Coldplay's Viva la Vida

With timpani banging and Chris Martin's vocal cannon blasting, Coldplay's Viva la Vida is all huge moments, and back in June, it appeared set to become the rare rock song to dominate the season. (Since 1995, when Mary J. Blige and Method Man collaborated on I'll Be There for You/ You're All I Need to Get By, the reigning sound of summer has been almost exclusively hip-hop.) But once the onslaught of iPod ads subsided and the reality of the lyrics set in—"I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing/ Roman Cavalry choirs are singing"—it was obvious that Viva la Vida was better suited for song of the summer of 1084.

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