42

This mesmerising epic about death is comprised of three distinct, seemingly unrelated sections. It was considered by the band to be its first single release from the album before they elected for "Violet Hill."

In Douglas Adams' comic sci-fi book and TV series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the number 42 is revealed as "the answer to life the universe and everything." Q magazine July 2008 asked Chris Martin if this song is Hitch Hiker's Guide related. The Coldplay frontman replied "It is and it isn't. 42 is my favorite number. 42 is just perfect. We've got two John Lennon songs, this and Violet Hill."

Chris Martin explained the lyrics to MTV News: "Well, the whole record is - if it were a Notorious B.I.G. record, it'd be called 'Life and Death.' Maybe because we've had some people close to us who we've lost, but some miracles - we've got kids. So, life has been very extreme recently, and so both death and life pop up quite often. It's called '42' because it's my favorite number. And I think it's probably in Will's top three favorite numbers too."