| Coldplay – Viva la Vida Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Given that this album seems to revolve around the theme of celebrating life (Viva la Vida) and revolutions (the cover art depicts the French Revolution by Delacroix), I think this song embodies the nature of revolutions. The lyrics to this song seem to refer to revolutions in history thus far, about kings, queens, emperors, and other rulers who fall from high places after revolutions from below. The French Revolution, the Chinese Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and the British Civil Wars in the 17th century all come to mind when I hear these lyrics. Each revolution overthrew a powerful central government, with a powerful head of state in a violent and bloody fashion (think "heads on a silver plate"). These lyrics are telling their stories from the point of view of the fallen leader, in a very poetic way, but the message is essentially "Oh, who would ever want to be king?" Because revolutions have occurred over and over in history, and they will continue to occur, but such is the story of life and of humanity. In a way, the sound of this album is a "revolution" from previous works of Coldplay. The inclusion of instrumentals and choir-like vocals is quite a departure from their previous works. So, to me, this song is about celebrating revolutions of every form -- political, economic, social, and especially artistic. Because without revolutions, there would be no progress. And this fourth album is part of Coldplay's progress. |
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