Īccording to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly magazine, the lyrics to "Lost!" are "a lament about spiritual bereftness". Kitty Empire of The Guardian wrote in a review that "Lost!", "a great organ-driven tune, alive with handclaps and foot-stomps", is the most obvious homage to Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire among other tracks off the album. In a review Alex Denney of The Guardian, he described the music of "Lost!" as " tabla-assisted gospel- hop". Coldplay's use of "exotic" instruments for majority of tracks in the album, including "Lost!", was a result of a goal in wanting to present their songs differently, something "which have never been heard" in previous releases. Towards the end of the track, it builds into a "rhythmically soaring, Edge-like" guitar solo. The song's musicscape features a church organ riff, tribal drum-circle groove, and minimal handclaps. In a huge room with a piano and organ going at the same time." The ensuing track evolved in different versions. According to guitarist Jonny Buckland, "We recorded some of it in a church up the road that's now a studio. Once they went on stage for a soundcheck, they thought of writing a song based from it. While in Detroit, Michigan, for a concert tour, the band was listening to "Sing" in their dressing room. The Blur song "Sing" was a source of inspiration in having provided a starting point for writing "Lost!". "Lost!" was one of the earliest songs the band worked on for the album. Then Chris overheard it and played 'Lost!' over the top of it." Martin revealed that the song's drumbeat took inspiration from Justin Timberlake's " Cry Me a River", which was one of Champion's favourite songs at that time. I was messing around with that and I built this beat up from scratch. . Champion recalls, "I was starting to get into using a particular drum programming programme.
The song was used in the 2010 film The Way, and was also included in NBA 2K14.Īccording to Coldplay drummer Will Champion in a fan mailout, "Lost!" had been developed long before the band began recording tracks for their fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, and was not getting into completion. The winning entries were posted on the band's website.
Coldplay launched a contest through their website, in which fans submitted self-made music videos.
The accompanying music video to the single features a live performance of the band in the United States. Several official versions of the song exist, including vocalist Chris Martin's separate recording with a piano accompaniment (known as "Lost?") which appears as a B-side for " Violet Hill", and a rap rock version that features Jay-Z (known as "Lost+") which appears on their 2008 EP Prospekt's March.
A live version was released via download following a performance of the band and Jay-Z at the 2009 Grammy Awards, spurring high digital sales and giving "Lost!" a new peak at number 40 in the United States. The song was released on 10 November 2008 as the third official single from the album to generally positive critical reviews. It was co-produced with Brian Eno and Markus Dravs for the band's fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. " Lost!" is a song by the British rock band Coldplay. From the album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends