I've pre-ordered the latest Coldplay album on iTunes, this has enabled me to download the title track "Viva la Vida". I'll probably let you have my opinions when the album is out... but cryptic imagery of this song really captured my imagination. I actually think it's a veiled attack on a political figure. I'll say who I think that is and why, after you've had an opportunity to read the lyrics:
I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies' eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you know there was never
Never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world
It was a wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh, who would ever wanna be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know St. Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Ohh...Hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know St. Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Ooh...
I actually think the song is a veiled attack on Tony Blair. Yes, I know I could easily be attaching my own political bias onto the song... but I'll list my reasons and let you make your own minds up.
The chorus is my strongest reason for feeling the way I do. The character in the song hears Jerusalem bells a ringing... this could easily be a reference to Blair taking up a position as a Middle East peace envoy. Then we have a militaristic/quasi-religious reference connected to Rome and a line in later choruses that reads "for some reason I can't explain, I know St Peter won't call my name". These lines can't help but make you think of a connection to Roman Catholicism... to which Mr Blair is a "recent" convert. The character in the song is clearly struggling with something on his conscience which is why he knows deep down that St. Peter won't call his name... he knows he's done something that he feels he cannot atone for (Roman Catholic theology runs along the lines that you need to confess your sins to a priest to be absolved; also some catholics believe in purgatory, a system whereby you can only get to heaven by paying your sins off in a kind of limbo state - this is entirely without biblical foundation and opposes the teaching that Christ's sacrifice pays for the entire sum of our sins). It could therefore be a reference to the amount of casualties in Iraq (coalition and Iraqi), something that would take a heavy amount of paying if you subscribed to purgatorial theology.
Other elements of the song make reference to memories of an old king dying and a new king being crowned... which mirrors the early days of New Labour when all opposition was effectively neutered. Then we have the mention of betrayal... how everyone who believed the central character represented one set of ideals, actually discover they aren't representing them... and the head on the silver platter could easily be a reference to people wanting Blair out of office. The line following that talks of a lonely puppet on a string... and perhaps this could refer to Blair being a puppet to US foreign policy. There are also constant references to lies and deceit and Tony Blair was noted for his "spin". Funnily enough when he was in office at No.10, if you typed "liar" into Google, the top result was Blair's biography on the No.10 website.
The beginning of the song probably likens the central character to King Canute who according to legend told his people he had power over the sea... it betrays an air of arrogance. Actually to set the record straight, the historical King Canute had a reputation of being very good king. The reason he went out to the sea and tried to hold it back,was not to prove he had mastery over it... it was actually to prove to his people that he couldn't (because the silly idiots had got it into their heads that he was a godlike figure).
Anyway, that's my reasoning behind why I think the song is a veiled attack on Blair's political history.
What are your thoughts? Do you agree/disagree? If so, I'd like to hear your own ideas and alternative theories.
