There was Beyonce’s B’Day: not her magnum opus, but which did contain “Irreplaceable” and “Déjà Vu”, covering both ends of the Noughties R&B spectrum and exemplifying Beyonce’s sugary soprano era. In 2006, the year of “Chasing Cars”, a few albums were released that broadly define the musical tribes of the era. It is the pinnacle of the mid-Noughties period of flat, spongy pop-rock that at a glance seems passé but has somehow produced a few classics. It is sentimental, trite, and – I am loathe to say it – very enjoyable. It’s like a supermodel who’s outrageously good looking simply because there is nothing at all wrong with their features. This is the trick of “Chasing Cars”: it is simultaneously superbly unremarkable and infuriatingly catchy. You’ve already got to “just forget the world”, haven’t you? And I bet you’ve miraculously recalled the guitar riff, which will now be in your head all day. On a guitar, in the alto register? Still nothing? First line of the chorus is “If I lay here…”? See, now you’re getting it. “Dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum dum-dum”. “Chasing Cars”.Ĭan you remember how it goes? Doesn’t spring immediately to mind? Allow me to remind you of the intro.
No, not “Crazy In Love”, not “Someone Like You”, not “Mr Brightside”, not even – god forbid – “Shape of You”. Earlier this week it was announced that “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol is the most-played song on UK radio this century.
