Songs are poetic, so in a sense, they mean many things at many different levels, and are a form of "fuzzy logic". Since this song is about someone, when he sings' "you are.." he is asking a question; but perhaps wanting to know more about that person than just what's at the surface, as the melody is enchanting and haunting, and this person is a complete mystery to him.

Perhaps more than I could explain here; if you think about it, we all operate on the dreams along the threads of our feelings; If I wear my heart on a sleeve, I may be risking more than I care to, as memory tells me so.. This song is what the listener unfolds it to be; and it bears new gems with every turn.

My guess is that's it is about the destructive power of time.

wow more meanings, and I liked them all!! I think we ought to ask chris. and, I don't get Don't panic either :confused:

"you are"...

It's just a question about the mysterious keyboardist whom he encountered in the mall! Trust me on that one;) He's a fast lyricist.

I'm not a literature major, just some guy who tries to sound more intelligent by using big words ;).

 

I personally don't think it makes much sense for him to say "you are..." as if it was an incomplete sentence. I mean, if he's trying to get to know somebody better like chuck kottke says, than it seems far too simple and really doesn't jive well at all with the frantic intensity and other lyrics of the song.

 

That's just my humble opinion, as I think the epic nature of the song goes beyond two people getting to know one another.

 

In response to Ricardo

 

I've seen some incredibly negative outlooks on don't panic on things like songmeanings.com. Many people assert that the chorus "we live in a beautiful world" and the closing lines are a sarcasticly optimistic response to the verses. That is, somebody trying to deny the truth about what has happened.

 

I find that rather depressing as Chris Martin is way too high on life to to stoop to such a pessimistic level. I think the song title says it all "Don't Panic" meaning shit happens, tragedy strikes...there's no preventing it, but when the dust clears and when you surpass your rough times you begin to realize how great and beautiful the world really is. The lyrics are merely a dialogue of our pessimism and optimism in life. As I was saying about the "what am I worrying about?" resolve in clocks, one minute it sems like the world is a horrible place, but later you reflect and realize that despite the tragedies, wars etc. life is ultimately an amazing, beautiful thing.

Sometimes when I'm down about something I'll hum the lyrics and think "why am I so unhappy? I live in the rich minority of the planet with a loving family in a wooden house where making more friends is easy :D, the world has given me so much...how dare I only focus on the negative. Often if I just look at the world around me instead of focusing on my problems...I'll start feeling a lot more appreciative.

 

I'll also think it's a fitting match to everything's not lost. The two songs together pretty much describe the message of the album as a whole "Don't panic, everything's not lost".

answers

 

Tnspieler1012, here's my best:

"Lights go out and I can't be saved"

>Closing his eyes and remembering the music

"Tides that I tried to swim against"

>Chris transposes himself into the mind of the keyboardist, who is unsure of himself at first, and still, against the stage-fright, restarts the song / or Martin can't resist the "pull" of the music..

"Have brought me down upon my knees; oh, I beg, I beg and plead"

>He's humbled by the force of the music, and want's to know what it's about / what the keyboardist is about/ can't resist the song's appeal? Send more music?

"Singing, "come out of things unsaid; shoot an apple off my head"

>Explain yourself; why the plain clothes from another era? What is your politic? What great changes are you trying to make in the world? And then a reference to William Tell, who led the Swiss to revolt over the corrupt rulers, after being forced to risk his own son's life..

"With a trouble that can be named"

>See above

"A tiger's waiting to be tamed"

>meaning a source of inspiration; or perhaps a bachelor? Catch a tiger by the tale - who are you? to find out more, and calm this person down?

"singing, 'you are..., you are...'"

> Who are you? or, you are at the moment, the music! ..at home with the music..

"Confusion never stops; closed-in walls and ticking clocks"

>Deadlines mount, and frantic activity of life.. A deadline to meet in a closed studio, with the clock ticking away, adding pressure

"Gonna come back and take you home.. I could not stop that you now know"

>The keyboardist learns that the music was actually put into a song and played on the radio & elsewhere - so then the keyboardist knows! Taking the music from it's original source in the mall to England. Perhaps an invitation to take the keyboardist to England?

Later.. "oh and I'm feeling skunk keys.." which was dubbed over as "oh and nothing else compares.."

