DOC: “Does the song set the tone for the album? Is this where we’re at for the full album? Is this what it is?
GL: “To say what you feel about your own record before anyone’s heard it – without sounding trite or relying on cliché – it’s very, very difficult ground. So forgive me if I step on a big old cliché clanger. But I’ve never been more proud nor more excited. I’ve never, ever been more excited to release a record than this one. It is a record I am just so proud and also in love with, which I suppose everybody maybe feels that way. But I think at certain points in your career, especially after 30 years, to feel as invigorated and energised and in love with the process, and in love with the result and happy about how things have gone and are going, I think it’s pretty much a triumph after 30 years of doing it.”
DOC: “Does it feel like a favourite album? I know it’s difficult to pick a favourite kid.”
GL “Yeah. Yeah, it’s my favourite record we’ve done.”
Gary Lightbody recalls how Grey’s Anatomy made Snow Patrol’s phones ‘melt’ when they played ‘Chasing Cars’ in early episodes
DOC: “I haven’t thought about this for a while, but a couple of years ago, we found out that Chasing Cars was the most played song on UK radio. Do you know if that’s still the case?”
GL: “It’s really funny, because we got like an award, like a couple of years ago, saying ‘Most played song of the Century.’ But we’re only, like, 20 years in! It won’t be the most played song at the end of the century. But yeah, it’s nice to know. Like, at some point, it was the most played song, but it won’t be by the end.”
DOC: “Do you remember what happened when it was on like Grey’s Anatomy and stuff like that?”
GL: “No. It had already been a hit here and a few other places. We were asked – I wasn’t watching Grey’s Anatomy. And we didn’t think anything of it. And then we went to bed in in the UK, and woke up the next morning, and my phone – I think it was a Nokia at the time – had melted! When I finally got my messages, we’d gone to number one overnight on iTunes in the US. Which was from nowhere. I mean, weren’t in the top 200 in the US. So yeah, it did a massive amount for that song, for sure.”
