“In My Place” is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay. The song was written collaboratively by all the band members for their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. The track is built around thumping drums, chiming guitars and a chorus. It was released on 5 August 2002 as the lead single from A Rush of Blood to the Head and reached number two on the UK Singles Charts. The song reached number seventeen on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks.
“Fix You” is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all four members of the band for their third album, X&Y. The track is built around an organ accompanied by slow tempo drums and vocals. Blythe Danner, the mother of Gwyneth Paltrow and mother-in-law of Chris Martin, stated in an interview in May 2012 that Chris Martin ‘wrote the song Fix You for Gwyneth when her father died and I weep every time I hear it’.
“Unwritten” is a song by English singer Natasha Bedingfield. Bedingfield, Danielle Brisebois, and Wayne Rodriguez wrote it for her debut album, Unwritten, and later served as the opening theme for the MTV reality series The Hills. The single was released as the album’s third UK single (November 2004) and second US single (September 2005). It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first top-ten hit in the United States.
“I’m Shipping Up to Boston” is a song with lyrics written by the folk singer Woody Guthrie and music written and performed by the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys. It appeared on their 2005 album, The Warrior’s Code. An earlier recording of it can be found on the Hellcat Records compilation Give ‘Em the Boot: Vol. 4. The song’s simple lyrics describe a sailor who had lost a leg climbing the topsail, and is shipping up to Boston to “find my wooden leg.” The song has so far sold 1,044,000 digital copies without ever charting on the Hot 100. The video features the Dropkick Murphys performing the song on the waterfront in East Boston. The band is also seen “hanging out” with hooligans while being chased by Boston police officers.
“Nine Million Bicycles” is a song written and produced by Mike Batt for the singer Katie Melua’s second album, Piece by Piece. It was released as the album’s first single in September 2005 (see 2005 in music) and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Melua’s first top five hit as a solo artist. It was a finalist for The Record of the Year prize, losing to “You Raise Me Up” by Westlife. According to Melua, the inspiration for the song came during a visit to Beijing with her manager Mike Batt. Their interpreter showed them around the city and told that there are supposedly nine million bicycles in the city. Batt wrote a song based around the title “Nine Million Bicycles” upon his return to England two weeks later, and it was one of the last songs to be recorded for Piece by Piece. Adrian Brett, who played the ethnic flutes on Batt’s album Caravans (1978), contributed to the song; an ocarina was used for the low sounds, and a Chinese bamboo flute for the high sounds.