1977 · Behind the Songs
A polite melody carrying a threat — in two unforgettable notes.
The debut album’s second single opens with one of rock’s most recognizable piano figures — a classical-styled riff that takes about two notes to announce itself. Written by Mick Jones and Lou Gramm, Cold as Ice is a kiss-off dressed in velvet: Gramm warns a lover as cold as ice that she’ll pay the price, over a groove that struts rather than snarls.
It reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, confirming that Foreigner’s debut was no fluke. The song’s genius is its tension — elegant keyboards against a rock band’s muscle, a polite melody carrying a threat. Nearly fifty years on, that opening riff still announces itself in two notes.