guns – The Western Howl

Written by: Kiera Roedel | Copy Editor

Content warning: this article contains references to police violence, war and suicide.

Nov. 22 was the fifth birthday of Coldplay’s 2019 album “Everyday Life.” The project sticks with Coldplay’s well-established pop-rock sound, but mixes in influences like classical, afrobeat and jazz, making it one of the band’s most experimental releases.

Lyrically, “Everyday Life” focuses on unity between people, regardless of ethnic or national barriers. This is perhaps best showcased by the fact that the only-ever live performance of the full tracklist was streamed globally from the Amman Citadel in Jordan, though Coldplay themselves are British.

The album’s 16 tracks, split into “sunrise” and “sunset” halves, have proved divisive among fans. Many proclaim certain songs as some of the band’s best ever, while dismissing others as pointless filler. So, five years on, how does “Everyday Life” stack up?

“Sunrise” — “Everyday Life’s” opener is a short instrumental track driven by calm, spare string music. It is compositionally simple and its lack of lyrics really count against it for me — not a favorite.

“Church” — Considered by many to be the true opening track, “Church” is one of the strongest on the album. Its almost four minutes are driven by a strong percussion line while lead singer Chris Martin weaves a love story that compares his significant other to a divine figure. Later in the song, Arabic vocals by guest Norah Shaqur bring the entire song together, and Martin’s sing-rapped couplet at the end over them is nothing short of incredible.

“Trouble in Town” — The first appearance of this album’s oft-discussed political themes. “Trouble in Town” condemns police violence with floaty yet strong piano-centric instrumentals and a profanity-laden recording depicting verbal abuse while a police officer detains a suspect. Not for everyone, but fantastic for those unfazed by its unique characteristics.

“BrokEn” — A divisive song due to its style — an almost a capella gospel track — and a strange choice to follow up “Trouble in Town.” Its strong religious themes and direct references to God would not be out of place if sung by a church choir. I find it catchy.

“Daddy” — This song hits some harder than others. It is sung from the perspective of a child with an absent father figure, wondering where he has been and whether he will ever return. It is slow and ethereal throughout, opening with heartbeat sound effects before a somber piano melody begins a few seconds in. The emotion in this one is bare and painful, definitely a highlight.

“WOTW / POTP” — The sound of this demo track is defined by an acoustic guitar, quiet singing and birds chirping in the background. To me, it has almost no staying power and may as well have not been included.

“Arabesque” — The title here references a style of visual art involving intricate repeating patterns covering large surfaces. Similarly “Arabesque,” one of the album’s singles, discusses unifying the people, proclaiming that we “share the same blood.” Its aggressive, percussive rhythm thumps along like a freight train, and the song is without a doubt in the top 3 best on the album.

“When I Need a Friend” — Another short, less-than-impressive track. Its slow, formless, layered vocals recall holiday carols, or more church-choir music, with a Spanish spoken-word segment inserted awkwardly at the end.

“Guns” — Aggressive and biting, “Guns” begins the “sunset” segment of the album and is perhaps the antithesis to the prior track. It is extremely political, referencing climate change, oppression of the working class, violent revolutions and the military-industrial complex. I love it for that.

“Orphans” — The other single from “Everyday Life,” “Orphans” was a breakout hit and a song that many have likely heard already. It tells the struggles of a girl and her father who become refugees during the oppressive Syrian Civil War. Thematically and musically a masterpiece, this might be the objective best on the record.

“Èkó” — Calm and relaxed, the quaint and hopeful “Èkó” shares the name of a town in southwest Nigeria. Honestly, it serves pretty well as a comfort song, but nothing special.

“Cry Cry Cry” — Angel Moon, Coldplay’s alien vocalist who is really just a digital effect, sings along with Chris Martin throughout this deceptively optimistic song. It might have been good if its themes were better developed and it had more than a verse and a half of actual lyrics.

“Old Friends” — Another slow, calm song with simple lyrics. It describes a childhood friend of Martin’s who saved him from being hit by a car when they were riding bikes as kids. While the theme is heartfelt, the song isn’t very engaging.

“بنی آدم” — The Arabic title of this song is taken from a Persian poem, pronounced “Bani Adam.” The majority of its lyrics are a verse from the poem, spoken softly in Arabic. A great idea, but it has almost two minutes of piano solo and was likely better suited to being a 90-second interlude rather than the over-3-minute full feature that “بنی آدم” purports to be.

“Champion of the World” — To be blunt, this is far and away my favorite song on the album. Its lyrics begin with short anecdotes of the failures of the lead singer, going so far as to specifically reference suicide and gravestones. As the music slowly builds, the lyrics pull away from the depression, asserting that whatever happens, we are still here, and that is a success in itself. The song climaxes when Martin and drummer Will Champion sing in duet that “giving up won’t work / Now I’m riding on my rocket ship / And I’m champion of the world.” “Champion of the World” has the overwhelmingly positive theme and grandiose musical style that are hallmarks of recent Coldplay, and to me, it’s probably their single greatest song in the past decade at least.

“Everyday Life” — The final song, bringing back earlier themes of the album like the similarities between and power vested within the people of the world. Musically spare but proud, it uses the same chord progression as the earlier “Church,” which helps tie the album together. While a little unimpressive in the shadow of the previous song, “Everyday Life” is still an excellent closing track.

