Coldplay: Viva La Vida Meaning
Song Released: 2008
Covered By: Taylor Swift
Viva La Vida Lyrics
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 enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
Now the old king is...
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King David for sure.
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Guys. I'm pretty sure the song isn't really for a king or Napoleon.. I think it is how maybe he had people loving him, he was a "perfect" normal person. Then he did something like drugs, or something, and now he has lost that certain power, love that people have given him. He feels that lost that happened because of the decision he made.
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This song is about King Louis XVI during the French Revolution. It talks about he used "to rule the world" but know he sweeps the streets he used to own or other words his kingdom. The French people did not like King Louis XVI and the King is saying how unstable France is and how Enlightment created this revolution. "It was the 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"
It even talks about his execution when it says "Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?"
King Louis was a puppet cause the third estate and some of the second (French government branches) controlled everything he did in a constitutional monarchy. -
All this King Louis stuff is really interesting, and could be a totally valid interpretation of this song. I just wondered, especially because of the particular line of wanting his head on a silver platter... And playing with the religious themes... Maybe something to do with John the Baptist?
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Napoleon - I always felt it told Napoleon's story much better than Louis XVI.
In the early stages of the revolution, the revolutionaries would not have relished an emperor, nor were they happy about the amount of power and support Napoleon garnered with his military might. Napoleon's ultimate goal, until forced to give it up was always the empire of Alexander. He invaded Egypt and thanks to him we found the Rosetta Stone, but was not able to hold his victory so far from home and was forced to come back. The wicked and wild winds are the revolution itself, which allowed him to rise to power, the drums are the cannon that he fired upon citizens in the street. A king is just a lonely puppet - Napoleon was aiming much higher than that, and at one point he ruled almost half of Europe before becoming an exile on a tiny island.
It is, of course, a treatise on nostalgia, lost dreams, power, strength and arrogance of youth. But, I've always assumed it used Napoleon as it's basis. I could just be biased as a History major and a huge Napoleon fan.... -
I look at it as the House of Medici, from Giovanni di Bicci to Piero lo Sfortunato.
Each paragraph!is for a stanza
In the beginning, everything was so great. They were loved since the 1450s. But around 1490, everything started to go downhill. Eventually, Savonarola gained power and Piero lo Sfortunato was drowned by the French.
People feared them. Nonetheless, once Piero il Gotosso died, everyone was so happy because Lorenzo il Magnifico was now Lord of the city.
One minute, you have the key, the next your locked in the sacristy by a poet while your brother is getting stabbed to death by your sisters husband.
In Florence, rining bells meant either time for church of a crisis. Missionaries = Savonarola
Florence was known for lies. People often lied to/about the Medici.
As I mentioned before, Piero lo Sfortunato brought hell upon the city because he left and Savonarola took control.
I totally should
Cosimo locked up by Condottieri, Giuliano dead by Pazzi, Lorenzo excommunicated by pope and called heretic by Savonarola, Piero II drowned by French... Who would ever want to be king?
Reprise of chorus
St. Peter probably won't call their name because they'll be hanging out with Virgil and Plato all the other smart people in Limbo. Either that or they're too cool for the Gates of Heaven. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Now most of us have heard the song "Viva La Vida," but what does it mean? I think I have some answers.
This song is about how you can go from being on top of the world to being a slave to it. The narrator tells his story of how he was deceived by his power, even though his intentions may have been good. One prime example is when he says, "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." In that line, the narrator remembers how powerful he was. When he talks about sleeping alone, he is referencing that no one loved him or paid attention to him. When he says, "I know St. Peter won't call my name," he means that he knows that his power corrupted him, even that he fought in the name of Christ. -
Now most of us have heard the song "Viva La Vida," but what does it mean? I think I have some answers.
This song is about how you can go from being on top of the world to being a slave to it. The narrator tells his story of how he was deceived by his power, even though his intentions may have been good. One prime example is when he says, "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." In that line, the narrator remembers how powerful he was. When he talks about sleeping alone, he is referencing that no one loved him or paid attention to him. When he says, "I know St. Peter won't call my name," he means that he knows that his power corrupted him, even that he fought in the name of Christ. -
I really belive that this song is about a man who "used to rule the world",but the world he is talking about is a woman he loved/loves,and he thought he had everything,but then he lost her, probably to someone he knows:sweep the "streets" I used to own,that means he now see her maybe everyday with the second guy.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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It's about a plumber who tries to rescue damsels from fire breathing dinosaurs, but along the way becomes a villain in the court of public opinion. He then becomes disillusioned from the whole circus and instead decides to chuck the whole thing.
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This song in my opinion relates to the days of early Christians and the Roman Empire. The two biggest clues are the two lines:
Roman Cavalry choirs singing.
I hear Jerusalem Bells Ringing.
My guess is that it's focused around some revolutionary when the Romans were trying to round up and kill the Christians. The revolutionary thirsted for power, and the Romans offered him kingship if he was to turn. That's where now the OLD king is dead (Jesus or God), long live the king (him).
"Revolutionaries swarmed for my head on a silver plate." This means that the Christians are against him.
"Just a puppet on a lonely string." He is none less than a tool for the Romans.
"I know Saint Peter won't call my name." A little bit of remorse, because of the biblical reference, but he knows what he did was bad.
Then, "I USED to rule the world." I bet he felt all important, but the Romans made him a slave once his purpose was done.
Make sense? -
this song is actually way more general than just kings. it can relate to anyone's life. they can all just be metaphors...but that is just my opinion.
"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 enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
Now the old king is dead!
Long live the king!"
-this point shows how at first he was successful in life and things used to go his own way, but did one wrong turn and ended up losing everything.
"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"
-there's a saying that everything happens for a reason. the narrator is saying that he realized why this may have all happened which is because he was so caught up in his "fame and popularity", he didn't see what was really around him so when everything was gone, he learned his lesson.
"I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing"
-he feels regret and remorse
"Be my mirror, my sword and shield"
-he's begging for someone to help him and believe in him again
"My missionaries in a foreign field"
-the people who he thought were his friends left him for the popular ones
"For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world"
-he realizes his mistakes
"It was the 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"
-everything happened so fast he could not get caught up in what was happening and it ended up being a little too late.
"Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?"
-people now hate him and he is wandering around like a lonely soul. he also states that why would anyone want to be on the peak of success because eventually that peak will come crashing down.
chorus repeats
thanks for reading my interpretation....i dont know this is just my opinion. Others think it literally is about a king :\ -
Id say that this song is about the beast in his final moments as he comes to accept that he only ever reached his position by chance and that he has been overthrown
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