Music Videos
A music video was filmed in support of the song, which was released 18 May. It was directed by visual artist Asa Mader, and parts were shot at Mount Etna and filmed in Catania, Sicily. An alternative music video, named 'Dancing Politicians', was posted on Coldplay's official website on 17 May, directed by Mat Whitecross. The video is made up of clips, sometimes looped, featuring various politicians and scenes of war, along with clips of the band in Mader's version of the video, as well as firework displays at the end. It prominently features George W. Bush, presenting clips of him in a mocking manner. Prominent personalities, such as Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, Hugo Chávez, Robert Mugabe, Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Boris Yeltsin, Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Tony and Cherie Blair, and Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are featured in this alternate video. The second version of the video begins at a hill where the band are playing in a quiet town. Then, the next scene passes through the band playing their instruments circling around and Chris Martin walking on the purple snow. At the end of the video, Martin falls to the snow and the final scene shows the band walking away from the town. This video is shown on a small on-stage television screen at live shows, including the band's 2008 Viva la Vida tour.
Read more about this topic: Violet Hill (song)
Famous quotes containing the words music and/or videos:
“Have you ever been up in your plane at night, alone, somewhere, 20,000 feet above the ocean?... Did you ever hear music up there?... It’s the music a man’s spirit sings to his heart, when the earth’s far away and there isn’t any more fear. It’s the high, fine, beautiful sound of an earth-bound creature who grew wings and flew up high and looked straight into the face of the future. And caught, just for an instant, the unbelievable vision of a free man in a free world.”
—Dalton Trumbo (1905–1976)
“Ambivalence reaches the level of schizophrenia in our treatment of violence among the young. Parents do not encourage violence, but neither do they take up arms against the industries which encourage it. Parents hide their eyes from the books and comics, slasher films, videos and lyrics which form the texture of an adolescent culture. While all successful societies have inhibited instinct, ours encourages it. Or at least we profess ourselves powerless to interfere with it.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)