"You are Home, Home, where I wanted to go.."

So maybe "you are" refers later to how someone feels when they feel "at home" with the music; or confident in ones' place to feel as one would at home. Something anyone who travels can relate to!

"where I wanted to go.." A hopeful gesture? A longing for home?

 

The music is inspirational; so are the lyrics! I think, like poetry, much is left to the imagination to have many meanings and be unclear, so as to create more a sense of mystery, a sense of discovery, and inspiration into new avenues of thought and feeling.

Anyhow, that's the best from this humble farmer.

I'm going back to my plow.

Best of Success with the music!!

Yeah, the one thing I've always loved about Coldplay is the ambiguity of the lyrics. Chris captures emotions more than tell detailed stories which, for me, is a plus as it brings up more universal, deeper themes than sex or what not.

 

I'm sorry if I came off as trying to undermine your interpretation of the lyrics. What really matters is the feeling and emotion that the music and lyrical content creates. What I mean is, we could debate for weeks over whether it's about God or some keyboardist at a mall(was there an article I missed? because I'm really curious where this mysterious mall keyboardist is coming from).

 

but what really matters are the universal themes surrounding the song such as the distress of trying to swim against the waves or the joy of going home, or on a grander scale the powerful mix of inspiration and confusion that is created.

The pedantics of the matter, in this song anyway is somewhat irrelevant. Martin isn't a detailed storyteller, but naturally I think he at least had particular things in mind when composing the lyrics (as do you), but the vast ambiguity of the lyrics has an impact on a much broader, relative scale.

unwravel the mystery

 

Yeah, the one thing I've always loved about Coldplay is the ambiguity of the lyrics. Chris captures emotions more than tell detailed stories which, for me, is a plus as it brings up more universal, deeper themes than sex or what not.

Yes, that really does create a sense of wonder within their songs!

 

I'm sorry if I came off as trying to undermine your interpretation of the lyrics. What really matters is the feeling and emotion that the music and lyrical content creates. What I mean is, we could debate for weeks over whether it's about God or some keyboardist at a mall(was there an article I missed? because I'm really curious where this mysterious mall keyboardist is coming from).

I wasn't sensing that - the lyrics are so flexible in meaning anyway - then we can make up our own minds as to what they mean (which makes the music all the more personal in nature). All I can really say is that most music groups borrow heavily from other sources. They make the music their own in one sense, but the original for most groups is from somewhere else.

 

but what really matters are the universal themes surrounding the song such as the distress of trying to swim against the waves or the joy of going home, or on a grander scale the powerful mix of inspiration and confusion that is created.

The pedantics of the matter, in this song anyway is somewhat irrelevant. Martin isn't a detailed storyteller, but naturally I think he at least had particular things in mind when composing the lyrics (as do you), but the vast ambiguity of the lyrics has an impact on a much broader, relative scale.

Yes, like some Greek epic poem, or any great work thus condensed, there is a sense of adventure!:bandana: True, I think he was being specific mostly but did not really provide all the details, so in a sense the great mysteries were a result of the music being taken out of context from where it was created.

don't panic, everything's not lost. I like that, besides the final song and the openieng song. I think we should make a lyrics analyzing thread :wink2: Now seriously, I understand few coldplay songs, the obvious like see you soon, the scientist,politik, shiver Etc and I'm not an idiot before you ask. :PAnd who's that keyboardist you are all talking about?

Go for it. might be fun...especially when the new album comes out.

don't panic, everything's not lost. I like that, besides the final song and the openieng song. I think we should make a lyrics analyzing thread :wink2: Now seriously, I understand few coldplay songs, the obvious like see you soon, the scientist,politik, shiver Etc and I'm not an idiot before you ask. :PAnd who's that keyboardist you are all talking about?

Yes, if there isn't one already, that sounds like an excellent idea!;)

The keyboardist is the mystery person in the song; it is not the knowing, but the search that makes it interesting!

Somewhere there was a security camera recording of the keyboardist from the mall (the Mall of America)... I don't know how to access it.

I think there was a thread in the Coldplay forum...but it kinda died out. :(

 

We should revive it again!!!

Alright then!!;)

(songs are something; they paint such vivid pictures in our minds..)