Hurts Like Heaven

He's falling in love. Along with the wonderful excitement of falling in love, comes the scary feeling of vulnerability.

The tune is purposely upbeat and fast to portray the excitement he feels. He also expresses excitement when he says, "I feel a little bit nervous and I cannot relax."

You know how when you first start falling for someone, you want to tell the world? That's how he feels. He wants to write it everywhere, to make it more real. He has so much emotion he doesn't know what to do with it, so he wants to let it out through any medium he can. When he says these lines, I imagine him writing initials in a heart: "Let me out with the spray can soul" "Written in graffiti on a bridge in the park" "Written up in marker on a factory sign" "On a concrete canvas I will make you a mark"

He refers to what it's like to open up your heart to someone else when he says "I struggle with the feeling that my life isn't mine." His own happiness now also depends on the person he loves, giving them the power to break you. He's talking about this vulnerability when he says, "It's so cold, so cold"

A powerful part of this song is the juxtaposition in the chorus:

"Oh, you use your heart as a weapon" He feels so vulnerable and scared to be in love. The person he loves could hurt him so easily.

"And it hurts like heaven." Loving someone feels so wonderful, it hurts.

I, for one, really like the song. This album is different than their others, but I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing. I mean, their other songs are still there. Just because they came out with new material doesn't mean their other stuff just vanished into thin air. Or thick air. Or air with pockets. Whatevs. This song really reminded me of Angels and Airwaves for some reason.

"You use your heart as a weapon And it hurts like heaven."

Hearts can be powerful weapons, indeed.

To me, it justs sounds like someone who's fallen in love and is wandering about the streets thinking about the person he's fallen in love with, and they want to tell the whole world.

Written in graffiti on a bridge in a park 'Do you ever get the feeling that you're missing the mark?' It's so cold, it's so cold It's so cold, it's so cold

Written up in marker on a factory sign 'I struggle with the feeling that my life isn't mine' It's so cold, it's so cold It's so cold, it's so cold

See the arrow that they shot, trying to tear us apart Took the fire from my belly and the beat from my heart Still I won't let go Still I won't let go

You Ooohooh 'Cause you do

Oh you, use your heart as a weapon And it hurts like heaven

On every street, every car, every surface are names And at the streets arise, I'll be rather insane Don't let them take control No, we won't let them take control

Yes, I feel a little bit nervous, Yes, I feel nervous and I cannot relax, How come they're out to get us? How come they're out when they don't know the facts?

So on concrete canvas and a glow in the dark On a concrete canvas, I'll go making my mark Armed with the spray can soul I'll be armed with a spray can soul

You Ooohooh

'Cause you use your heart as a weapon And it hurts like heaven

Woah-ooh Woah-ooh

Yes, It's true When you use your heart as a weapon And it hurts like heaven

And it hurts like heaven

Ahhhhh Oh Ooh Ohhh

I absolutely love this song. "Use your heart as a weapon, and it hurts like heaven" isn't some meaningless pop gibberish that's easy to remember. It's using love in conflict. When your opposition loves you, it hurts, because conflict is born of hate; and being shown love in that context makes you desperately want to give up on any hatred you might feel. Use your heart as a weapon against self-inflicted suffering and unnecessary hatred, and it hurts like heaven. Love is the only way we can fix anything.

Think it should be:

See the arrow they shot trying to tear us apart? Take the fire from my belly and the beat from my heart Still I won't let go Still I won't let go

On every street, ever car, and every surface are names Tonight the streets are ours and we're writing the same "Don't let em take control, no we won't let em' take control."

In my opinion, I think this song could be about being in love with someone who doesn't share the same feelings. The person could be so easy to fall for, hence the "you use your heart as a weapon" and "it hurts like heaven" could convey that being in love with them does hurt since it's not mutual, but it's a heavenly feeling to be captured in such love.

This song might have a lover's subtext but it's truly about graffiti.. and a bit more. It's about a protagonist who's feeling the thrill of graffiti but in a broader social context such as "culture jamming". The graffitiist is using their heartfelt art as a tool to counter the decadent and oppressive society in which they live. If you read closely, you'll notice the verses are about the protagonist noticing the graffiti more and more around them, the chorus is the protagonist's philosophy of graffiti, and the bridge is the act of them partaking in the art themselves, worried about the police turning up but feeling like they've truly expressed themselves. Voila!

you use your heart as weapon and it hurts like heaven

<3 we can all relate

Since Chris Martin has said in interviews that this album is about a boy and girl finding love in a dystopia, seems like this opening song could be an introduction of one protagonist (let’s assume it’s Mylo, who’s the boy) – going out with a group for the first time to do something illegal. “Yes, I feel a little bit nervous / yes, I feel nervous and I cannot relax / how come they’re out to get us?” Given the info Chris Martin has released about the album, I’m going to say he’s tagging the city with anti-authority graffiti as part of the Lost Boys gang.

I've tried to sort out this whole album ... if you're interested, check out my analysis at http://www.smrvl.com/blog/?p=976 -- I'd love to know if you agree with my guesses!