Coldplay: In My Place Meaning
Song Released: 2002
In My Place Lyrics
Were lines that I couldn’t change
I was lost, oh yeah
I was lost, I was lost
Crossed lines I shouldn’t have crossed
I was lost, oh yeah
And yeah
How long must you wait for it?
Yeah
How long must you pay for...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I believe this song truly has nothing to do with being inlove or heartbreak. I think these lyrics are about a person and his personal relationship with himself,along with fighting depression/mental illness, and possibly addiction. I feel this tells a story of a life lived through struggles of losing yourself while trying to find yourself, and the struggles of forgiving himself for what he feels was a past of bad choices in life, and desperately wanting change. Ultimately, I feel it has to do with the struggles of trying to have self love, and forgiveness by learning to except the past, and except the things you cannot change in order to be happy with one's self.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:First off I'd just like to say it's crazy how the same song speaks so differently to people. I completely see the validity in how the above users interpreted this, but what I get from this song relates to my personal experience which is very different from the others.
In my place in my place were lines that I couldn't change:
He is singing about a guy who is in love with a girl who just got her heart broken by someone else... She is so use to doing things her own way with her former lover that he feels like the replacement.
I was lost, I was lost, crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed:
He is getting weary waiting for her to get over him, and perhaps makes a mistake, or says something that he shouldn't have.
Yeah, how long must you wait for him? 3x:
He is trying so hard to have her love him in return, but she's still consumed with her past relationship...
I was scared I was scared, tired and underprepared, but I'll wait for you:
He isn't sure whether she'll ever come around, he went into this relationship not expecting so much baggage from her, but he loves her enough to stick around, he just doesn't know how long that may be.
If you go if you go, leaving me here on my own I will wait for you:
He is already so far in love with her that the only thing he can do is wait for her to come around, even if she goes back to him, to fix things, or just get closure, his heart is paralyzed from her, the only thing he can do is wait.
please please please come on and sing to me, to me to me:
Although there's nothing he can do but wait, he is desperately hoping that she will choose him, sing to me -- as in be with me, love me.
come on and sing it out, now 3x:
He is anxiously waiting for her to move on from the last guy and pick him. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:First off I just want to say How Much I love Coldpay. Their Music speaks about every aspect in Life. Its Ridiculous How amazing these Guys are. Its now 135 Times I've been listening to In My Place. My Interpretation is on a Personal Level.
In My Place by Coldplay I believe is about a troubled young man in Love but He's worried because of the Circumstances he faces in Life and the effect it will have on the relationship he has.
The first part "In my place..were lines I couldnt change" describes his situation and the position he is in, he is only at the mercy of the events that takes place in his life and he cant do much about it because there is no control.
"Cross Lines I shouldnt have crossed...I was lost" The circumstances were so intense that he was lost and confused, didnt know how to really make things better and sadly he made some mistakes. He took the wrong path.
"How long must you wait,pay for it" I think this is where he's talking to the Girl He Loves so much but his life is just a mess. He's trying hard to get himself together because he doesnt want to lose her but its like she's beginning to question his love for her and its getting tiresome.
"I was scared, I was scared
Tired and underprepared
But I wait for it
And if you go, if you go
And leave me down here on my own
Then I’ll wait for you
Yeah" this is the really sad part where I think He's just worried now and he doesnt know what to do anymore and he's just waiting to see how things will play out. He tried to fix his life and he's scared that She will become tired of Waiting and leave. But Because He Loves Her So Much, He'll Still Wait For her.
"Singing please...come back to me" this is Where He just really wants her. He Loves Her and wants to be with here. Doesnt want to let her go.
"In my place, in my place
Were lines that I couldn’t change
And I was lost, oh yeah, oh yeah" its sad that the song ended with these lines but its just heart breaking because Life simply put him in a rough position which might have resulted that the Girl He Loves left after getting tired of waiting for him to fix his life but these were circumstances he has no control over.
I think He Knew How it was Going to End and He Knew that She would Eventually leave thats Why The Lines "How long must you wait" "I'll wait for it" "Come back" and "I was Lost" kept repeating. He knew She would get tired but He's hurt and deeply sorry because these were things He just Couldnt Change. -
This song was always about feeling like i don't fit in, it's really personal and meaningful. In life you have so many questions and the chorus is like someone begging to have the answers.
Most of the times this was about me. But after going through a break up the meaning changed, now it's about finding myself and figuring myself out, finding real love as well. Music hits different from time to time. Love Coldplay -
i think this song's lyrics look like another coldplay song "shiver"
I'll be waiting in line just to see if you care(shiver)
Crossed lines I shouldn’t have crossed
"how long must you wait for"
Yeah I'll always be waiting for you(shiver)
I sing it loud and clear
Come on and sing it out
Come back and sing
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This has been my favorite song for 8 years and it still is. After doing some research on it, I came to interpret it as a song about screwing up badly and wanting forgiveness from that someone you love so much. It’s so relatable to me. I've done some pretty foolish things in my life that has hurt others close to me and I tend to feel pretty awful whenever I let someone down or when I did something to someone I never should’ve done. During those times, I would often feel like begging for forgiveness, asking them to please give me another chance, and to not reject me because of the error I committed. It’s quite personal to me.
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Obviously, this is a personal interpretation so if you can’t relate that’s fine. My brother passed away, via suicide and to me this song is how a man who can’t express his feelings deals with that sorrow.
“Yeah how long must you wait for it?
Yeah how long must you pay for it?
Yeah how long must you wait for it?
Oh for it”
How long and I waiting for death? How long am I waiting before I can see my brother again? How long may I pay for my sins in f neglecting my brother? He took his own life because I wasn’t there for him, neglected. I was insufficient to safeguard him. How long must I pay for my transgressions?
