The discussions of plans for the song's music video started about one month before its release. The original plan was to film a simple video at
Oxford Street, as the place is mentioned in the song's lyrics. After that, many other options were analysed, like a similar video to
the Beatles' video for "
All You Need Is Love", with the band and friends at the studio, but that idea was left out as Coldplay were in the middle of the production of
Mylo Xyloto, and that could disrupt the flow of the recording. Another idea for the video included filming at the Willesden Music Hall. Finally, they decided to invite the designer Misty Buckley to the project and the ideas for the final video began to take shape. After a meeting at the studio called
The Bakery, all the ideas had been set up and the only thing missing was the location for the shooting. Some places suggested were the tunnels under
Waterloo and the roof of
John Lewis. However, they opted for the
South Bank just five days before the shooting of the video, to tie in a line about the meeting of the sea and the city. Coldplay began filming the music video on 24 November. The video appears to be one continuous shot, and while it might have been filmed with a single camera, the amount of takes in the video is unknown. Whether this means the finished product is a mix of many clips seamlessly stitched together is unknown. It begins with the starting up of a record player, and the camera panning across a multicoloured
player piano, then the four members of the band lying on a wooden floor. Martin begins to sing the first verse as the camera pans and zooms out to show the piano — which is now next to him — and then back. Martin has changed his position, and the rest of the band are now nowhere to be seen. Martin rises up from the floor, then begins to play the piano, which is revealed to be on an outdoor stage in front of the
Thames. Curtains open to reveal the rest of the band, who join in playing the song, accompanied by fireworks and three violin-playing
Elvis impersonators (who are played by friends of the band: actor
Simon Pegg, the "fifth member" of Coldplay
Phil Harvey, and Tim Crompton - friend of the band and frontman of The High Wire). One hundred fans of the band appear in the music video; they release coloured balloons from a boat on the Thames whilst singing along to part of the song. "
Credo Elvem Etiam Vivere" is written across the top of the stage. In
Latin this means "I Believe Elvis Yet Lives". This is likely connected to the three Elvises appearing in the video, which is, in turn, connected to the lyrics of the song. The video was directed by
Mat Whitecross, a long-time friend of the band and director of several of Coldplay's other music videos, such as "
Bigger Stronger", "
Lovers in Japan", "
Paradise", and subsequently "
Adventure of a Lifetime", as well as the 2018 documentary
Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams. Just hours after the release of the video it was removed from
YouTube after the
IFPI claimed a breach of copyright, despite the video being on one of Coldplay's official channels. However, it was eventually uploaded once again. == Rankings ==