Coldplay frontman Chris Martin pokes fun at Metro Manila traffic and writes song about it
British band Coldplay frontman Chris Martin poked fun at the country’s traffic situation—even as he cussed and wrote an impromptu song about it during their sold-out concert at the Philippine Arena last Jan. 19 and 20.
“Today we sing about Manila in the rain,” Martin crooned as he strummed his guitar, as captured in a viral video by X user @nickvillavecer. The singer was referring to his short cover of OPM band Lola Amour’s Raining in Manila earlier in the set.
“But we’re not gonna sing that song again,” he continued. “If there’s only really one thing that remain, the traffic in Manila is completely insane.”
“A 2-mile drive will take a week or 2…We can’t wait to play in Manila again but the traffic here is completely insane.”
Coldplay lead vocalist Chris Martin makes fun of Manila traffic through an impromptu song last night. I wonder how the MMDA will take this.😅#ColdplayManila pic.twitter.com/9npRwKpzSU— nick (@nickvillavecer) January 21, 2024
The rest of Martin’s song goes:
If you wanna drive somewhere, then I’m warning you
A two-mile drive will take a week or two
If you wanna get back on time for your bath
Why not allow yourself about a year and a half
We can’t wait to play Manila again
But the traffic here is completely insane
We can’t wait to play Manila again
But the traffic here is completely insane
In another viral video, Martin thanked concertgoers for attending the show despite the traffic.
“We’d like to say thank you so much to all of you for coming through the traffic. Holy sh*t!” he said. “I think we’ve seen some traffic and I think you have the number one in the world,” he added, as the crowd went wild.
@lopezmiks When Chris Martin gets irritated by MNL traffic & PBBM hears it live 🫠🤭 #coldplay #coldplayconcert #traffic #philippinearena #coldplayphilippines #livenation #president ♬ original sound - miks 🥂
Coldplay comprises Martin (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Jonny Buckland (lead guitars, backing vocals, keyboards), Guy Berryman (bass, backing vocals keyboards, synthesizers, percussion), and Will Champion (drums, backing vocals, keyboards, percussion).
Its hits include Yellow, The Scientist, Fix You, A Sky Full of Stars, Viva La Vida, Something Just Like This, and Adventure of a Lifetime.
Coldplay first performed in the country in 2017.
Prior to the Coldplay shows, data provider TomTom released its 2023 Traffic Index, which showed that Metro Manila had the worst traffic congestion in a metro area among 387 cities worldwide in 2023.
According to the study, motorists in the capital spent an average travel time of 25 minutes and 30 seconds per 10 kilometers last year. This is 50 seconds longer than it took to cover the same distance in 2022.
Throughout the year, they spent 240 hours on the road, 117 hours of which were spent crawling through rush-hour traffic at an average speed of 19 kilometers per hour. This translates to four days and 21 hours in traffic, an amount of time that TomTom said can be used to read 48 books.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr), meanwhile, acknowledged the traffic index, saying it “poses a challenge not just for DOTr, but other agencies as well to be creative at finding lasting solutions to metro traffic.”
DOTr Sec. Jaime Bautista said they’re fast-tracking road projects while collaborating with appropriate agencies with the help of the private sector.
MMDA Chairman Romando Artes, for his part, said they admit the traffic situation in Metro Manila, and are implementing schemes to try to improve the situation.