“I was scared, I was scared
Tired and under prepared
But I wait for it
If you go, if you go
Leave me down here on my own
Then I'll wait for you (yeah)”
I am scared, of life without him, my responsibility as an uncle and surviving son. I am tired and underprepared, because who can prepare for this? I have been left here all on my own, and I’ll wait for you (via my own death so I can see you again)
Then the chorus again, how long must I wait for my death? How long must I pay for my sins of neglecting you? How long should I pay for my sins brother? Until my death? I am scared. The invincibility or youth stripped away by the enormity of the situation. Forever condemned to safeguarding your friends despite my overwhelming desire to join you.
“Sing it, please, please, please
Come back and sing to me, to me, me
Come on and sing it out, now, now
Come on and sing it out, to me, me
Come back and sing it“
My heart screams out, it sings, with the power of those left behind. What shall I do? Come back to me and sing to me, what shall I do for you brother? Tell me please, I beg of you, I wait for my release from this world.
“ In my place, in my place
Were lines that I couldn't change
And I was lost, oh yeah, oh yeah”
I am lost, until my penance on this Earth is done and I can rejoin you brother. My heart breaks everyday and nothing can heal it.
I WAS scared; I was tired, I was underprepared.
But how long must I wait to see you again?
How much I pay for it Brother? How long must I pay for it? Everyday I wish I could make it up to you. Please, please; come and and sing it out, now.
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He loves a girl where it is not reciprocated
Sad but trusted but true
Sad but true
Sad but true
Sad but true
Sad but true
Sad but true
He wore the coat the lead singer of Echo & The Bunneymen to record because he admires him so much.
It is all this song is about.
I know Chris Martin -
This song is basically about the rise and fall. How coming back from rock bottom is near impossible. The mistakes you've made in life Getting back what you once had etc
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I believe this song could be both for Jesus and or someone you considered your soul-mate . I lost my fiance and I listen to this song and it's everything I am feeling. I am waiting for him. How long do I have to wait? Eternity. I was unprepared for such a traumatic loss. I believe it can be interpreted many ways
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Personally, I feel that this song is about our human nature, and how we love to categorize things, and label things. I think Chris is talking about and showing what it is like if you don't fit, or don't fully belong in these metaphorical boxes, these categories. "In my place" - He is in this metaphorical box that he was given from society as a whole. "Were lines that I couldn't change" He feels he can't change what society thinks of him, or change those lines so they really fit who he truly is. "I was lost, crossed lines I shouldn't have crossed" He attempts to break these lines and boundaries placed on him. When he does, he becomes lost, not really knowing where to go, where he belongs, what "box" he should be in. When he talks about how long he should wait/pay for it, he is asking how long he has to wait, or how much money he has to spend to feel accepted, to feel like he belongs somewhere. "I was scared, tired and under prepared" When he broke free of these lines, these restrictins, he wasn't ready for it, and he begins to feel scared and under prepared, presumably because he feels almost lost among all the groups of people, not belonging to anything or anyone. "If you go, and leave me down here on my own, well I'll wait for you" He alludes to having found someone, maybe a friend or lover, who feels the same way, like they are lost and don't feel they belong anywhere. If this person leaves him to go join a group, he's almost saying how he won't conform again to these standards, but rather he will wait for him/her to return.
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My interpretation is basically a guy falling in love with his best friend or getting friend zoned.
Lines that I couldn't change = thoughts/impressions that this girl had towards him (he cant get her to return the feelings)
Crossing lines that I shouldn't have crossed = developing feelings for in the first place. He shouldn't of crossed the line of being more than a friend.
then the rest of the song is him talking about how long he'll wait for her to come around or maybe just wanting to revert back to friends because he told and screwed up their friendship. (comeback and sing with me) -
I think the song is about how people in the world have branded and judged you, hence the name 'In my place'. In a wikipiedia page that I read, it stated that Chris Martin said "That's about where you're put in the world, and how you're given your position, and the way you look, and how you have to get on with it.". I think it is also about how he wasn't ready for the pressure of the world, in the lyrics it says 'I was scared, I was scared,
Tired and underprepared'. That's what my interpretation is of the song. ^__^ -
i love this song and the video is one of the best ive seen of Bleach that suits the song. and the video matches the song like they were made for each other
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Sep14 This is the best article I've read on this topic in fevorer! Thanks for making it so clear and concise and using St. Thomas Aquinas!I've been playing/singing music at Mass since I was 10 so I'm heavily opinionated about it. The problem begins in educations as most Catholics don't have any concept of what we're talking about here, and second the resources are so incredibly limited that its impossible not to fall into the mind-numbingly awful music that predominates in modern parishes. But the most people know hopefully the more demand for good music it'll create!
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I don't know why, but this song really hits me hard. Whenever i read the Bible now, I want to listen to this song. Everything seems so much clearer. I don't think this song has anything to do with that, but like most people say, songs hit people differently. I feel like if I close my eyes during the guitar part, I can see a glimpse of God's Kingdom. I suppose you could try to make this song about God but its probably about a guy and a girl. I think its funny how a lot of people think songs are about a guy/girl when its really about God.
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This song is about someone whom he loved died and he is down on earth and he/she is in heaven. He is lost without him/her.
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In my place touched me very much with the lyrics. It reminds me of when i was 14 years old and was molested and was in therapy. -Were lines that I couldn’t change
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I was so lost and felt that everything was my fault in what happened. -I was lost, I was lost
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I used to think when would the pain of what happened go away-How long must you wait for it-
I wanted my life and sanity back-Come back and sing to me-
But overtime i grew stronger and i now know that i was not to blame for this and that i need to let it go but i will always carry the scar of those years.-In my place, in my place
Were lines that I couldn’t change
And I was lost, oh yeah, oh yeah..................-
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