 " Clocks " was written and composed during the late stages of production of Coldplay 's second album , A Rush of Blood to the Head . A riff popped into Chris Martin 's mind late one night in Liverpool when he came in to the studio , where he then developed it on piano . According to Martin , " Clocks " was inspired by the English rock band Muse . Martin presented the riff to the band 's guitarist , Jonny Buckland , who then added a layer of guitar chords to the basic track : " He picked up his guitar [ a sure sign that he likes a song ] and played these brilliant chords ... It was like a chemical reaction process . " ( The syncopated piano arpeggio that gives the song its signature sound also bears a similarity to a syncopated arpeggio that is repeated several times in Alex De Grassi 's 1981 instrumental " Clockwork . " ) 
 " Clocks " was written and composed during the late stages of production of Coldplay <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>second album , A Rush of Blood to the Head . A riff<a href='been_done' title='2'><mark></mark></a> popped into Chris Martin <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'s</mark></a>mind late one night in Liverpool when he came in to the studio , where he then developed it on piano . According to Martin , " Clocks " was inspired by the English rock band Muse . Martin presented the riff to the band <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>guitarist , Jonny Buckland , <a href='null_relcl' title='5'><mark>who</mark></a>then added a layer of guitar chords to the basic track : " He picked up his guitar [ a sure sign that he <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>likes</mark></a> a song ] and played these brilliant chords ... It was like a chemical reaction process . " ( The syncopated piano arpeggio <a href='null_relcl' title='7'><mark>that</mark></a><a href='uninflect' title='8'><mark>gives</mark></a> the song its signature sound also <a href='uninflect' title='9'><mark>bears</mark></a> a similarity to a syncopated arpeggio <a href='null_relcl' title='10'><mark>that</mark></a>is repeated several times in Alex De Grassi <a href='null_genetive' title='11'><mark>'s</mark></a>1981 instrumental " Clockwork . " ) 
 Clocks  was written and composed during the late stages of production of Coldplay  second album , A Rush of Blood to da Head . A riff done popped into Chris Martin  mind late one night in Liverpool when he came in to the studio , where he then developed it on piano . According to Martin , " Clocks " was inspired by the English rock band Muse . Martin presented the riff to tdaband  guitarist , Jonny Buckland , then added a layer of guitar chords to the basic track : " He picked up his guitar [ a sure sign that he like a song ] and played dese brilliant chords ... It was like a chemical reaction process . " ( Thdayncopated piano arpeggio give the song its signature sound also bear a similarity to a syncopated arpeggio is repeated several times in Alex De Grassi  1981 instrumental " Clockwork . " )