The secret story behind Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

[hayachris]

Great Story!!!

[danmets21]

It is a very interesting analysis. The "quest" can be further narrowed down however. I wrote an analysis of Viva for a college religion class I took a year ago. If you'd like to read it and discuss the album further let me know and I'll email it to you.

[danmets21]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miha;4918212
I think if you want to explain something quite abstract, you find a way of doing it. I say it's a nice interpretation, but I guess it has very little to do with the way the band interpret the songs and their meanings. Hence it isn't a concept album.

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A concept album simply means that there is a central theme or focal point (a story) that flows in and out of each theme. If you listen, I mean really listen, and read the lyrics, there is definitely a story being told in this album, so to me, yes it is a concept album. But that's simply my opinion.

[maria77]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danmets21;4918904
A concept album simply means that there is a central theme or focal point (a story) that flows in and out of each theme. If you listen, I mean really listen, and read the lyrics, there is definitely a story being told in this album, so to me, yes it is a concept album. But that's simply my opinion.

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And I agree with your opinion. Also there is an extension of the sound of the music from theme to theme...like when a song ends is like a continuation of sound to the next one.

[danmets21]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maria77;4918931
And I agree with your opinion. Also there is an extension of the sound of the music from theme to theme...like when a song ends is like a continuation of sound to the next one.

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Exactly. Perfect example is LiT into Cemeteries, but also the beginning and end, birth and re-birth, of LiT and The Escapist.

[danmets21]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danmets21;4918904
A concept album simply means that there is a central theme or focal point (a story) that flows in and out of each theme. If you listen, I mean really listen, and read the lyrics, there is definitely a story being told in this album, so to me, yes it is a concept album. But that's simply my opinion.

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Song*, Sorry not "in and out of each theme".

[AlbaCT42!]

a very interesting story
I never even began to think that this album had so much secrets

[ColdplayingfromKansas]

Cool! I'll definitely have to think about this the next time I listen to Viva all the way through

Although I have to point out that in Yes, the lyrics 'Since they gone' should be 'Sin, stay gone'
That's probably the only song that I don't really agree with the interpretation, but I like it nonetheless

[maria77]

The Yes song is just like as if it means that....someone tired of loneliness...Chris's voice is like if he is dispairing to find her....(girl) but the author of the interpetation took everything to death.

But overall the conclusion we can get is a hymn to life through all songs...so it's title of the album says it Viva la Vida!

[maria77]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danmets21;4918935
Exactly. Perfect example is LiT into Cemeteries, but also the beginning and end, birth and re-birth, of LiT and The Escapist.

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And another thing is the sound of choir present in every song, ( the boys all went ooohhhhhohhhh) is just a tiny observation maybe meaningless but it's present to be a common thing, like if every song has to have an epic sound....or something...

[jeremyy]

impressive... I am thinking the same death and life concepts when I'm listening VLV album. Although Coldplay always says that this album is not a concept album , it is definetly a concept album Coldplay!

[Samuel_94]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rafaelchampion;4917874
Well, I read this a long time ago on a brazilian forum. It's an analysis/story under Viva La Vida or Death and all His Friends album, that it's said it's not a concept album, but maybe you change your mind after reading this. I want to say that it's not mine but I also don't remember who wrote this, so if you Brazilian guy read this, ask for your credits.

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Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friend Analysis
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Life in Technicolor*
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This is the first track of the album and one of the most wonderful still don't having lyrics.
Technicolor is the name given to the process used on the films on color. Movies. On this first track there is the advice that a story is going to be told and on this instrumental, a part of our character's life is already being shown.

The song begins quite calm and goes on this rhythm until it's 42 seconds when it goes more happy and festive. From the idea that Chris puts together the biggest problems of the humanity in a unique character, we conclude that on Life in Technicolor, the narrator shows us the life of our character on it's birth moment - what explains the calm atmosphere on it's first 42 seconds - it's childhood, it's youth that are bound to the festive atmosphere of the song. From that on, we see the beginning of it's adult life, in the end of the song, that shows itself dark in it's last seconds.

This dark atmosphere shows that our character found himself on a decisive moment of his life, a moment in which he realized that he was missing something. Something that would complete himself.

It's interesting to remember that this dark atmosphere in which Life in Technicolor ends fits perfectly, and is the introduction to Cemeteries of London.

*Life In Technicolor has 2:29s. Dividing that for 3,5 we have about 3 periods of 42 seconds. 42 is taken as the sense of the life, that have three phases: the birth, life and death.

