2000's Guilt #08: Keane “Somewhere Only We Know” (2004) / Coldplay “Sparks” (2000) / Snow Patrol “Run” (2004)

As long as we're getting into guilty pleasures, we might as well just come right out: Coldplay's Parachutes is a fucking solid LP that none of their copycats, nor the band themselves, were ever able to match, although Parachutes itself came close to matching one of its most obvious influences, The Verve's Urban Hymns, while Radiohead normally takes most of the blame, which really makes no sense at all, with the exception of two songs: "High and Dry" and "Fake Plastic Trees," both influenced by Jeff Buckley's Grace.

So with this logic, poor Jeff Buckley should be taking all the blame for the genre that produced Snow Patrol, Keane, Augustana, Aqualung, Travis, and at its worst, James Blunt's "You're Beautiful." We can't let this happen. If this is the kind of world where Jeff Buckley is the scapegoat that led to "You're Beautiful..." ... But wait a sec, fucking Cobain has been painted by imbeciles as the scapegoat that led to Puddle of Mudd's "She Hates Me," so it's not like this hasn't already happened on a different scale.

Whatever.. "Sparks" is probably our favorite song from Parachutes. "Run" is kinda repetitive and about 2 minutes too long, but it has a really nice intro. (The video version posted below is a much more appropriate song-length.)

While Keane isn't really anything to be proud of enjoying, "Somewhere Only We Know" is the actual reason why this entry exists... It's without question the best and most fully formed song out of every Coldplay-copycat single. Best production, best performance, best songwriting. They nailed it.