A Rush of Blood to the Head

A rush of blood to the head is that moment when emotions override all logic, causing you to do stupid and reckless things because you aren't thinking clearly.

The song is about a guy who just got dumped by his girlfriend. Now they either lived together in, let's say, an apartment (or house), or spent a lot of time there together. All the problems that led to the girl breaking up with the guy took place in this apartment, and the guy sees the apartment as a representation of all of their problems and all of his mistakes. As he desperately tries to think of ways to get his girl back, he decides that if he gets rid of the apartment, he'll erase all of his mistakes. He isn't thinking clearly because of all the emotions from just breaking up, so in "a rush of blood to the head," he goes back and buys the apartment and burns it down. He's calling to his ex-girlfriend to come see what he has done, come watch as all of their problems and all of his mistakes disappear in a blazing fire. He thinks that the apartment represents all of his mistakes for his ex also, so he wants her to stand and watch the fire until she's satisfied that all of their problems are gone and they can get back together again. At the end of the first verse, he's asking his girlfriend what can he do to get her back. The line, "He said I'm gonna buy a gun and start a war, if you can tell me something worth fighting for," is his way of saying, I'll go out there and destroy all of the problems you have with me, if you would only tell me what those problems are.

Now the song leads into the chorus, where the guy is saying to his ex-girlfriend, your movements away from me are causing me to break down ("honey, all the movements you're starting to make, see me crumble and fall on my face"). This guy knows the mistakes that he's made, and he's trying to tell her that he can make them all disappear by burning down the place where so many of their problems and fights took place. But his mistakes and his reckless actions are just giving her more reason to start moving on.

In the second verse he's still telling his girlfriend to come watch as all of his mistakes burn to the ground. The other people around him watching the fire might have lived in the apartment building or around their house, and some laugh and some cry as the building burns down. But his girlfriend just sits there and wonders why he's doing something like this. She wants him to see that he can't blame other things for the mistakes that he's made. Now the guy is really getting desperate, and he's for sure going to go out and destroy all of her problems, if only she can tell him what it is that he's fighting for. All of the reckless mistakes that he's making are because of one emotional moment of a rush of blood to the head.

At the end of the song the guy has realized that his girl has left, but he's still asking her to come back. He's wondering when he'll get to see her pretty face again, and he's still waiting by the burned out remains of their apartment, the destruction he caused because of a rush of blood to the head.

I don't know if anyone is going to read this, but this is what I have to say about this song:

I was severely abused by my father as a young girl. Growing up, I grew to hate him with a passion. Just looking at my house when I would get off the school bus made me want to vomit.

When I was old enough, I moved away and got a really good job for an insurance company. My main drive for raises/bonuses/promotions has been the pure desire to go back to that house, buy it from under him, and burn it down to the ground. I'm going to stand there, smoke a cigarette and drink a beer and watch that house and all the memories inside go down in flames.

When I came on this song, all I could think about was finding a man who loved me so much that he buys my house and watches it go down in flames.

When I get upset or overwhelmed, I put this song on and just cry. My favorite part of this song is, "Im going to do back the things it did to you in return."

This song obviously means many different things to different people. This is my interpretation of it: That a man falls in love with a woman who was deeply wronged in the past, and he does everything he can do to avenge it.

i was listening to an interview, and chris martin said that a "rush of blood to the head" is just the feeling of getting it done and over with. sort of acting on impulse. at least that's what i gathered from the explanation. this song is one of my favorites. it's incredible.

Cried the entire time listening to this song. You'd do anything and everything to rid of the past between you and this person because of the burning desire and love you have for this person. This one is not necessarly the right person, but it doesn't matter, you act on impulse. You'd burn cities down and start wars in the name of love, you'd essentially die for this person, just to show how much you love them. But at the end it's a plea, a cry to meet you halfway, because after you promise all these things, you need them to feel the same way in the end, or at least come back, and fight for you as well.

I needed you, to come back and fight for me, too.

This is the best song from the new album. I'm not sure what it's about exactly. Just strong feelings. I like the mystery of it so I'm not gonna analyze it. I really like it.

Well, my friend committed suicide about 6 months ago, right after her dad died, and her mom was awful to her. She lived in a tiny house. The man who had previously owned it had also killed himself. I can't stand to think of her in the house in the middle of nowhere getting yelled at by her mom night and day. This song, to me, seems to be about her every time I hear it. One day I will buy that house and break every bit of it.

Why does this whole album reflect my ex relationship?

okay, first of all, i have just recently discovered that COldplay is one of the best bands in the entire world. and i say this becuz they write such powerful music and lyrics, that, i dont know, it's truly amazing.........this song is really cool, although i havent been able to figure it out either, but theres a certain satisfaction in a song when it's so poetic and deep, that you can't figure it out. :-)

I just get a huge sense of desperation and strain from this song. This narrator is struggling with something, stuck between rationality and impulse. Whether it's right or wrong doesn't exactly matter, but why they're doing it does. The narrator is so desperate that he/she is willing to start a war or burn a town down to please whoever was wronged.

It's about committing arson to something he owns, so it's not really illegal, but immoral. He blames it on 'a rush of blood to the head' and I think he means adrenaline. After it's over with he feels remorse and just wants to get out of the place.

By saying 'and I know the mistakes that I've made; see it all disappear without trace' he means he knows what he's done, but with arson, there is very little evidence.

That's just my basic interpretation- being a crime scene analyst.