Oceans

Album: Ghost Stories (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This sad, sparse, acoustic ballad finds Chris Martin pleading to a lost love to meet him again. However as she refuses to respond to his pleas, he concludes that he must learn to carry on alone.
  • The song is a track from Ghost Stories, a concept album about past actions, and the effects they can have on the future and one's capacity for love. The record was inspired to a large part by by the disintegration of lead singer Chris Martin's relationship with then-wife Gwyneth Paltrow. Speaking to BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe, Martin explained the record's lyrical content. "The idea of Ghost Stories, for me, was 'how do you let the things that happen to you in the past – your ghosts – how do you let them affect your present and your future?' Because there was a time when I was feeling like they were going to drag me down and ruin my life, and the lives of those around me." he said.

    "I was very lucky to meet a very good sufi teacher who started to introduce the idea of 'if you sit with your experiences and the things you've been through, they alchemize,'" Martin continued. "At the time he said that, I didn't really know what that meant, but I trusted that it would work, and the more that I was learning about that, the more music just started flowing through."

Comments: 1

  • David from Far AwayDamn. That is a sad song. :(
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Prince

PrinceFact or Fiction

Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?

Alan Merrill of The Arrows

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

Van Dyke Parks

Van Dyke ParksSongwriter Interviews

U2, Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom, Brian Wilson and Fiona Apple have all gone to Van Dyke Parks to make their songs exceptional.

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside Story

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside StorySong Writing

The in-depth discussion about the making of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the 1973 film.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New York

Janis Ian: Married in London, but not in New YorkSong Writing

Can you be married in one country but not another? Only if you're part of a gay couple. One of the first famous singers to come out as a lesbian, Janis wrote a song about it.