Lovers in Japan

inspired the "two-in-one" song title that "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love" has. When asked about the development of the song, during a track-by-track reveal, drummer Will Champion said: We were in a studio in New York, this place called the Magic Shop, and it had this thing called a tack piano there, which sounds like an old honky-tonk piano, where you put little tacks in the hammers, so it sounds like more of a harpsichord almost. And so we wanted to use that kind of sound, but we didn't have a tack piano, so rather than sample it, we went and bought an old piano from the shop up the road from our studio, and we bought a load of tacks, and me and Guy and Jon spent a couple of hours pushing tacks into the piano hammers. On Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, "Lovers in Japan" transitions seamlessly into a second track entitled "Reign of Love". In an interview with Q magazine, bassist Guy Berryman explained that the band could not make up their minds about the track listing, as they had discussed that they wanted to keep the album concise with a total of ten tracks and an intended length of under 42 minutes. Champion further stated, "We just preferred to have less titles and more stuff. The album as a whole has got the most on it, but it’s the shortest. We wanted to make it almost impossible for you to not listen to it all in one go." progressing to feature upbeat guitar riffs and soaring choruses. Towards the end, it builds into a rhythmically soaring sound, compared by critics to that of Irish rock band U2. Martin sings about the shortness of time, ==Release and reception==

during their Viva la Vida Tour in 2008. Coldplay released "Lovers in Japan" in the United States on 3 November 2008 as a promotional single from Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. A new mix of the song is also featured in the band's 2008 EP ''Prospekt's March, entitled "Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)". Chris Martin said of the Prospekt's March'' version of the song: "We've been playing it live better than it is on the record. So the live version has informed this Osaka Sun version, which is just a bit more lively." "Lovers in Japan" was released as a promotional radio single in the United States and entered Billboards Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart, where it peaked at number 32 on the issue dated 29 November 2008. The track also peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and at number 65 on the Pop 100 chart. "Lovers in Japan" received high commendations from critics. Alexis Petridis of The Guardian review of the album, wrote: "Chris Martin's melodies ... shine: even his loudest detractor could hardly deny his way with a tune as evidenced here by '42' and 'Lovers in Japan'." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters remarked that the song is "stunning, jaw-dropping highlight". He added that "Martin pounds away at a bouncy toy-piano melody ... leading into a chorus where guitarist Jonny Buckland gets to unleash what might be the catchiest guitar riff he's written... (and yes, he absolutely bathes in the moment)." Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle described "Lovers in Japan" as a "joyous, romantic anthem that combines wistful rock riffs and gorgeous piano". Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald remarked that the piano sound in "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love" hints at the 1968 song "Lady Madonna" by The Beatles, "before taking a neo-classical, Chopin-does-Britpop route". Jeff Crawford of the City Messenger wrote, "'Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love' and 'Strawberry Swing' rank among the band's best work". In December 2008, Consequence had the song at number 11 on their list of best tracks of the year. NPO Radio 2 ranked it at 434th place on the annual Top 2000. Coldplay later performed "Lovers in Japan" on BBC Radio 1 on 27 November 2019, while promoting their eighth album Everyday Life. ==Music video==

light painting the word "Lovers" in the music video. A music video for the single, directed by Mat Whitecross in London, was released on 31 October 2008 through the iTunes Store. The video was made available for free for a week on the American and Canadian iTunes Stores. The video utilises the "Osaka Sun Mix" version of the song. The first half of the video shows the band playing in a courtyard while each member writes certain words from the lyrics in glowing neon on the screen. During the chorus, the camera spins around in circles to go along with the lines "They are turning my head out". along with the words "The End" on the screen behind the band as they take a bow. ==Personnel==

• Chris Martin – composer, performer • Guy Berryman – composer, performer • Jonny Buckland – composer, performer • Will Champion – composer, performer ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Release history==