Critical response
When did "Viva la Vida" win a Grammy?
Viva la Vida
Critical response. Critics were very positive in their reviews of the song. In the "Entertainment Weekly" review of the album, critic Chris Willman wrote: "Take the title track ... on which imagines himself as a paranoid monarch. 'Who would ever want to be king?' Martin asks. 'Revolutionaries wait/For my head on a silver plate!'. The confident majesty of the music, however, belies how he and his bandmates have invigorated their rock-lite reign." Josh Hathaway from "The Plain Dealer" noted "Viva la Vida" as the "catchiest" song on the album. Chris Jones of the BBC noted: "The string/brass mutations that bolster a track like 'Viva La Vida' ... conjure tunes so sweetly melancholy." In the IGN review, critic Chad Grischow wrote, "It is their one and only foray into unabashed orchestral pop, but the punchy strut of the strings and fantastic marching vocals make it far too charming and lively to dislike, and even harder not to love. ""Viva la Vida" was nominated for "Record of the Year", and won "Song of the Year", and "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or a Group" at the 2009 Grammy Awards. This song also won the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Selling British Single". The song was included in "Rolling Stone"'s annual "100 Best Songs" of 2008 at number nine; it was also voted number two on "Rolling Stone"'s Readers' Rock List: Best Songs of 2008. "Viva la Vida" was also listed at number five on "Blender"'s 1001 Downloads: The Top 144 Songs of 2008, as well in the number eight position on "Village Voice"'s Pazz and Jop list. "Viva la Vida" has been sampled in several other songs including Flo Rida's single "Be on You".