scrapperboy

What I am trying to say is not that it is about Christ, but about God, the father of christ. The metaphors do point in that direction, as heaven is the kingdom of God. I do not have the impression Coldplay would want to teach us a simple history lesson about French revolution but would like the listeners to read between the lines. A lot can be said without directly saying it.

triple post :), sorry about that or a mod can delete them

double post

I'm gonna reply anyway for conversation's sake. :) While the most obvious references are the French revolution ones, in m yopinion thats where they fail. They are too common sense and in your face. The Viva la Vida name comes directly from Frida Khalo's painting of the same name. And while it does play the revolution theme, I still have the opininion that it is the (catholic) God fallen from grace, using french revolution elements as metaphors. The funny thing is, that I go to sleep and wake up with this song in my head, It definitely is my favorite song in this album. However whenever I listen to White Shadows, when the chorus comes I ALWAYS get goosebumps, even after all these years. My point being that the revolution theme is just too logical and wouldn't be as tought trough compared to a broader metaphorical meaning.

I'm gonna reply anyway for conversation's sake. :) While the most obvious references are the French revolution ones, in m yopinion thats where they fail. They are too common sense and in your face. The Viva la Vida name comes directly from Frida Khalo's painting of the same name. And while it does play the revolution theme, I still have the opininion that it is the (catholic) God fallen from grace, using french revolution elements as metaphors. The funny thing is, that I go to sleep and wake up with this song in my head, It definitely is my favorite song in this album. However whenever I listen to White Shadows, when the chorus comes I ALWAYS get goosebumps, even after all these years. My point being that the revolution theme is just too logical and wouldn't be as tought trough compared to a broader metaphorical meaning.

I have read all the pages of this thread, and I am amazed that no one has tought of the first person in this song to be God himself as seen by the roman catholics. How he used to rule the world, give rise to seas (Noa's flood) and have an empire controlled by fear (hell). The first verse tells how he used to stand high up, and now has fallen from grace considerably. Second and third verse tell about how the power was held in place. By fear as the pillars of salt reference tells of Sodom and Gomorrah, wich were obliterated by God. All people looking back were turned into pillars of salt. Chorus Roman cavalry, is the vatican, the last bastion of power of the catholics. Onc eyou go there ther was never an honest word. That is catholics right there. Revolutionaries are the free thinkers , who turn away from God and are jumping to see God's power end completely (head on a plate). Who wants to be the God (king) of this wicked world anymore? Jesus himself was merely a puppet of God , and never was power hungry. Just my two cents.