Up & Up

First off: These are amazing lyrics. Chris Martin has always been one of my favorite lyricists and every single line in this song has meaning. There are no filler words, things he said because they rhymed, he didn't write this song so it would be popular, he wrote it because it mattered. I don't understand every lyric to this song, but will try my best and deduct what I can from each line.

"Fixing up a car to drive in it again" Trying to get heal yourself after the destruction of a relationship so that you can love again. Chris Martin and his ex-wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, divorced in 2014. The album "Ghost Stories", released before the album this track is on, "A Head Full Of Dreams", is clearly a reflection on his thoughts and feelings during that time and I believe this line is about him, and that most of the album was him healing after the events of 2014.

"Down upon the canvas working meal to meal" So down upon the canvas tells that this is a struggling artist. It could be referring to Chris Martin at the start of his career, or it could be referring to the people of the world, struggling, not being recognized for their talents and wasting away. Or perhaps it means we're all blotches of paint on the canvas of Earth. I'm not entirely sure of its meaning, but I trust that it has a good one and anyone can have their own interpretation of it.

"waiting for a chance to pick your orange field" waiting for your big break, waiting for opportunity to present itself, waiting for something to come along.

"See a performer, diamond in the rough" as William Shakespeare said, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts..." so, similar to the "We all are blotches of paint on the Earth's canvas" thing, we are all performers on a stage called the Earth. And many people are never recognized for their greatness; never seen by others and living out their lives one boring day after the next believing that they never could have been anything, and regretting all the chances they never took. Therefore, diamonds in the rough.

"See a bird soaring high above the flood it's in your blood, it's in your blood" And there are other people that stand out from the rough; the diamonds that get found by others or themselves. These are the people you hear about. They soar above the flood of the human race, striving to leave their mark on the world. And the "it's in your blood" thing? It could be about strength and confidence coming from within, or how naturally these things come to you. You can be a diamond in the rough, or you can be a bird soaring high above the flood. And I've also noticed how frequently he includes birds in his lyrics. Perhaps he never lost that child-like wonder of flight, or is using it as a metaphor for freedom and beauty and overall success. Either way, he's kinda obsessed with birds...

"Underneath the storm an umbrella is saying Sitting with the poison takes away the pain Up and up, up and up" so, I never really understood this verse, so I just looked it up and read one person named Sagar Chheda write their interpretation and it was better than what I had come up with, which was nothing. They say: "This particular verse has quite a deep meaning. There's an umbrella suffering in rain, has a heavy burden and no escape, but the umbrella says “sitting with the poison takes away the pain” meaning if you've already prepared yourself for the worst, your version of worse may not happen and that might make you feel that this wasn't as hard as I expected it to be."

And then there's the chorus, consisting mostly of the lyric "We're gonna get it together, I know, and go up, and up, and up". So, this clearly is an inspirational song, possibly written about humanity as a whole getting their act together, or about individuals that are going through difficulties. Either way, it is basically saying 'hey, I know times are hard right now, but things are going to be okay' which really is something that everyone needs to hear at some point in their life. I personally see it both ways, and believe it could be politically influenced.

"Lying in the gutter aiming for the moon trying to empty out the ocean with a spoon" so, lying in the gutter is somewhere no one wants to be. It is a metaphor for being in a bad place in life and wanting to be somewhere better but knowing that it's unlikely to get where you want to go, but continuing to dream. Trying to empty out the ocean with a spoon is trying to do something big to make a difference in the world but being just one person and feeling incapable, like you're a drop in the ocean. It all comes down to "can one person make a difference?"

"How come people suffer? How come people part? How come people struggle? How come people break your heart? Break your heart?" fairly self-explanatory, but it's asking why humans are so cruel to each other. Why we intentionally hurt one another even when it's not for personal gain. We claim to be an advanced, civilized, intelligent species but ultimately we are all animals in the end. We do things for ourselves out of selfishness and fail to uphold morals. So, basically, why?

"Yes I wanna grow and yes I wanna feel yes I wanna know so show me how to heal it up, heal it up" again, self-explanatory, but it's someone saying they want to heal themselves, again Chris Martin referring to his broken heart and learning to love someone and that person showing him how to love again.

"See the forest there in every seed" Say each person is a seed, and the world is a forest. Again, each person is part of a bigger picture.

"Angels in the marble waiting to be freed" I honestly don't really know with this line. If you have an idea, please reply to this comment.

After more chorus, is the line: "Cause you can say what is, or fight for it close your mind, take a risk. You can say "it's mine!" and clench your fist, or see each sunrise as a gift." (AMAZING LYRICS) It's presenting you with two options, saying 'you can talk about it, or you can do something about it' and 'you can claim something and keep others from it, or you can enjoy it with those people and be grateful it exists at all'

Then it repeats the chorus four more times before repeating the opening line followed by "When you're in pain, when you think you've had enough, don't ever give up." Which is, quite honestly one of the most important things about this song and dare I say one of the most important lyrics in music. It is then followed by: "Believe in love" thus ending the song. It is an excellent song with an amazing message. He did it very well in the Superbowl 50 halftime show and I am so proud of them all.