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Cemeteries Of London
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This song is literally about a research. A desperate research for god (or God). In the end of Life in Technicolor, our character realized that he was missing something in his life. We conclude that he now knows what it was: he was missing a divinity. He was someone without faith:


At night they would go walking
Til the breaking of the day
The morning is for sleeping
Through the dark streets they go searching
To see god in their own way
Save the night time for your weeping
Your weeping

Singing lalalalalalalaiy
And the night over London lay


Clearly on the first part of this song, our hero, with other people were searching for god (or God), always at night. It's nice to note that, generally meetings for religious purposes occur at night.


So we rode down to the river
where Victory ghost pray
For the curses to be broken
We go underneath the arches
Where the witches are they say
There are ghost towns in the ocean
The ocean

Singing lalalalalalalaiy
And the night over London lay

During his research he encountered several pseudo-gods, ghosts, witches, but none of that was what he really wanted. That was not the god he so sought. So the research continues, and has its end:

God is in the houses
And God in my head
And all the cemeteries in London

Finally he realizes that his quest was blind. God was everywhere, and everyone and everything, and as he realizes it he also discovers that he could never understand such a divinity, it was not ready for such knowledge, what is clear here:

I see God come in my garden
But I don't know what he said
For my heart it wasn't open
Not open

Having finished his quest, he leaves now to another: the search for understanding.

Singing lalalalalalalaiy
And the night over London lay

But then the unexpected happens. It is thought that a war starts, and our hero must fight, what lets him completely stunned, because now that he met with God and the world seems chaotic.
Here Chris makes his first reference to the history of wars, particularly the 2nd World War. We are told the history books that between August and October 1940, London received 13,755 tons of explosive bombs and 14,421 containers of incendiary bombs, not counting the months until the bombing in May 1941. At the end of 1940, deaths have totaled 15,000 during the attacks of the Luftwaffe - the German air force - to England. London was about fighting the darkness:

Singing lalalalalalalaiy
There's no light over London today

The lonely atmosphere in which ends with this song makes us think that our character was bad on the battles. He must have been lost and wounded, which leads to Lost!

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Lost!
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Lost! is a song about struggle. Our hero was lost while in the faith, and war.
First let's talk about the instruments that fill it: the organ and drums.
Well, this is simple: the organ is a common tool in churches, while the drum reminds wars and battles. Thus, we conclude that these two instruments with sad and pseudo-pessimistic lyrics show us the physical and spiritual state of our hero.
He is losing the war, losing his faith, and is injured, but still has hopes.
He is sure that everything is not lost yet.

Just because I'm losing
Doesn't mean I'm lost
Doesn't mean I'll stop
Doesn't mean I would cross

Just because I'm hurting
Doesn't mean I'm hurt
Doesn't mean I didn't get what I deserved
No better and no worse

I just got lost!
Every river that I tried to cross
Every door I ever tried was locked
Ohhh and I'm Just waiting 'til the shine wears off...

He wants the war to end, so that everything returns to normal. In the following verses, he gives advice based on his own life:

You might be a big fish
In a little pond
Doesn't mean you've won
'Cause along may come
A bigger one

And you'll be lost
Every river that you tried to cross
Every gun you ever held went off
Ohhh and I'm Just waiting until the firing's stopped
Ohhh and I'm Just waiting 'til the shine wears off

On war you can not underestimate your enemy, because this could be your downfall. He says it was because he did what he did, and now that he no longer has to live because, since he is injured, losing the war and his faith he wants the death.

Ohhh and I'm Just waiting 'til the shine wears off
Ohhh and I'm Just waiting 'til the shine wears off

After these verses begins an instrumental solo. The cries of Chris at that time may be associated with pain that our hero is feeling.

Notice one thing: the screams at the very end when the organ plays, alone, a sad melody that resembles those songs performed in funerals held in churches. On Lost! Our hero is faced with pain, loss and death.

And then ....

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42
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As many know, in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, after calculating for years a supercomputer said that the meaning of life is 42 - remember the number in Life In Technicolor?

Well, on Lost! our hero was on the verge of death, here he is dying but not dead.

Those who are dead are not dead,
They're just living in my head.
And since I fell for that spell,
I am living there as well.

Time is so short
And I'm sure,
There must be something more.

At first, when he remembered of all his dead friends, who lived only in his memories, he subsided, because he would also live in the memory of others, but then he realizes: you need something more, that can not be the end.

After singing it twice, as if to establish such an idea, an instrument starts, and what instrumental!
Associating context, this instrumental is a battle between our hero and death!
Finally, he escapes death, I say escape because you can not conquer death.

You thought you might be a ghost,
You thought you might be a ghost,
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close,
You didn't get to heaven but you oh-oh oh-oh.

