"Orphans" is a song by British rock band Coldplay from their eighth studio album Everyday Life. It was released on 24 October 2019, along with the single "Arabesque" and appears on the second side of the album Sunset. The song was written by the band members and produced by The Dream Team.
On 24 October 2019, the band announced the release (on the same day) of the songs "Arabesque" and "Orphans" as a dual release and as the first singles of Everyday Life. About the content of the songs, lead singer Chris Martin said in an interview with BBC Radio 1 that "some of itâÂÂs very personal, about real things in my life, and some of itâÂÂs about things that I see or we see, and some of itâÂÂs about trying to empathise about what other people are going through". On the day of the release, the band set up a timer counting down to the release of the songs.
The subject matter of the song includes the plight of refugees of the Syrian civil war. Martin told the BBC, âÂÂIt seems to me that one of the things that might help people have a better time is to put themselves in other peopleâÂÂs shoes, whether thatâÂÂs these kids who have to leave Syria, or who grew up in Baltimore, or whatever it might be. Rather than judging from afar, maybe to think âÂÂI wonder what itâÂÂs like to be there.'â Coldplay donated 10% of the worldwide proceeds from the song to the refugee charity Hopeland.
The song was recorded last-minute during the mixing of the album Everyday Life, for which it served as one of two lead singles.
The song's music video, directed by Mat Whitecross, premiered on 25 October 2019. The music video shows the development of the song from its earliest roots, a voice memo by Chris Martin in which the singer is heard talking about the tuning of his guitar before playing what would become the song's main riff, to the fully polished song that was released. The music video won an award at the 2020 MTV VMAs for 'Best Rock' music video.
3voor12 (61), Billboard (93), NME (41) and Radio X (unranked) included the track on their "Best Songs of 2019" lists.
The song was performed live for the first time during NBC's Saturday Night Live on 2 November 2019. In a rehearsal, Martin explained to the dancers who accompanied the band's performance, "This song is about, you see all these pictures of young people like you and a bit older people like us, having to leave their countries and everyone calls them refugees or migrants rather than just people. So we were thinking about, this could be any of us who is in these camps or at the border or whatever. And that's what this songâÂÂs about, it's like people like us saying, 'I just want to go home and be normal.'" "Orphans" was later played live on the Annie Mac Show on BBC Radio 1 on 27 November 2019 along with "Arabesque", "Everyday Life", "Lovers in Japan", and "Guns".
Credits adapted from the "Orphans / Arabesque" liner notes.