Coldplay: Paradise Meaning
Song Released: 2011
Paradise Lyrics
Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo.
When she was just a girl,
She expected the world,
But it flew away from her reach,
So she ran away in her sleep.
And dreamed of...
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I think this song is about a girl that has grown up and is going through a hard time.
It's hard for her, because she always thought that when she'd grow up, life would be like Paradise, but reality hits her hard.
"She expected the world, but it flew away from her reach"
The bullets could mean suicide as many have said, but maybe they are also symbollic of "bullets coming at you" - i.e. hard times, people saying bad things at you, it could even be that she was letting out at other people "the bullets" being her words spit out at those closest to her.
Life gets to her, but at night she can dream, and hope for things to get better. she'll fly away to a better place, and she knows that the dawn will break the next day "the sun is set to rise" that this feeling of despair will pass and she will have her paradise again. -
I think it's about a girl that when she was little she expected everything to be perfect but then something happened and she lost all those expectations now she thinks of when she was happy to ease her pain.
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In the traditon of many coldplay song themes this song is rooted in history. An elephant never forgets. It is about freedom from colonization in Africa. This appears liberating from an idealitic vantage point but in reality the pains and suffering of emperial oppression persist for ages and cannot be easily forgotten or overcome. Paradise is a place where oppression never existed a place where all will be reunited in peace with their kin, clan, tribe or band.If we forget the agony of human opression we are never whole and will repeat that which seperates us from one another.
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I think that it's about a girl who dreams she can become famous but as she grows older reality hits her and knocks her down then she finds the life she wants to take and becomes happy once again.
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I think it's about a girl living in an abusive household and she dreams of escaping and living in a better place, a 'paradise'.
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To me this song reflects different thought processes in a person's life. As a girl she dreams of an idea of paradise and envisions how her life would be. She expected the world and and didn't realize that things don't just come to you. "It flew away from her reach" meaning missed opportunities, and so she continues to escape to an idea of paradise in her dreams. The second stage reflects worsening emotions, almost giving up "and the bullets catch in her teeth". I picture pills in her mouth as bullets, but caught in her teeth because of hope and a chance for the better. "The wheel breaks the butterfly", she is steering, clipping her own wings. The wheel can also be her circle getting back to achieve her unrealistic idea of paradise she had as a child. In the third stage still "under stormy skies" she realizes life has ups and downs, just as the sun rises and falls, be realistic of what to expect of the world, and you'll realize you could already be in paradise.
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I think this song is about growing up, and the change from a girl to a woman.
"When she was just a girl, she expected the world"
Here he's talking about a young girl, who, when she was little had big dreams and possibly expected to become rich or famous or both.
"But it flew out of her reach, so she ran away in her sleep"
As this girl got older she realized that her dreams probably wouldn't come true, and that she was just a normal girl, but that didn't stop her from wanting her dreams, so she continues to dream about them.
"She dreamed of paradise. Everytime she closed her eyes"
Everytime she went to sleep all she could think about was being in this place where everything goes her way, everything is beautiful, everything is peaceful and everyone loves her. This thought occupied her mind in her subconciousness.
"Life goes on it get's so heavy, the wheel breaks the butterfly"
Even though the girl didn't get what she wanted, life still goes on, and everything gets more complicated. The butterfly symbolizes going through changes, especially in the soul. So perhaps when the girl grows up, goes on dates and learns how to drive. "The wheel breaks the butterfly" or the fact that she has grown up keeps her away from the thoughts that she has changed a lot. In the back of her mind she still wants to pursue her dreams, but since she is older and smarter, she realizes this is not a realistic goal.
"Every tears a waterfall, in the night, the stormy night, she close her eyes (away she flies)
The girl begins to cry when she realizes what she's become. She's sad that she is a woman, and sheds a lot of tears. "Every tear is waterfall" Meaning that every tear is beautiful. She is sad that she has grown up and she misses her childhood, but she also likes being a woman. But when it comes to night, she still "closes her eyes" and dreams of paradise.
"So lying underneath those stormy skies. She said "oh, I know the sun must set to rise"
The girl realizes when she's lying underneath the stars that, like the sun, she must change in order to better herself. The sunset symbolizes her old dreams and the sunrise symbolizes her become a woman. So to become a woman she must get rid of those old dreams and snap into reality. -
I think this is a fantastic song, for starters.
I agree with a few here that when she "ran away in her sleep" it could mean suicide, with "paradise" being some sort of heaven. We all know Coldplay have been known to make religious input into the songs.
I am not surprised that a few here consider this to be an Amy Winehouse tribute, I never thought of that myself but it sounds a possibility to me.
It's a beautiful song and it's music like this which is just brilliant, made even better with lyrics like these that are so thoughtful. They ask so many questions but they really relate to life these days. With songs like these, they can mean whatever you want them to mean, and I am actually impressed with some of the suggestions here. -
I believe it's about suicide. A girl starts her life happy, and expecting the world to be wonderful. Then as time goes on, she gets hurt by the troubles of the world and is on the verge of suicide. She wants so bad to succeed and be happy, but she can only do that in her mind.
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In my eyes this song is about a young girl who is experiencing a hard life and whenever she is dreaming she is thinking about .. para para paradise
This song is so meaningful to me, My Mum passed away 4yrs ago and everytime i think about her or am feeling upset/angry this song happens to come onto the radio or ipod everytime ! it's freaky i feel like Mum is trying to send me a message i'm not sure :/ -
I think the song is about a person in this case girl going through a really hard time and then she dreams of paradise, a better life, she runs away in her sleep because she hates the life she has now but dreams soon it will get better and through out the song although at first it was hard she gets trough it, escapes and finds paradise <3 i love this song so much i believe it speaks to a lot of people, the video makes me cry
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To me, the song is about a girl who was in deep pressure from the world around her and the only way she could get out of it was to dream in her sleep. She dreamt about freedom and a much better life. She realized that she would have to go back to the real world but her dreams were always where she belonged.
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To me, the song is about a girl who was in deep pressure from the world around her and the only way she could get out of it was to dream in her sleep. She dreamt about freedom and a much better life. She realized that she would have to go back to the real worldbut her dreams were always where she belonged.
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I think it mean that she thought her life would be perfect'when she was just a girl she expected the world' and then it want all haywire. and the only way she could make her life better was by creating her own world her own 'paradise' in her dreams. and then the last few words and 'dying underneath the stormy skies' mean that in reality her life is all miserable and it says' i know the sun will set tonight' saying it will become better some how. that is why is is used for the new show called revenge. its about a girl called amanda. her life was perfect as could ever be with her father. but then the woman he was is a relationship with made up that he was planning a terrorist... but he was an american why would he do that to his own country... unfortunatly no one believes him and he is placed in jail and he dies there. amanda is put in juvie and later she seekk revenge on all the people who put her dad in jail
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