Back to life, he remembers his dead friends:

Those who are dead are not dead,
They're just living in my head.

He has almost died, but there is no evidence that the war is over, right?

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Lovers in Japan
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In Lovers In Japan, our hero is a prisoner of war. Once in prison he remembers his friends, still alive, and pleads intimately and solitary that they resist:

Lovers, keep on the road you're on
Runners, until the race is run
Soldiers, you've got to soldier on
Sometimes even right is wrong

Joining the music the history of war, maybe this is an apology for Japan's participation in World War II.

In prison, he is tortured, humiliated. But do not give up nor lose hope: one day the war will end and he will again be happy:

They are turning my head out
To see what I'm all about
Keeping my head down
To see what it feels like now
But I have no doubt
One day we're gonna get out

Tonight maybe we're gonna run
Dreaming of the Osaka sun
Ohohohoh ohohohoh oh
Dreaming of when the morning comes

They are turning my head out
To see what I'm all about
Keeping my head down
To see what it feels like now
And I have no doubt
One day the sun will come out
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Reign Of Love
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Reign of love
I can’t let go
To the sea I offer this heavy load
Locust wind
Lift me up
I'm just a prisoner in a reign of love

Locust wind
...
How I wish I'd spoken up
To a reign of love
…

Reign of love by the church we're waiting
Reign of love on my kness go praying
How I wish I'd spoken up
Away get carried on a reign of love

In the Bible, our body is compared to a sacred temple of worship to God. Our hero here learned that, within himself and show himself to God as a temple of praise into his kingdom.

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Here I'll put my finger on the guy's story. In my view, at the end of Lovers in Japan, on the last torture, the character faints (because the way Lovers In Japan ends). Then, on his head, dreaming, he finds the Reign of Love, his desire. In the end of Reign of Love, he wakes up and feels the bitter taste of the reality again, that is Yes. That's why the first seconds of Yes sounds painful and heartbreaking.
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Yes
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On Yes our character remains in prison, but now he's old - note the tone in which Chris sings - and once again tired, hopeless ... at least not as many as before.

When it started we had high hopes
Now my back's on the line
My back's on the ropes

When it started we were alright
But night makes a fool
Of us in dayligh

He tells of his life in prison:

Then we were dying of frustration
Saying "Lord lead me not into temptation"
But it's not easy when she turns you on

The "she" mentioned in the song is Death, who follows him for a long time.The more you do not want to fall into temptation, sin, surrender, with death you are trying hard to resist. But not impossible, for he does not give up:

Since they gone

Chris whispers, shortly before leaving a wink to his fellow inmates:

If you'll only if you'll only say yes
Whether you will's anybody's guess
God only God knows I'm trying my best
But I'm so tired of this loneliness

Our hero makes it clear: if you say yes, surrender to be discarded then fine. He still continues to resist, unable to bear even more loneliness.

For a long while, he did not surrender, and in the meantime he finally manages to escape:

So up they picked me by the big toe
I was held from the rooftop then they let it go
If there’s any screaming let the windows down
As I crawl to the ground

Seeing that he escaped, the enemy stepped up security prison, but it does not matter. He is free, and freely send a last message and one last note about the life:

If you'll only if you'll only say yes
Whether you will's anybody's guess
God, only God knows she won't let me rest
But I'm just so tired of this loneliness
I've become so tired of this loneliness

Again he says he will not surrender to those who want to do it, and now he realizes: I am free, I'm lonely, I'm tired and god knows that Death will continue following me.
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Chinese Sleep Chant
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This song, apparently, has no feeling and it just seems a lullaby darker is just that: a lullaby, which leads us to two aspects that will be addressed at the end of analysis.
Chris sings several times the following verse:

Fall asleep
Fall asleep
Sleep satisfied
Sleep crucify

After so much trouble our hero finally gets to rest. A satisfying and well-deserved rest.
So begins his new life. He begins to live life.

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Viva La Vida
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Viva La Vida is easily interpreted as the story of someone who was in power, but lost everything, and it is just that, but who is this king?
Yes, he is our hero, who sought the same God who suffered, was jailed for years and managed to escape.
One can understand that after the war, which eventually ended our hero became King of the world, but could not rule it and was expelled from the throne, by the very people who put him there.
Jerusalem bells and Roman Cavalry are used as an example to demonstrate the size of the revolution that the people did.
Viva La Vida also carries this message: the people have the duty and right to choose and judge their rulers.

Once again, our hero finds himself alone and in search of allies:

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

So how he knows he did wrong and be punished for it:

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

The only person who was with him was his queen, the person he really loved.

