Coldplay: The Scientist Meaning

Song Released: 2002

Covered By: Willie Nelson

The Scientist Lyrics

Come up to meet you,
Tell you I'm sorry,
You don't know how lovely you are.

I had to find you,
Tell you I need you,
Tell you I set you apart.

Tell me your secrets,
Ask me your questions,
Oh, let's go back to the start....

1. anonymous

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   Nov 20th 2006 !⃝

   On the surface there definitively seems to be some science fiction properties in the works here. The culmination of science and progress, coupled with a desire to "take it back to the start" suggests some sort of time-travel, or even time reversal, as is seen in the nifty-swell video for this song. Rock on quietly!
2. anonymous

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   Nov 12th 2006 !⃝

   I concur with those who say that it's about a break up.
   
   "nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard. Oh take me back to the start."
   
   basically saying that there was no easy path through their relationship. And that he wants to get back together with her. ( thus: "oh take me back to the start" )
   
   tell me you love me
   come back and haunt me
   
   ^ again, implies the fact that he wants someone back.
   
   Pretty much about a break up...And as the others say, he's the "scientist" trying to figure out what went wrong, what's on her mind, and how they could maybe reunite.
3. anonymous

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   Oct 17th 2006 !⃝

   Is it just me or did the "the song is about a relationship between a young boy and and girl that had a long distance relationship....." etc make even less sense than the thing about his brother becoming a scientist?
4. anonymous

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   Aug 17th 2006 !⃝

   I think the meaning of this song really is about an amazingly strong, past relationship between two people realising there differences. It's about the feeling of wishing to go back and do the things they had done differently. Wanting and hanging onto that urge of not going back and trying your best to move on.
5. anonymous

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   Jul 19th 2006 !⃝

   The song is about a relationship between a young boy and and girl that had a long distance relationship. After much thought they decided to call it off, because the dperession of not seeing eachother very often was killing them. Turns out the depression of not having eachother is even worse then being in a relationship. Theyre love is so strong he compares his feelings to science, to show how powerful it is. The boy and girl are now stuck in a grey area and are trying to fiigure out what to do.
6. angela20

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   Jul 17th 2006 !⃝

   Haha alright here's the deal. It is not about fancying someone or about a scientist. The song is about a break up or losing someone you loves and the singer is trying to use science and reason to figure out what went wrong. But even that doesn't make sense to him. The line "take me back to the start" is the singer saying that he wants take things back to the very begining of the relationship when everything was okay.
7. anonymous

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   Jul 14th 2006 !⃝

   If you see the video it makes so much more sense. This guy and his girlfriend are taking a drive, but they get into an accident, and the girlfriend dies. The video is played backwards so it makes sense when it says, "Take me back to the start."
8. anonymous

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   Jul 7th 2006 !⃝

   This song's about the one you fancy being on your mind, no matter what your doing, the one you fancy will always be put first. This interpretation is actually true, I read on Wikipedia said by Chris Martin himself.
9. anonymous

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   May 15th 2006 !⃝

   This song helped me when my cousin died is you listen to the word close enough when you have lost sumone close then you'll understand it gets you through the hard times.
10. pompey

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    Apr 24th 2006 !⃝

    this has actually got nothing to do with any kind of interpretation of the song....but if anyone's seen the video...you notice how everything's happening backwards but chris' lip-synching normally....that's coz wen they recorded the video he lip-synched it backwards....and wen its played backwards everything happens backwards but he's singing normally (hope that makes sense). Just thought its really cool n wanted people to know.
11. anonymous

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    Mar 14th 2006 !⃝

    Yeah I read it in the liner notes too, so who's Dan and what does that mean?
    anyway this song is definitely about lost love and regret and trying to scientifically look at things that aren't concrete, like love, and I know people to too often try to be rational with everything instead of accepting the unexplainable. You can list reasons why you love someone, but put those exact characteristics into someone else and it's not the same. you can't quantify love.
12. anonymous

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    Mar 4th 2006 !⃝

    The scientist is trying to reaffirm his relationship with God, whom he has ignored in order to continue with his work.
    
    "I was just guessing / At numbers and figures / Pulling the puzzles apart / Questions of science / Science and progress / Do not speak as loud as my heart."
13. anonymous

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    Feb 4th 2006 !⃝

    Listen people: The Scientist is Dan, it says so IN THE ALBUM COVER!!SHeesh...
14. Cruelwinter

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    Jan 9th 2006 !⃝

    He finally understands what has gone wrong. He has deeply examined what the relationship and the girl meen to him. He was running in circles about what he thought was important but was wrong. In the end what is really important is pure honesty. Its sounds chessy, but if you listen close to the song, its full of hurt and he clues into to two simple facts: Love is worth any sacrifice and real love is a puzzle no one can solve completly. He feels like a sicentist trying to figure and sort things out one block at a time.....but no one can take it apart because it just dosent work that way......."Take me back to the start" Why? because Love is not something you can totally understand......
15. Migduh

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    Dec 25th 2005 !⃝

    Well, I think that the singer has just gone through a terrible break-up that has left him somewhat baffled. So now, he is trying to figure out what exactly he did or didn't do and that he wants to tell his ex(?) that he is deeply sorry and would like to make up.
    
    And uh, that's. . .well there you have it.

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