I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
This song is about a man who had everything in the world and lost it. He was a mighty king and ruler and everyone respected him. But not he doesn't have a place to go, everything is gone. Nothing is the same. Even when i tried to regain it he couldn't. This song is telling us that we need to live in the moment and not want what we don't have because everything we do have can be taken from us an lost forever. I really like this theme, it tells us to live in the moment and not the future.
The audience this song is trying to appeal to is the whole general populous. Anyone with a livelihood. To appeal to this, Coldplay explains how he was once a powerful ruler with many things and lost it. This sense of fore longing and hope for a better future is what many are to with when the lose something. This of course appeal to the pathos of the audience. It stirs sad and melancholy emotions about a great past but that is now sad. Finally, with these emotions it helps tell the audience to stop living in the future and live in the now. Don't worry what is ahead. Love what you have right now. A main tool used in this song is imagery. He tends to make lots of pictures with his words. Events also are in this song that are painted into a beautiful picture. His past life is all imagery.
This these emotion that come from this song. There is sadness but also a hint of hope. Many seem to lost everything and get back up. This is what this song is talking about. We can never love so far in the future that we forget the present. If we do we could lose everything we hold dear and love. So Viva la Vida!!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I need to listen to the words more. Everything you said about the words makes perfect sense, but that song has always made me just feel reflective and pensive about the past, because of the sound. I usually pay no attention at all to the lyrics!
I love this song. You definitly put the lyrics into perspective to the point where I can now understand the meaning of the song.
I as well had never actually thought of what the lyrics were saying, the music was so good! This is a good song, and I know now the meaning.
I always thought Coldplay are a little high and mighty, but they write really good music nonetheless. It's interesting to take pop song like this and see what they really are trying to say or what we believe they are saying anyway.
Its weird to listen to any song and try to find out what the songwriter is trying to say. I think a lot of times we get one feeling, but until we really sit down and think decode each line written.
Post a Comment