Overall, “Everyday Life’s” occasional extremely strong tracks have their impact lessened somewhat by slow and underdeveloped songs that hold almost no significance to the overall styling of the record. Still, those strong tracks stand as some of the best in the history of Coldplay, and are each excellent on their own. Plus, “Everyday Life’s” aesthetic is confident, with unique lyrical themes and experimental music styles strongly contributing to the album’s identity. Lyrically and musically, Everyday Life shows what Coldplay can be when at its best, even if it is interspersed with a few less-than-amazing songs.

8/10.

Contact the author at howlcopyeditor@mail.wou.edu

Written by: Hannah Field | News Editor

Content warning: this article contains mentions of gun violence and death

Across 13 school districts in Oregon, 48 students were disciplined for bringing guns on school grounds in 2023 — an uptick of more than double the cases reported during the 2018-2019 school year, the last before the pandemic. That year, only 18 cases of guns on campus were reported.

The school districts of Centennial, Corvallis, Crook, Glide, Greater Albany, Jefferson, Medford, North Clackamas, Oregon City, Pendleton, Portland, Reynolds and Salem-Keizer reported student possession of a handgun, shotgun or rifle. The Oregon Department of Education released these records after a request for information filed by KGW. Four out of all 48 cases were middle schoolers.

Juvenile probation officer, Kyle Kinion, has worked closely with West Albany High School for 17 years, holding a unique position in Oregon as the school’s resource officer. West Albany High School sits in the Greater Albany School District, one of the listed 13 districts having reported guns caught on campus. “The (kids) that I work with haven’t shown up with weapons at school because they want to be the bad guy. It’s because they feel that they’ve been pushed to a certain point — (like) they need to protect themselves,” said Kinion. “So much of being a kid, unfortunately, is fear.”

May 2024 will be the upcoming 26th anniversary of the Thurston High School shooting, an Oregon shooting preceding Columbine by nearly a year. Fifteen-year-old Kipland Kinkel was suspended on disciplinary action due to his admission of keeping a stolen handgun in his locker. Following the suspension, he shot his parents, supposedly because of the shame he felt, and, one day later, open-fired in the school cafeteria — killing two students, Ben Walker and Mikael Nickolauson, and wounding 25 others.

Kinkel entered Thurston High School with two knives, two pistols and a rifle, with more than a thousand rounds of ammunition. After firing into a crowd of more than 300 students, it was reported that Kinkel was taken down by his peers — screaming, “Just kill me!” as he fell.

The story has been a grim reminder of the importance of mental health awareness and school disciplinary action — leading to action across Oregon in schools.

“There’s always plans in place. I sit on it — it’s the School Threat Assessment Team, STAT team. Most school districts, communities, or counties have this and this was put in place after the Kip Kinkel Thurston shootings,” said Kinion.

Former Western student Julius Hardman was attending class at Parkrose High School in Portland his junior year when a classmate entered the school with a shotgun under his trenchcoat — loaded with only one bullet intended for himself.

Hardman was in the B-wing of the school when a peer burst through the door shouting that they “gotta go right now.” Upon being asked by the teacher to calm down and explain the situation, she stated that “there was a guy with a gun.”

“She was too serious to be faking,” said Hardman. “Two minutes after she came in, there was an announcement on the intercom saying this is not a drill. (After that) there was a convoy of dudes in army camo.”

The student with the weapon was allegedly heartbroken after his split from his girlfriend, a fellow student. He was disarmed effectively before anyone was hurt — going on to live a relatively normal life after receiving psychological help, while leaving hundreds of former high school students possibly traumatized for life.

“I know that girl who busted into our classroom — she was in the room that (the gunman was in),” said Hardman. “She was f——g terrified.”

Skylar McNett, a current Western freshman, experienced a lockdown in their high school due to a call that there was a shooter on school property. Little did the school know, it was a hoax.

“We’re (all) sitting in lockdown, completely unaware, with the doors barricaded. Some of us have scissors in our hands and books, stuff like that, in case a person tries to break in, because we don’t know what’s going on,” said McNett. “We check online, and all we see is that three people are dead and that there was an active shooter. And it was so terrifying.”

They watched as SWAT officers passed by the windows, securing the perimeter with “giant assault rifles.” Two hours passed before it came out that it was a false call — the perpetrator of which was never discovered.

“I want to be a teacher,” said McNett. “I’m going to have to deal with school safety and be responsible for the lives of like thirty students in (situations) that I can’t control.”

The hoax followed the 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting in McNett’s hometown of Roseburg — an event of which McNett knew the victims.

“Somebody saying something to me in the hallways — because I’m a grown man — isn’t going to be the same as a fifteen-year-old who’s in the throes of puberty, with all these things going on in their head. On top of some mental health issues they are going through,” said Kinion. “ … We need to make sure that the community is safe. We need to make sure that they’re safe also. That’s the double-edged sword — making sure we do what’s best for the youth, but also make sure they’re going to be safe and that people around them aren’t going to be harmed.”

Kip Kinkel had his own query in 2023: “How could I have gotten to this point at 15 that all these things came together — where my humanity collapsed, and I did this horrific thing to people I loved and to people I didn’t know?”

The fear Hardman and McNett felt has been resounded by thousands of students across the nation as shootings have become a well-known travesty.

Yet, in 2023, 26 years after the Thurston High School shooting, 48 kids were disciplined for bringing guns to Oregon schools — a statistic emphasizing hundreds of kids’ fears.

Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu.

Coldplay’s “Everyday Life,” five years in

Weapon epidemic

Tools

Resources