Miracles

Not to be confused with Miracles (Someone Special).

"Miracles"
General information
Artist	Coldplay
Released	15 December 2014
Recorded	2014
Genre	Alternative rock Pop rock
Length	3:55
Labels
Songwriter(s)	Guy Berryman Jonny Buckland Will Champion Chris Martin
Producer(s)	Stargate Daniel Green Rik Simpson
Album	Unbroken (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

"Miracles" is a song by British rock band Coldplay from Unbroken (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the soundtrack album to the 2014 American biographical war drama film Unbroken, directed by American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian Angelina Jolie. The song was first unveiled on 11 December 2014, and released separately from the film's soundtrack album on 15 December 2014 through Parlophone and Atlantic Records, accompanied by a lyric video released on 22 December. It is also included as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of the band's seventh studio album, A Head Full of Dreams (2015).

The song was well received by music critics who praised its anthemic and uplifting feel. Several sources also noted that the song could be a serious contender for the Academy Award for Best Original Song; however, it ultimately did not receive a nomination. "Miracles" is Coldplay's third original song written and recorded for a film soundtrack, preceded by "Atlas", composed for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and "Wish I Was Here", composed for the film of the same name.

Background

On 27 October 2014, it was reported that Coldplay had entered the Best Original Song Oscar race for the 87th Academy Awards with a new song — incorrectly titled "Miracle" — that would be featured on the post-narrative epilogue and closing credits of Unbroken, a film directed and produced by Angelina Jolie which tells the story of American Olympic distance runner and prisoner of war Louis "Louie" Zamperini during World War II. The following day, Phil Harvey confirmed on Twitter that the band “had just finished [a] beautiful new song” for the film and revealed its actual title, "Miracles". Coldplay also announced the upcoming release of the song on their official website on the same day.

Speaking to Vulture about how Jolie asked Coldplay to write an original song for her film, Chris Martin joked he was forced into composing "Miracles" to ensure the band's involvement in the project:

“I got a message that said, ‘Meet in this undisclosed location. You'll be blindfolded and picked up by seven ex–Navy SEALs.’ So they kidnapped me, hit me over the head, and sprayed me with Mace. When I woke up, I was in an office, and Brad Pitt was doing push-ups as Angelina Jolie was just sitting there with her crown on. There was also a guy holding a knife to my throat, and she said, ‘Write me a song, or else.’ And Brad Pitt said, ‘Yeah. What she said.’ We wrote a song and then she said, ‘It's through to the final eight’, and then we had live eliminations at her house. We came in second, but the main guy chickened out.”

Release

On 11 December 2014, "Miracles" was unveiled on Coldplay's official website and YouTube channel. It was also announced that the song would be officially released on 15 December 2014 through Parlophone and Atlantic Records as a part of the Unbroken (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) album — scored by French film composer and conductor Alexandre Desplat — accompanying the film, and as a single track digital download via iTunes on the same day.

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
From up above I heard
The angels sing to me these words
And sometimes, in your eyes
I see the beauty in the world

[Chorus]
Oh, now I'm floating so high
I blossom and die
Send your storm and your lightning to strike
Me between the eyes
Eyes

[Verse 2]
Sometimes the stars decide
To reflect in puddles in the dirt
When I look in your eyes
I forget all about what hurts

[Chorus]
Oh, now I'm floating so high
I blossom and die
Send your storm and your lightning to strike
Me between the eyes
And cry

[Refrain]
Believe in miracles

[Outro]
Oh, hey, I'm floating up above the world now
Oh, hey, I'm floating up above the world now
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Lyric video

Coldplay - Miracles (Official Lyric Video)

Official audio

Coldplay - Miracles (Official Audio)

Miracles

Critical reception

Eliza Berman of Time magazine called the track “an anthemic tribute to the film's heroic protagonist”, describing its sound as “poppy and easy on the ears, bordering on anthemic as it builds to a cathartic release in the final minute.” She also commented, “If someone were to commission a song to play over the credits of a movie about heroic determination that comes out on Christmas Day, Coldplay's 'Miracles' would be it.” Rolling Stone magazine's Daniel Kreps wrote that “It's easy to picture 'Miracles', which will likely generate some Best Song Oscar buzz, accompanying the Unbroken end credits”, and described the song as “piano-driven”, “gentle, uplifting” and “reminiscent of Coldplay's latest single 'Ink'.”

Ryan Kristobak of The Huffington Post noted, “Sonically similar to the band's most recent album, Ghost Stories, 'Miracles' is a classic Coldplay mixture of sad, yet inspirational, with a dash more of the latter in keeping with the movie's story.” Radio.com's Shannon Carlin commented, “With a sweetly strummed guitar, a twinkling piano and a lot of snapping, this song sounds triumphant and as varied as the film itself. It also sounds ready for its Oscar moment. Frontman Chris Martin sings about angels that talk to him, lightning strikes and floating above the world. It's all pretty magical.”

Tom Breihan of Stereogum called the song “a fairly generic uplift anthem that really just sounds like a Coldplay song”, adding that “it's a more rhythmically focused Coldplay song than it has to be, and it's a bit surprising hearing the band trying out ideas on syncopation during an Oscar-season end-credits anthem.”