text: shiver ( coldplay song ) " shiver " is a song written and recorded by british alternative rock band coldplay . british record producer ken nelson and coldplay produced the track for their debut album parachutes . vocalist chris martin admitted that " shiver " was written for a specific woman , from whom the media has generated several speculations . the song contains influences attributed to american singer - songwriter jeff buckley , whom coldplay 's early influences were drawn from . the song was released as the album 's lead single in the united kingdom , and second in the united states following the hit single " yellow " . the single reached number 35 on the uk singles chart , and its critical reception has been generally positive . production and composition " shiver " was written two years before its release . accordingly , martin wrote the song while thinking of australian singer - songwriter natalie imbruglia , the woman he was linked to , but later denied it . some accounts have claimed , however , that imbruglia was indeed not martin 's inspiration in writing the song . instead , he appeared to have been inspired with girlfriends in his teenage days and early 20s . martin actually wrote the song in a " glum " day , when he felt he would never find the right woman for him . he described it as something of a " stalking song " , admitting he wrote it for a specific woman . in addition , martin wrote the song while listening to music of buckley , and had claimed it is their " most blatant rip - off song " . " shiver " was recorded in rockfield studios in wales , united kingdom , where the band was booked by a & r representative dan keeling to begin working on the band 's debut album , parachutes . keeling was disappointed with the early demos presented to him , saying it " didn 't have any of their passion , their energy " , a result of the band 's freshly resolved internal pressure in the time . keeling deemed the demos as " limp " and asked the band to redo it . smaller parts of the song were recorded at parr street studios in liverpool , england , where the band relocated after christmas in 1999 . the song was produced by coldplay and british record producer ken nelson . as with most songs in the album , nelson used an analogue desk in recording " shiver " . the guitar was re - dubbed in search of perfection , while martin de - tuned his guitar to easily generate complex chord sequences . martin 's vocals were recorded in more than one take , but the band chose the one with a single take . " shiver " is in the alternative rock genre . a review claims that coldplay 's indie rock inclinations are obvious in the song . " shiver " has been perceived to have influences of buckley , whom coldplay 's early song influences were drawn from . martin later said of the song that it was " a blatant jeff buckley attempt , not quite as good , that 's what i think " . release and reception " shiver " is one of the older songs in coldplay 's catalogue , and had been performed at their early concerts in 1999 . later , it was initially released as an ep in the spring of 2000 . it was released as the album 's lead single in the united kingdom on 6 march 2000 , months before the release of the album . the single had been picked up for b - play lists on some european prominent radio stations . in the united states , it was released as the second single , following the hit single " yellow " . website ign posted a video at the 2008 games convention in leipzig , germany , revealing " shiver " to be part of the song list in the video game guitar hero world tour . the single 's reception was generally positive . it reached number 35 on the uk singles chart . it also reached number 26 at the us billboard hot modern rock tracks . the song remains , to this day , an audience favorite in live performances . it has earned the band praise from critics . adrian denning , in his review of the album , wrote , " ' shiver ' has a vocal that could be jeff buckley influenced , the soaring vocals are a joy over a reasonably guitar rock based instrumental track . " a review by david devoe in reads , " ' shiver ' is a delightfully laid back tune , full of that great guitar sound that i have come to appreciate this band for . " spencer owen of pitchfork noted , " it 's the only truly decent song on parachutes , but simultaneously , it 's the only one that blatantly shows its influences . in fact , the influence can even be pinned to a single song : jeff buckley 's ' grace . ' " the music video for " shiver " was directed by english film director and cinematographer grant gee . it features coldplay performing in a small studio . the yellow globe featured on the parachutes cover can be seen on top of an amplifier in the video . the music video received " strong exposure " on mtv . in 2003 , " shiver " was featured on coldplay 's live album live 2003 . track listing cd " shiver " – 5 : 02 " for you " – 5 : 45 " careful where you stand " – 4 : 47 chart performance