Coldplay: Yellow Meaning
Song Released: 2000
Yellow Lyrics
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.
I came along,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
And it was called yellow.
So then I took my turn,
Oh what a thing to have...
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The way I always saw it was that "Yellow" is an old word for "Scared". Like in Back to the Future III when Biff says "What's the matter, McFly...are you YELLOW!"
To me, it's a song about a guy that will do anything for the girl that he loves for her to commit but she's just too scared and fearful of receiving his love because she has been hurt in the past. It's about a guy telling a girl to forget her past wounds and pains and trust him because he loves her more than all of that. It's about a girl's fear of falling back into love and a guy pushing through that fear.
The stars and the whole universe, which should shine boldly and brightly instead declare her fear of love. He writes a song for her showing that she's so fearful and scared. He takes his time but she's still scared. The chorus "Your skin..." his him telling her that her fears make her like like nothing but skin and bones but his love for her is so strong that he sees her beauty in spite of it. He even draws a line in the sand to finally ask her to commit and trust him but he has to call it Yellow because she still won't let go of her fears. It's a great song. Tragic, but great. -
I think this song is about loving someone who is dying of anorexia.
& he would do anything for her to be ok again because he loves her so much.
I love this song & lyrics <3 -
The liver disease idea would work.
The fact that he would want to make an ode to his mother all the things that she did in raising him and molding him into who he is, and what she still does (even in death) is highly understandable: "I wrote a song for you... and all the things that you do."
It could also relate to her, obviously, from the use of Yellow, as it relates to liver disease.
And, it also relates to the death of someone: "Your skin and bones turn into something beautiful." This could be seen as your body, when you are placed in the earth, can turn into flowers/trees/etc. potentially: a body, in death, becomes one with nature again... a "beautiful" thing to be one with. This could also be a very obvious belief, as the rest of the song also reflects upon nature and the stars. -
This song is obviously about the time spent in a padded room for crazy people. The pads are supposed to be whit but are stained yellow with the sweat and urine of past inhabitants. The lyrics also obviously point to hints of racism against the Chinese and and how they are cowards. Yellow people are the Chinese and acting yellow is being cowardly. This songs brilliantly ties the experience of being in an crazy house in the padded room with the seemingly genetic cowardice of the entire Chinese race.
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When i asked about this song, i was told that the person who wrote it (whoever that may be) had gotten into a car accident and his girlfriend died because he ran a yellow light. and so everything he went through in his life there after was "yellow" "and it was all yellow" im sure it is a love song. but that is where the color yellow came into play.
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My interpretation:
"Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And everything you do
Yeah, they were all yellow"
It's about a guy writing a song for a girl whom he had loved and died. The stars shine brightly in mourning of the girl whom he loved. Everything she did has all turned yellow, signifying death.
"I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called yellow"
In his sorrow he wrote a song for the girl, this song specifically.
"So then I took my turn
Oh what a thing to have done
And it was all yellow "
So then he decided it was his turn to die, so as to join her soul.
"Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know?
You know I love you so
You know I love you so"
Her previous form (skin & bones) has now turned into something beautiful (her soul). He despairs & misses her greatly.
"I swam across
I jumped across for you
Oh what a thing to do
'Cos you were all yellow "
Probably in his bid to save her before she died, he tried swimming across or jumping across the water. He failed in his attempt to save her, and nothing could be done to bring her back, thus "you were all yellow".
"I drew a line
I drew a line for you
Oh what a thing to do
And it was all yellow"
He took a knife and drew a line across his wrist, he drew it for her, as he wanted to end his life for her.
"And your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones
Turn into something beautiful
D'you know?
For you I bleed myself dry
For you I bleed myself dry"
With his cut wrist, he waits for himself to bleed dry and die, while thinking of how beautiful she was, and hoping to meet her soul in heaven. -
well no matter what.. i hope that thing about he just choose the name for the song after the yellow pages.. for me it takes away the beauty of the lyrics
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I just saw him on 60 minutes and he said "He does not even know what it means, they just wrote it and he's happy everyone loves it!
oceandad in Portland, OR. -
Wow! I hear it so much differently; I think it is about being stung by a yellow jacket bee and having a major ALlergic reaction. Then the healing process and trrying to make something good come out of it. I drew a line for you...we all draw the line daily when it comes to our integrity... how far will we go; who are we when the rubber really meets the road..are we going to follow blindly or choose leadership.
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He wrote this for his mother who was at the time dying of a problem with her liver. That's what it's about...
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When I hear this song, I automatically think of my son. This song is definitely about unconditional love for the people in your life: from parent to child, sibling to sibling, partners or whatever. Yellow is about loving someone so much that you'd, give anything for them. A genuine wish for someone to have nothing but joy in their life. I think of my son, this young beautiful person, who is deserving of everything good and wonderful, and beautiful. I'd give my life for his Peace & joy. My love for him has kept me alive and saved me more than once, from giving up. My greatest gift from God. Thank you
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Yellow is the color of the stars, but yellow also refers to someone who is scared. He made the necessary moves towards the relationship because she was afraid to herself. Then, he "drew line"... the old ultimatum drove her away and now he's alone again. So he's just sad and sees everything in yellow.
The strive for love. All the unreturned favors and signals. How far he would go for love . . . 'for your i bleed myself dry'. . Also just complimenting this girl and worshiping her, really.
The song is literally taken from a phone book: Chris Martin needed a two-syllable word and there was the Yellow Pages. Seriously. I love Coldplay: they're just so, you know, *meaningful*.
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This song is about someone who is so deeply in love they don't know what to do. The world revolves around the person they love. They believe the person they love to be the reason the stars shine.
I don't know, but this is how I see this line, 'for you i bleed myself dry.' This is saying that he cuts him self, and lets the blood drain out, for the person he loves, because he doesn't know what else to do. He is so depressed.
'I drew a line for you' means that he gave her limits, but she crossed them and broke his heart.
Now he's lost, and he's fighting to get back to the surface
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