship grew closer, Martin and Paltrow would listen to Coldplay's album Parachutes, especially the uplifting song "Everything's Not Lost," to help her process the loss of her father. Martin and Paltrow married in December 2003.^[5]

"Fix You" was inspired by Martin's wish to continue helping Paltrow get through her grief. He wanted to base the song on a church organ; instead he powered up a keyboard given to Paltrow by her father, the instrument sitting unused in their house, to find "it had these amazing sounds on it."^[6] Martin said that the song's composition is influenced by English alternative rock band Elbow's 2003 anthem "Grace Under Pressure".^[7][8][9] In 2005, he described "Fix You" as "probably the most important song we've ever written".^[10] He wrote four other songs for or about Paltrow: "Moses" (2003), "Swallowed in the Sea" (2005), "Magic" and "Another's Arms" (2014).^[11]

All of Coldplay helped in writing the song. During a track-by-track analysis, bassist Guy Berryman observed that "Fix You" takes "a bit of inspiration" from "Many Rivers to Cross" by Jimmy Cliff (1969). Berryman added, "It becomes its own thing, kind of like points of inspiration that kind of lead you down certain paths. Whenever you want to write a song like someone else, it ultimately ends up sounding like something different anyway."^[12]

The song features an organ and piano written in the key of E♭ major.^[13] Its main chord progression follows E♭–Gm–Cm7–B♭. The time signature is ⁴
₄ and the tempo walks at 69 beats per minute. Martin's vocals span from B♭₂ to B♭₄.^[14] It begins as a hushed electric organ ballad, with Martin's falsetto.^[15] The song then builds in acoustic guitar and piano, accompanied by the sound of string instruments during the beginning choruses. The melody shifts to a plaintive three-note guitar line, ringing through a rhythmic upbeat drum tempo. The song transitions to its bridge, which expands into a blend of piano, electric and bass guitar, drums, and a singalong chorus with an anthemic feel. Electronic sounds from a synthesiser join during the second half of the bridge.^[16] The song ends with the beginning chorus, with slow, melancholic piano notes being played in the background.

The message that Martin sings throughout, is of encouragement: "Lights will guide you home / And ignite your bones / And I will try to fix you."^[17][18][19] Michele Hatty of USA Weekend reported that Martin sings about recovering from grief in the song.^[20] Travis Gass of the Bangor Daily News wrote that Martin offers his sympathies for the downtrodden, with "When you love someone but it goes to waste / Could it be worse?".^[21]