to Complex in December 2011 that he sat at home in Atlanta and changed his lifestyle to what he described as "Cocaine 80s"; this is where he derived the group of the same name from. He remembered sitting around and listening to 1980s music, discovering "Memories Fade" from Tears for Fears' 1983 debut album The Hurting and instantly thinking: "That's it. Right here." No I.D. also said that he played "the whole section" to West, who proposed to change one word. However, No I.D. admitted to having "had no idea [West would] keep it as is", even though he realized the track was something special upon first listen. According to record producer 40, Canadian musician Drake "became crazily obsessed" with the melody on "Coldest Winter", which encouraged him to pay attention to the band. This ultimately led to Drake sampling fellow The Hurting track "Ideas as Opiates" on his third mixtape So Far Gone, released in 2009. Speaking to the Herald Sun in December 2017, Curt Smith of Tears for Fears saw it as "incredibly cool" and "very interesting" that West utilized work from the album despite him being of a "completely different genre" to the band. Kanye West's interest in music had been encouraged by Donda since he was young; the artist said she "always kept me around music" and "was also my first manager". West had often paid tribute to her in his tracks prior to "Coldest Winter", especially on "Hey Mama" (2005). The song was recorded during the three week period that West worked on the entirety of the album in 2008. Composition and lyrics Musically, "Coldest Winter" is a minimalist electropop number. The production of the song is constructed around "Memories Fade" by Tears for Fears, written by Orzabal, while West delivers an interpolation of its vocal hook on the chorus. The song features tribal drums, which were created using the Roland TR-909 drum machine and appear on the chorus. It contains descending synths, mostly accompanying the verses. Keyboards are also included, contributed by Bhasker, while West utilizes Auto-Tune to sing throughout. Lyrically, "Coldest Winter" serves as Kanye West's tribute to Donda after he became depressed following her death. A call and response is featured when West sings certain lines, such as "On lonely nights, I start to fade / Her love's a thousand miles away". West also reminisces on memories that he made in "the