“Music Monday” Chris Martin’s favorite song has a deep meaning

Uploaded by on Feb 28, 2009

Pre-VEVO play count: 22,581,204
Music video by The Verve performing Bitter Sweet Symphony.

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At the 4.40 mark in the clip below Chris Martin identifies the best song ever written in his estimation:

What does the song mean? Here is a thought off the internet:

This song is about life, the title ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ refers to the ups and downs of life. The song deffinately has a great sense of irony about it, the lyrics, ‘try to make ends meet, your a slave to money till you die’ have a message of inevitablitiy about them.

The song furthers this idea of the inevitability of life with the lyrics, I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down, you know the one that takes you to the places where all of ends meet yeah’. The ‘places’ in this case are the end of life or the end of the road in the metaphorical sense the song uses.

The ‘Bittersweet’ aspect can also be see in the lyrics, the singer often expresses hope citing music as an important factor in this ‘I let the melody shine let it clense my mind I feel free now’. However the ‘bitter’ aspect is always shown straight afterwards ‘but the airways are clean and theres nobody singing to me now’.

Essentially ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ is about the realisation that all life will end at some point and uses the metaphor of a road to express this.

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I agree with the review above. It is true that life will end at some point. Chris Martin has written alot about this same subject and that is no doubt why he chose this song as the best ever written. (You will see below that the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas in 1978 also had the same final result of ‘Bittersweet Symphony.”)
‘Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Your a slave to money then you die
I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
You know the one that takes you
to the places where all the things meet yeahNo change,
I can’t change I can’t change, I can’t change
But I’m here in my mold, I am here in my mold
But I’m a million different people from one day to the next
I can’t change my mold
No, no, no, no, no

Well I never pray
But tonight I’m on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds
that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind,
I feel free now
But the airways are clean
and there’s nobody singing to me now

No change,
I can’t change I can’t change, I can’t change
But I’m here in my mold, I am here in my mold
And I’m a million different people from one day to the next
I can’t change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can’t change I can’t change

‘Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Try to find some money, then you die
I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
You know the one that takes you
to the places where all the things meet yeah

You know I can’t change, I can’t change
I can’t change, I can’t change
But I’m here in my mold, I am here in my mold
And I’m a million different people from one day to the next
I can’t change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can’t change my mold
no, no, no, no, no,
I can’t change

I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
(It justs sex and violence melody and silence)
(Been down)
(Ever been down)
That you’ve ever been down
That you’ve ever been down

 

 

7/11

Chris Martin was brought up as an evangelical Christian but he left the faith once he left his childhood home. However, there are been some actions in his life in the last few years that demonstrate that he still is grappling with his childhood Chistian beliefs. Let us take look at a few verses in the Book of Romans chapter one and we will see how they are relevant to a song written by Coldplay.

On June 23, 2012 my son Wilson and I got to attend a Coldplay Concert in Dallas. It was great. I wish they had played “Cemeteries of London” at the Dallas concert since I like that song a lot. Let me show you two points from the Book of Romans:

God reveals Himself in two Ways 

Lets take a look at the lyrics from the song “Cemeteries of London:”

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
Not open

Romans chapter one clearly points out that God has revealed Himself through both the created world around us  and also in a God-given conscience that testifies to each person that God exists.
Notice in this song that the song writer notes, “I see God come in my garden” and “God is in my head.” These are the exact two places mentioned by the scripture.  Romans 1:18-20 (Amplified version)

18For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative.

19For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them.

20For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],(B)

Concerning these verses Francis Schaeffer said:

The world is guilty of suppressing God’s truth and living accordingly. The universe and its form and the mannishness of Man speak the same truth that the Bible gives in greater detail.

This is what Chris Martin is having to deal with and he  is clearly searching for spiritual answers but it seems he have not found them quite yet. The song “42“: “Time is so short and I’m sure, There must be something more.” Then in the song “Lost” Martin sings these words: “Every river that I tried to cross, Every door I ever tried was locked..”
Solomon went to the extreme in his searching in the Book of Ecclesiastes for this “something more” that Coldplay is talking about, but he found riches (2:8-11), pleasure (2:1), education (2:3), fame (2:9) and his work (2:4) all “meaningless” and “vanity” and “a chasing of the wind.” Every door he tried was locked.

Solomon is searching for the meaning of life in the Book of Ecclesiastes and that reminds me a lot of the search that Chris Martin is currently in.  By the way, the final chapter of Ecclesiastes finishes with Solomon emphasizing that serving God is the only proper response of man. My prediction: I am hoping that Coldplay’s next album will also come to that same conclusion that Solomon came to in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

Kerry Livgren of Kansas found Christ eventually after first trying some Eastern Religions. I remember telling my friends in 1978 when “Dust in the Wind” was the number 6 song in the USA that Kansas had written a philosophical song that came to the same conclusion about humanistic man as Solomon did so long ago and I predicted that some members of that band would come to know the Christ of the Bible in a personal way.

 You can hear Kerry Livgren’s story from this youtube link:

(part 1 ten minutes)

(part 2 ten minutes)

Coldplay – Cemeteries of London ( FULL VIDEO)

The brilliant video for Cemeteries of London. It’s the perfect mix between music and image, Coldplay sold around 8 million albums with Viva La Vida.

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