A minor

In the comments to my previous post, Joel Wilhelm pointed out a Coldplay story in Q that confirmed my suspicions about "A Message." I had to see it for myself, so this morning I went to the magazine section at Books-A-Million and found the story in the current issue of Q. Turns out the song was inspired by the hymn. Lead singer Chris Martin also explains how "someone" - code for his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, according to Q - encouraged him to write a song based on the hymn.

The album was all but done; friends and associates said it was great but lacked "that one song" to complete it. "A Message" ended up being that song. After talking again with "someone" about writing a song based on the hymn, "someone" said maybe it would be that one song the album lacked. It was around 2 a.m., and Martin's first reaction was to lose his temper because he had already poured himself into the album to the point of exhaustion. Then he got up, grabbed a guitar, sat down and wrote the song in minutes, naked. It just happened. That's right, a Coldplay song inspired by one of the most beautiful English hymns and one of the most lovely Hollywood actresses and written by her naked husband in a matter of minutes in the wee hours of the morning. How bizarrely poetic is that?

A Rolling Stone interview confirms the hymn and the naked parts, but Q isn't free online (or in stores...sheesh, the cover price is almost ten dollars), so you'll have to go look it up yourself or trust Joel and me about the "someone" / Gwyneth Paltrow part. Come on, though, the guy was talking to someone at 2 a.m. naked. All I can say in my best Church Lady voice is, "That someone better have been Gwyneth, and of course it was. Unless, could it be . . . Satan?! No, no, we all know it was Gwyneth, and, well, isn't that special."