The Irish alternative rock band Kodaline released their debut album, In a Perfect World, in 2013. The album’s fourth single, “All I Want,” quietly reached the Top 15 on the Irish Singles Chart. Meanwhile, it began its global rise after appearing in an episode of the American medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.
Videos by American Songwriter
Grey’s Anatomy is not only a popular TV series but also a groundbreaking phenomenon for indie and alternative rock bands, especially ones writing emotional folk-adjacent, piano-splashed love songs.
“All I Want” is one of the most covered songs on NBC’s singing reality competition show, The Voice. It’s a fitting way to audition for the show, prioritizing the contestants’ emotional backstories.
A Song Made for Television
Singer and guitarist Steve Garrigan—cooing like Coldplay’s Chris Martin—wrote the song following a bitter breakup with his girlfriend.
All I want is nothing more
To hear you knocking at my door
’Cause if I could see your face once more
I could die as a happy man, I’m sure
Garrigan and his Dublin band echo Coldplay’s lyric clichés, which makes “All I Want” perfect for television drama. Music supervisors often request songs with vague lyrics that won’t disrupt a show’s dialogue.
When you said your last goodbye
I died a little bit inside
I lay in tears in bed all night
Alone without you by my side
But if you loved me
Why did you leave me?
Scottish rock band Snow Patrol found similar success with “Chasing Cars,” another Grey’s Anatomy-boosted sob-rock hit.
In 1999, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke abandoned traditional songwriting and melody because of the steady stream of alternative rock bands mining The Bends and OK Computer for their versions of “Fake Plastic Trees” or “No Surprises.”
Still, Coldplay and Keane persist, and Chris Martin & Co. have taken this sound all the way to U2-level stadium heights.
Two-Part Music Video
Stevie Russell directed a two-part music video for “All I Want.” It follows a man (Oliver) with a deformed face who becomes attracted to his co-worker Mandy.
Russell plays Oliver, who is bullied at work but stands up to them when they turn on Mandy.
She helps Oliver find his missing dog, which creates a bond between them. By the video’s end, they have dinner at his place.
All I want is all I need is
To find somebody
I’ll find somebody
American Idol and Spotify’s Billions Club
A 2014 performance of “All I Want” on American Idol introduced Kodaline to 20 million American television viewers. They soon trended on Twitter, and even Harry Styles began appearing at their shows.
Their 2013 song remains current and continues to be culturally significant as a reliable song choice on The Voice. It was also part of the film soundtrack to The Fault in Our Stars alongside music by Ed Sheeran, Jake Bugg, Tom Odell, and Charli XCX.
By far, “All I Want” is Kodaline’s defining song, and it’s become part of Spotify’s exclusive Billions Club.
A Star Is Born
Kodaline began their career on a TV reality competition show. They were finalists on the Irish show You’re a Star, though then they were known as 21 Demands. Their single, “Give Me a Minute,” reached No. 1 on the Irish Singles chart in 2007. By 2012, they had changed their name to Kodaline and released a self-titled EP featuring “All I Want.”
BBC Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton promoted “All I Want” as her Record of the Week, and soon the song was chosen to appear in the ninth season of Grey’s Anatomy.
The momentum led to a full-length debut, In a Perfect World. The No. 1 Irish album also succeeded in the U.S., reaching the Top 10 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart.
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A band like Kodaline might have had modest success in another era before their career fizzled into post-record deal oblivion. However, streaming services have created longevity in an industry that is quick to move on to the next big thing.
Combined with television, bands no longer depend on radio stations for broad exposure. Fearne Cotton certainly helped Kodaline, but American Idol’s Randy Jackson introduced them to an audience traditionally reserved for pop stars, not alternative rock bands.
Kodaline may not fill stadiums like Coldplay, but they’ve taken Chris Martin’s blueprint and turned an Irish-charting rock song into an enduring piece of American reality TV culture.
They’ve officially reached wedding song status with “All I Want.” Steve Garrigan is probably glad he got dumped by his girlfriend. It may have hurt then, but perhaps a billion song plays have eased his pain over the years.
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Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images for MTV UK
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