| Collective Soul – Georgia Girl Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| She sounds like MY Georgia girl! | |
| Coldplay – Death and All His Friends Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| "Winter" and "rooftops" are references back to Violet Hill. Whether you see this album as being about an individual facing trials, or about nations undergoing revolutions, it all comes together here. This is about reconstruction, whether after a war or after battles within a relationship. In order to find the hope and bliss we just encountered in Strawberry Swing, we must break the cycle of recycled revenge. In a relationship, both sides need to agree to leave the past in the past, forgive and forget, and move forward anew. As far as nations and revolutions and warring, well, watch "The Kingdom". I think that movie illustrates the issue perfectly. | |
| Coldplay – Strawberry Swing Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I've been on the pages for all the songs of the album, and I've put up several posts, many of which claim that the album has coherent unity... it's all part of one story. Just as the music flows, so do the ideas. This is what I think is so brilliant about the album. The first few times I listened to hit, however, I kept thinking that "Strawberry Swing" was an outlier, an exception to the rule, the evidence that disproved my theory... until I went back and analyzed the lyrics of all the songs. I think "42" is the key to understanding how the songs flow together. My theory is that "42" is a song without resolution. It moves from despair (obsessing over death) to panic then back to a calm despair before "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love" expresses the hope of the Osaka sun. The latter half of "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love" begins another movement of despair that runs through "Yes". "Viva la Vida" and "Violet Hill" are songs of panic (the first from the perspective of an overthrown king and the second from the perspective of the populace). The end of "Violet Hill" brings us back to a calm despair which flows into the hope and bliss of "Strawberry Swing". It's so easy to get wrapped up in despair, or to dwell on war and death... you get lost in it and become paralyzed. The key is to relax and see the hope... then we get to the final resolution in "Death and All His Friends". |
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| Coldplay – Violet Hill Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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First off, in "The Playboy Mansion", Bono says that banks are like cathedrals... not sure if there's a connection. Anyway, in the first part I think Chris is talking about how war is justified in the media and in churches (for a priest/pastor to justify war, he has to remove the parts of the Bible that talk about love). In the second part, he's talking about how political leaders and even citizens in general talk about how much they love and appreciate the military. It's a plea to show our love not by our words but by our actions. That said, I think people have been brainwashed by people more myopic than FOX newscasters (eg Michael Moore, Bill Maher) to believe that Bush is evil and this current war is about oil or some other BS. Before you write me off, hear me out. First of all, if Bush's main interest were oil, he would not support Israel against many oil-rich nations with whom we do not trade. Second, realize that we freed a nation from a murdering dictator, a dictator who supported terrorists such as the ones who have killed many thousands in New York and London. REMEMBER: US soil has not been attacked since 9/11 and it's not because the terrorists stopped trying. We are safe and free because of the efforts of our military (both leaders and soldiers). We have done all this at the cost of about 4,000 soldiers. Granted that every one of those 4,000 was a valuable human being, who was loved by his/her family and friends. But let's put this in perspective. 5 times that many people died in individual battles of the Civil War. 4,000 is only 1.2% of the number of Americans who died in the Civil War. At this rate, it would take almost 600 years for that many casualties to amount. And which was the greater cause? Lincoln invaded the southern states to "preserve the union". The Confederacy was just trying to defend their home. 2 years later, Lincoln proclaimed that the war was for the abolition of slavery in order to try to justify the magnanimous loss of life and the tyranny of the federal government oppressing the states' rights. And yet we praise Lincoln while condemning Bush. Talk about a carnival of idiots on show. |
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| Coldplay – Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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So how does Reign of Love fit in? At first I couldn't figure it out because Reign of Love sounds like something positive, but here he's talking about being a prisoner in this Reign of Love. Then I listened to "Yes", which seems to be about dealing with sexual temptation... and that illuminated Reign of Love. This is not talking about selfless, sacrificial, brotherly love... it's talking about forbidden erotic love. And how does that fit with Lovers in Japan? I think this is a parenthesis, transporting us to an example of a situation in which "even the right is wrong" and we're trying to get out, dreaming of that rising sun. Some clues that "Reign of Love" is something negative: he's a prisoner to it, he can't let go, and he wants to get rid of the heavy load. Biblically, locusts represent the enemies of Armageddon and they are picking him up. The next time he mentions the locusts, before saying what they're going to do after picking him up, he stops himself and says "Let us stop! I wish I'd spoken up (before I became a prisoner)." Now he has to wait in line for confession and then do his penance, again wishing he had spoken up before he allowed the locusts to pick him up and carry him toward destruction. |
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| Coldplay – Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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So how does Reign of Love fit in? At first I couldn't figure it out because Reign of Love sounds like something positive, but here he's talking about being a prisoner in this Reign of Love. Then I listened to "Yes", which seems to be about dealing with sexual temptation... and that illuminated Reign of Love. This is not talking about selfless, sacrificial, brotherly love... it's talking about forbidden erotic love. And how does that fit with Lovers in Japan? I think this is a parenthesis, transporting us to an example of a situation in which "even the right is wrong" and we're trying to get out, dreaming of that rising sun. Some clues that "Reign of Love" is something negative: he's a prisoner to it, he can't let go, and he wants to get rid of the heavy load. Biblically, locusts represent the enemies of Armageddon and they are picking him up. The next time he mentions the locusts, before saying what they're going to do after picking him up, he stops himself and says "Let us stop! I wish I'd spoken up (before I became a prisoner)." Now he has to wait in line for confession and then do his penance, again wishing he had spoken up before he allowed the locusts to pick him up and carry him toward destruction. |
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| Coldplay – Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This album is a comprehensive unit, so in order to figure out the meaning of the song, it should be seen in context of the songs before and after. The previous song left us saying, in so many words, "there must be more to life than dwelling on death." Lovers in Japan responds by saying "Whatever task is appointed to you, see it through. Sometimes even the right seems wrong, but when facing a choice between bad and worse, do your best knowing that there's a light at the end of the tunnel." Since every new day begins when the sun rises over Japan ("the land of the rising sun"), the Osaka sun is poetically referring to the very first moment that the night is ending and the new day is dawning. | |
| Coldplay – 42 Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I think people are missing the point of the second movement. It's not a celebration, saying "hey, you almost made it to heaven... nice try!" Musically, the transition seems to suggest going crazy obsessing over death. It sounds like he's panicking. What could be worse than discovering that you're not going to heaven? And what's more is that you almost made it... you were so close... but you're still damned. If the second movement is supposed to be a new realization and a celebration, it's short-lived because the song ends where it started: living in the realm of the dead. No, there is no resolution within the confines of this song. It has one simple message: if you dwell on death, then you might as well be dead too, and life is too short for that. I think the fact that "there must be something more" refers to life and not after-life is confirmed by the rest of the album, the main message of which is Live Life! |
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