I actually don't think this is about war at all. It certainly has a dark and heavy tone, but I think it may be about something a little deeper than war and corruption. If Coldplay wanted to write a song about that, I think they would do it in a way that wasn't so obvious, a la Rush of Blood to the Head.
I think this song is about the speaker's battles with love. A common theme throughout many of Coldplay's songs (namely, the Scientist) is being trapped in a cycle of bad relationships, where the speaker is trying to find love so badly that he either lets himself overthink things and consequently ruin his relationship or lets himself get consumed by the relationship and not stand up for what's best for him. Well, I think this song fits in somewhere with that theme, except here the speaker is finally taking a stand for himself.
For one, the repetition of the song really distinguishes this song; the guitar just hammers the same notes for measures on end, and the oft repeated lines ("if you love me...") suggest a cycle, that this is something he keeps doing. Frustration is the best word to describe it; the song sounds immensly frustrated, and the cries to "let me know" are his desperate attempts to find out if he has found love, because (as the frustration suggests) he is again in a disfunctional relationship.
The sudden change at the end of the song where it gets very soft is not meant to be a relief from the anger. I think it represents the speaker giving in once again; while he had this emotional charge where he was demanding to know what the deal was, where he actually was taking control of his own life, he suddenly loses it and I think it's because of the overall lack of self-confidence that again is in many Coldplay songs. At the end of the song, he gets soft and is no longer demanding, but pleading with the other person, and at the end of the song he still doesn't get an answer. He tried to be forceful and failed, with neither method giving him any result.
The snow imagery is meant to give a sense of bleakness, of desperation. The snow is meant to conjur up images of grandeur, matching the emotional weight of the subject matter. I don't think the "banks" he's talking about are the monetary exchange centers you think the lyrics to mean, but rather snow banks; they're so large that they're like Cathedrals, and the fog is so thick and powerful that it seems like God's omnipresence. I don't think this is so much social criticism as it is imagery used to explain the speaker's feeling of being lost in his own world. The snow represents a blank slate, the promise of starting over, but he feels so insecure in his own head that the possibility of a new relationship is too huge and terrifying.
Now, another possibility that I really like is that the song is about the speaker's relationship with God. Perhaps the speaker is crying out to God "If you love me, won't you let me know" because he feels so forgotten or unloved in his own world.
I don't know, the entire song just gives a sense of loneliness, what with the imagery, and I think the concept of Violet Hill, a place marked by a purple hue yet is covered in "white snow," is meant to represent a hidden love that the speaker is trying to find. The white snow will either melt away (perhaps meaning he has found love) or stay (meaning a new chance for finding love) but all he needs is an answer so he can move on. Without it, he can do nothing at Violet Hill and stay in his state of insecurity, hence the frustration and anger.
I actually don't think this is about war at all. It certainly has a dark and heavy tone, but I think it may be about something a little deeper than war and corruption. If Coldplay wanted to write a song about that, I think they would do it in a way that wasn't so obvious, a la Rush of Blood to the Head.
I think this song is about the speaker's battles with love. A common theme throughout many of Coldplay's songs (namely, the Scientist) is being trapped in a cycle of bad relationships, where the speaker is trying to find love so badly that he either lets himself overthink things and consequently ruin his relationship or lets himself get consumed by the relationship and not stand up for what's best for him. Well, I think this song fits in somewhere with that theme, except here the speaker is finally taking a stand for himself.
For one, the repetition of the song really distinguishes this song; the guitar just hammers the same notes for measures on end, and the oft repeated lines ("if you love me...") suggest a cycle, that this is something he keeps doing. Frustration is the best word to describe it; the song sounds immensly frustrated, and the cries to "let me know" are his desperate attempts to find out if he has found love, because (as the frustration suggests) he is again in a disfunctional relationship.
The sudden change at the end of the song where it gets very soft is not meant to be a relief from the anger. I think it represents the speaker giving in once again; while he had this emotional charge where he was demanding to know what the deal was, where he actually was taking control of his own life, he suddenly loses it and I think it's because of the overall lack of self-confidence that again is in many Coldplay songs. At the end of the song, he gets soft and is no longer demanding, but pleading with the other person, and at the end of the song he still doesn't get an answer. He tried to be forceful and failed, with neither method giving him any result.
The snow imagery is meant to give a sense of bleakness, of desperation. The snow is meant to conjur up images of grandeur, matching the emotional weight of the subject matter. I don't think the "banks" he's talking about are the monetary exchange centers you think the lyrics to mean, but rather snow banks; they're so large that they're like Cathedrals, and the fog is so thick and powerful that it seems like God's omnipresence. I don't think this is so much social criticism as it is imagery used to explain the speaker's feeling of being lost in his own world. The snow represents a blank slate, the promise of starting over, but he feels so insecure in his own head that the possibility of a new relationship is too huge and terrifying.
Now, another possibility that I really like is that the song is about the speaker's relationship with God. Perhaps the speaker is crying out to God "If you love me, won't you let me know" because he feels so forgotten or unloved in his own world.
I don't know, the entire song just gives a sense of loneliness, what with the imagery, and I think the concept of Violet Hill, a place marked by a purple hue yet is covered in "white snow," is meant to represent a hidden love that the speaker is trying to find. The white snow will either melt away (perhaps meaning he has found love) or stay (meaning a new chance for finding love) but all he needs is an answer so he can move on. Without it, he can do nothing at Violet Hill and stay in his state of insecurity, hence the frustration and anger.
What do you think?