The song was released as the second single from Parachutes, "Yellow" reached number four in the UK Singles Chart, giving Coldplay their first top-five hit in the United Kingdom. "Yellow" has since been covered by various recording artists worldwide, and remains one of the band's most popular songs.

While composing the song's lyrics, Martin could not find the right words. He was thinking of a specific word, which he deemed a missing key word in the lyrics, to fit the song's concept. He looked around the studio and saw Stephanie, a friend who happened to be present in the studio at that time. Martin later titled the song "Yellow" as a reference to Stephanie's yellow glow.