Talk

Coldplay received permission from the Electronica band Kraftwerk to use the main riff from their song "Computer Love" for this, replacing Kraftwerk's synthesizers with guitars, and at the same time creating a completely different song.

The band recorded three separate versions of this song; the one found on X&Y was based on an early cut of the song. A newer version of the track (with a different set of lyrics) was leaked onto the internet in March 2005. "Talk" was originally intended to be a B-side for the single "Speed Of Sound" before becoming the last addition to X&Y's track listing. Frontman Chris Martin explained to the NME: "What happened with 'Talk' is that it was all going great, and then someone said 'That should be the first single,' and we all just freaked out and scrapped it all. I hate choosing singles, it's so hard. (But) when we heard it mixed properly, it sounded mega."

Martin explained the album title to the NME: "It's a cooler way of saying ying and yang. If I'd called it ying and yang we'd have been in trouble! 10% would walk away. But another 20% would come. We'd be a lot bigger in the Far East. My whole day is a mixture of optimism and pessimism in its most extreme forms. And that's what X&Y is to me. It's two sides. I like the fact they're very strong letters, very clear. Very hard lines, it looks great when you write it down. And it looks great when you see the artwork. It's f---ing amazing. I can say that because I didn't do it."