Cemetries of London

The next song of Coldplay's new album, as we resume, begins on the downward spiral of the previous track into an ominous tone. The piano's scales denote the air of thought, tension, the need for a decision. You'll find piano phrases like this in many movies. The singing begins with a melancholy verse:

'At night they would go walking til the breaking of the day,
The morning is for sleeping
Through the dark streets they go searching to see God in their own way
Save the nighttime for your weeping
...and the night over London rang'

What does this mean? Obviously it is a search for God. But they aren't walking dark streets literally, and they can't find, for all their efforts, what they are looking for. Where are they searching for God? In their mind. The path through the mind is not a lighted one, and no matter how long you think, you won't find it in its entirety. Every man, in every tribe, has sought truth and everyone knows that there is still something missing from even the best observations. What's this to do with England? I'm not completely certain but what comes to my mind is a vision of Druids meeting the Roman missionaries for the first time. The Druids represented thousands of years of accumulated knowledge (and witchcraft). The druids, according to many tales and records foretold the coming of missionaries to Ireland and to England and even paved the way for the change.
This next musical part is an enormous turn from a belated unknown, to something rock and roll is known for: revolution. Rock and roll however paired it with rebellion. Coldplay has paired it with redemption.

'So we rolled down to the river
where the toiling ghosts strain
for their curses to be broken

This is the state of all humanity. At some point every soul cries out to be relieved of their burdens. Every institution made by man binds him, and he wishes to be free. Even if a man is free of others devices he is subject to the trap of his own mind.

'We'd go underneath the arches
where the witches are in there saying,
there are ghost towns in the ocean.'

To me this is a throw back to the flood. The only way to redemption is judgment and the accounting of one's deeds. But the ghost towns in the ocean are filled people who failed.
The music takes another turn to a desperate tone:


'God is in the houses and God is in my head and all the cemeteries of London
I see God come in my garden, but I don't know what he said
For my heart it wasn't open'

This, to me, is brought back to the present time. Man stands in his own place and looks at all that has passed under his own feet and says God's hand was evident in those happenings. But when he looks to himself he cannot understand his own purpose. We are aware of God trespassing upon our minds, as if he expected something of us but what is it that he expects?

Everyone has said at some point that we 'live in hard times'. Thus the last line of the song is very appropriate: 'there's no light over London today'

To me the meaning of this song is fairly evident. The search for redemption by human power is hopeless, but we must keeping looking because we have to.

Viva la Vida

For anyone who knows me it should come as no surprise that I am plugging their new album. If you had asked me about their previous albums I would have said they were good and deserved a listen to. This one is a must listen to, as it is a completely different breed of music.

There is a very short list however of composers and poets who were able to move me.
They are:
Beethoven, Dvorak, Rich Mullins, Jakob Dylan, and now Chris Martin.

I have heard lyrics that spoke true, and I have heard strains of orchestras that pulled upon each heart string. Coldplay's previous endeavors seemed to dwell supremely upon love songs(which they did well) and did not deviate for the most part. Viva la Vida is both poetry and orchestra, not designed for marketability but solely to create a feeling with each piece of music; and the album, when listened to completely, is an experience of life.

Truth is the core of all good music. I have heard music that seemed to be truth; I have heard great truths told in poetic form, but never in such harmony with music until now. Viva La Vida is a subtle album and the lyrics need to be thought on carefully. The music hints at what words are left out. The music becomes poetry and that is the real genius of this record.

The first track is entitled 'Life in Technicolor'. There are no words, just music. Some might call it a variation on a theme. Each note was planned to take mind on a journey. For me it brings back memories of some of the happiest times in my life.
The feeling of being clean, innocent, and embarking upon an unknown adventure come through clearly. It ends flowing into the next track on a positive but slightly downward note. Which to me implies how easily we as humans can slide from nothing wrong in the world and one single, not even negative, sign of opposition and our complex is ruined. It's like saying saying "everything is fine," and meaning it, followed by us saying: "except for that one thing..."

My plan is to review the entire record. Very soon you will know what I think about it. Until then go listen and be amazed.