At least, we assume that “Charlie Brown,†which the band debuted last night at a Jimmy Kimmel–hosted Los Angeles concert, refers to the beloved Peanuts sad sack and not some glow-stick-happy friend that Chris Martin met at a rave once. The lyrics aren’t too much help: There’s a reference to “a cartoon heart†and something about scarecrow dreams, which sound like the sort of thing that might haunt Charlie? (Or maybe Charlie is supposed to be the scarecrow, and there’s a whole Wizard of Oz thing happening here, too? Except now he needs both a brain and a heart? We don’t pretend to comprehend the wonder of Martin’s poetry.) Anyway, the rest of the song offers no clues — just vague lyrics about running wild and glowing in the dark and all your usual Coldplay emotions — and it almost seems too peppy for an anthem about America’s most famous depressive. Still, we choose to believe it’s a song about Charlie Brown, because come on, is there a more perfect Coldplay subject than Charlie Brown? We can imagine a whole album of Chris Martin singing sadly about the plight of Charlie Brown. Track 1: “My Anxieties Have Anxietiesâ€; Track 2: “Peanut Butter and Unrequited Loveâ€; Track 3: “I Only Dread One Day at a Time.†Etc.
