Christmas Lights

Coldplay put this out as a standalone single in December 2010, between Viva la Vida and Mylo Xyloto, and it has become one of the few modern British Christmas songs that gets played every year without feeling like a novelty. Chris Martin sings about a couple who have fallen out before the holidays, then finds hope in the lights along the street, and the piano build makes it a slow dance that lifts towards the end. Couples choose it when they want something festive that does not sound like a shopping centre. The video was filmed on the South Bank, with the band on a stage beside the Thames and Simon Pegg as one of three Elvis impersonators playing violin.