Let's start this off with some reminiscing.

You're going to think I'm a loser. That picture is me in 2008, at the Coldplay TODAY Show performance. Going crazy, clearly.

I was asked recently to recall a song that brings me "profound joy," and after some thought I had to give that honor to Coldplay's "Speed of Sound," which I know is very Top 40 of me, but what can I say. I'm a Top 40 kind of girl. My most played songs on my iTunes are Justin Timberlake, Jason DeRulo, Feist and Keri Hilson. And Coldplay. Sure, there's some Martha Wainwright, Fleetwood Mac and Aretha Franklin in there...but you'll find Miley Cyrus and Lily Allen first.

The first time I heard "Speed of Sound" was a total Beatlemania moment. I was sitting in the passenger seat of my mom's Camry, parked outside a Quizno's. The opening piano melody, wistful but joyful (could it be anything other than Coldplay?), came through the speakers and I shrieked. My mom waited with patience as I squirmed and screamed and sighed and came close to passing out as the song continued. Somehow, the sheer sequence of notes made sense to my brain. I loved it. I loved it and I loved them.

What is it about their bouncy-yet-melancholy style that continues to make me warm all over to this day? Sure, I loved their most recent album. "Viva La Vida" was a staple of my 2008 summer. I listened to it on the subway, while walking, while sitting, while showering, while reading. I basically began to see the world through that album. Like all albums, it eventually grew old and some other band released a new album that I would make my autumn staple. Then the autumn staple would be tossed for the winter staple. Then the winter staple would be tossed for the Christmas staple. "Merry Christmas (Happy Holidays)," anyone?

But whenever I let Coldplay back in the old earbuds during my subway commute, I'm brought back to the Beatlemania moment outside Quizno's. Yes, yes, yes. My ears love this. Give me those soaring melodies, the pounding piano, the quietness of the ballads, the balls-to-the-wall epicness of "Speed of Sound." Give it to me, and take me back to summer 2008, when I slept on the sidewalk outside Rockefeller Center to see my beloved band play the TODAY Show the next morning.

YouTube wouldn't let me embed the music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TahH7B_aUZc&ob=av2e