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Violet Hill
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This song has 3 times.
At first, we make a trip to the past. Our hero remembers his time in prison and chaos that the world was at that time:

Was a long and dark December
From the rooftops i remember
There was snow white snow
Clearly i remember
From the windows they were watching
While we froze down below
When the future's architectured
By a carnival of idiots on show
You'd better lie low
If you love me
Won't you let me know?

In the second, he shows us how is the world today:

Was a long and dark December
When the banks became cathedrals
And a fox became God

In a world where he lives now, banks are sacred places and the fox - that an animal is considered cruel and treacherous - God turned. That is, in this new world the values ​​passed are lost and the rulers do not care pro people are greedy, treacherous, cruel.
As chaos reigned, it was noted that it was necessary a new revolution, a revolution that will rebuild the church and its values.

Priests clutched onto bibles
Hollowed out to fit their rifles
And a cross held aloft

And he felt honored to not be contaminated by such filth:

Bury me in armour
When i'm dead and hit the ground
My nerves are poles that unfroze
And If you love me won't you let me know?

But he acts like a coward, he does not want to go to war:

I don't want to be a soldier
With the captain of some sinking ship
With stow, far below
So if you love me why'd you let me go?

In the third stage, we see that he decides to run away with his beloved - the queen? - For a quiet place where they can live in peace: Violet Hill.

I took my love down to violet hill
There we sat in snow
All that time she was silent still
Said if you love me won't you let me know?
If you love me won't you let me know?

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Strawberry Swing
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Strawberry Swing is a song of love and death. At first we see that while the world fought, our nameless hero lives in peace with his beloved, and Strawberry Swing was one of his favorite places:

They were sitting
They were sitting on the strawberry swing
Every moment was so precious

They were sitting
They were talking under strawberry swing
Everybody was for fighting
Wouldn't want to waste a thing

Sometimes the mood of the troubled world today, saying he should fight, but he did not care.
First he refused to look at the facts:

Cold cold water bring me ‘round
Now my feet won't touch the ground

Then simply refused to believe that things were really bad:

Cold cold water what you say?
When it's such, it's such a perfect day
Such a perfect day

Then Death came after him again, but this time he attacked and took away his beloved:

Ah-ah-ah-ah
Now the sky could be blue I don't mind
Without you it's a waste of time

Now the sky could be blue could be grey
Without you I’m just miles away

Since nothing else really matters, he decided, once and for all, fight, go to war again.

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Death and All His Friends
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Here he can't forget the unrealized plans with his beloved one. The sad mood with which Chris sings makes it clear the state of mind of our hero. In search of solace he tells her not to be afraid, to be patient because it may soon be together once more and once and for all:

All winter we got carried
Away over on the rooftops let's get married
All summer we just hurried
So come over just be patient and don’t worry

The music is evolving in a magnificent instrument, which makes reference to our hero in his battles, his last battle. But his worst enemy, Death finally decides to take him. He no longer put up with fights, battles and so much hate meaningless, even unknowingly, surrender to it, because deep inside his fear of death is the strongest thing he can feel:

No, I don’t want a battle from beginning to end
I don’t wanna cycle of recycle revenge
I don’t wanna to follow death and all of his friends

But it is useless. One can not escape death.

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The Escapist
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And in the end
We lie awake
And we dream
Of making our escape...


On Chinese Sleep Chant, it was said it would led to two strands.

At first, everything that happened from Viva La Vida to Death and All His Friends was a dream-nightmare of our character, and here he wakes up in The Escapist.

In another, everything that happened from Viva La Vida to Death and All His Friends was real, and here at The Escapist he actually dies and realizes that her fear was useless.

Regardless of which side is the more true in The Escapist one thing is clear: death is like awakening from a dream, as good as bad. And we can not escape this awakening.
This is perhaps one of the great messages of the album.

Going forward, everyone must have noticed that Life In Technicolor and The Escapist has the same melody, and both open and close the album respectively.
This was a great move guys. What they mean by that is:

The beginning is the end, death is the beginning. "Do not Worry, Be Patient."

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I am sorry if there are any English errors. I am tired and used google.
Remember that i am not the author of that, so any argumentation about this theory must not be directed to me.
Discuss...

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WOW! Longest post ever? Really interesting thoughts.

[rafaelchampion]

I'll just up this thread because It's an interesting read.

First post guys, take a time, go there, you won't regret.

[joseki]

I think that The Escapist is a "restart", people dies but children born also, so that's why LIT and The Escapist are pretty the same song.



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[Viva_La_Coldplay]

An interesting read... it does help to look into another person's opinion. But I guess it's all up to interpretation isn't it?