Coldest Winter

"Coldest Winter"Song by Kanye West
General information
Released	November 24, 2008
Recorded	2008
Studio	Glenwood (Burbank, California) Avex Recording (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Genre	Pop
Length	2:45
Album	808s & Heartbreak
Label(s)	Roc-A-Fella Records, Def Jam Recordings
Writer(s)	Roland Orzabal, No I.D., Kanye West
Track list
Previous	"See You in My Nightmares"
Next	"Pinocchio Story"
Music video

"Coldest Winter" is the eleventh track from Kanye West's fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak.

Production

The song has cinematic production with a BPM of 134 and on the key of C. It samples "Memories Fade" by Tears for Fears.

Background

On October 16, 2008, Kanye previewed a part of the song on Power 106 in Los Angeles. According to song producer 40, Canadian rapper Drake "became crazily obsessed" with the melody on the track.

The song has lyrics about heartbreak similar to most of 808s & Heartbreak.

Music video

(Some information slightly edited)

Background

A music video for the song was debuted via iTunes on February 22, 2010, and shared by American director Nabil Elderkin to his Vimeo page the next day. This release marked West's return to the public eye after his outburst at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, which came 15 months after 808s & Heartbreak had been released. The visual was directed by Elderkin, who had previously worked with West on multiple occasions, including directing the videos for fellow album tracks "Welcome to Heartbreak" and "Paranoid". On the day of the former's release, Elderkin informed MTV that the video differed from any previous collaborations, confirming it is "pretty minimalistic", and "slow and very visual". He opened up about "want[ing] to catch the vibe of the song" without being too literal, deciding on this due to the lyrics' heavy closeness to West and how they "go much deeper than the video" through their emotion. The video treatment was written by Elderkin, who called it "a boundary-pushing effort" compared to his past work with West. He further affirmed the two tried a new style for the visual medium that challenged him more especially, as West missed the editing process and only saw the final version. Elderkin also admitted in another MTV interview that West not appearing in the video was funnily his own decision, nor did he want to put him in. The director confirmed West lacked interest in being in the visual for "Paranoid" too and had more appearances until parts were removed, further saying West was fine at the time "with putting out visuals that fit the song" no matter if he is present. Concluding, Elderkin stated that "he's in that place in his life where right now he just wants to make art", and insisted the music video is intentionally open for interpretation.

The visual features a slightly revamped version of the song, similarly to how a new mix of "Paranoid" was used for its music video. Elderkin defined the version as "more of a haunting one" due to being a remix of sorts, assuming that nobody has heard it before. The director recalled how West "did some really amazing sound work" to the version, revealing he was more involved in its production than that of the original. Rolling Stone's Daniel Kreps said the mix is "gloomier and more foreboding" than the original, while Stereogum writer Gabe Delahaye asserted that it shows "[t]otal beat wraith" from West, who adopts an attitude of "one beat to rule them all!"

Synopsis

A purple color palette is used for the music video, which begins with shots of a bride dressed in white and Grim Reaper-style characters interspersed by ones of a dark, winter forest. Various shots in the video depict her running through the forest, being pursued by the characters. The same actions are shown in slow motion as the video progresses, with the woman also looking in varying directions at points. She later falls over but quickly stands back up and looks around herself, before running from the Grim Reapers again. The bride continues to run away until she leaps off a cliff, being absorbed by dark forces.