Coldplay: Yes Meaning

Yes Lyrics

When it started we had high hopes
Now my back's on the line
My back's on the ropes

When it started we were alright
But night makes a fool
Of us in daylight

There we were dying of frustration
Saying, "Lord lead me not into...

1. anonymous

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   Oct 14th 2017 !⃝

   "Yes" is a beautiful song that bluntly has a reference to sex.
   
   "When it started we had high hopes
   Now my back's on the line
   My back's on the ropes"
   
   In the first stanza he begins by using 'we' which I take as him being in a more committed relationship. He says that his "back's on the line" that he is laying on a place needing to make a decision between two sides (having sex or not).
   
   "When it started we were alright
   But night makes a fool
   of us in the daylight"
   
   When their relationship began they both decided on not having sexy before marriage. One night they are influenced (by passion, alcohol, etc) and the next morning they realize they shouldn't have had those thoughts or even actions.
   
   "There we were dying of frustration
   Singing, "Lord lead me not into
   temptation"
   But it's not easy when she turns you
   on
   Sin, stay gone"
   
   "If you'd only, if you'd only say yes
   Whether you will's anybody's guess
   God, only God knows I'm trying my
   best
   But I'm just so tired of this loneliness."
   
   He was frustrated that he has to wait. He doesn't want to have sex before marriage, so he asks the lord to lead him away from temptation a.k.a "Sin stay gone". Yet he still wants her to say yes. Even though he doesn't think it's right, he can't control himself around her and he realizes that. He says he has no idea if she will say yes or not, but still prays to God apologizing even though he may not even have done the act. He's tired of their sexual loneliness. Perhaps what the singer is pertaining to is that their relationship is suffering from their lack of sexual connection and they are spreading farther apart.
   
   "So, up they picked me by the big toe
   I was held from the rooftop, then they
   let go
   Dizzily screaming, "Let the windows
   down"
   As I crawl to the ground"
   
   The first line of this stanza is hard to translate, as there could be a million reasons for saying it. I believe he is saying that society saw his mistake, his flaw in being unable to control himself from sex before marriage. That society drops him to his death, dangling him by his 'big toe' for all to see. He screams "let the windows down" wishing no one to see or hear him. He crawls to the ground, completely having lost his reputation/social standing/respect.
   
   "If you'd only, if you'd only say yes
   Whether you will's anybody's guess
   God, only God knows she won't let me
   rest
   But I'm just so tired of this loneliness
   I've become so tired of this loneliness"
   
   The singer now speaks in past tense, saying that she just should have said yes, pertaining that maybe if she just gave in the beginning it wouldn't have ended so badly. He has 'become' so tired of this loneliness, implying their relationship has grown worse or more likely, ended.
   
   "Fall asleep
   Fall asleep
   Sleep satisfied (x2)
   Fall asleep (x2)
   Sleep satisfied (x2)
   Sleep satisfied
   Sleep (x5)
   Sleep satisfied (x2)"
   
   He has a hard time falling asleep, not being able to deal with his actions and their repercussions. The only time he is satisfied is when he isn't awake.
   
   "Fall asleep (x2)
   Sleep crucify (x2)
   Fall asleep (x2)
   Sleep satisfied (x2)
   Sleep (x5)
   Sleep satisfied (x2)"
   
   He feels lost, alone, crucified (another biblical reference to having done wrong religiously). All he has left is to sleep the days away, and sleep the pain away.
2. anonymous

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   Feb 19th 2014 !⃝

   Very hard song. I think he's singing about an affair with a woman in which she "tempted" him to do. They had "high hopes" about their private relationship but got caught "God only God knows I'm trying my best" He cuts of his sentence. god only....god knows... Maybe he changed his mind mid-sentence and admitted that god wasn't the only one who knew.
   
   From the 4th stanza I got really lost. I at first thought the man was thrown off a roof by a bunch of pent-up aggressive people but then "they" can't have all picked his "one" toe! So I assumed he simply meant that they demoralized him. (toes aren't necessarily good ways of punishing guys :P), thus more "loneliness" was caused and he said if he emotionally burst out i.e screamed. Ignore him! "close your windows down" the "down" word implies that he didn't mean it literally. "As I crawl to the ground"- as he loses status. And yet after all this, the she won't "let him rest" by saying yes! i'll go out with you or something like that. The word rest as in rest from being lonely!
   
   there! don't hate! :3

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