"Viva La Vida" - Coldplay

Friday, October 10, 2008

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing 
Roman Calvary choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string 
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing 
Roman Calvary choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

(Ooooh Oooh Oooh)

Hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Calvary choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world 



4 comments:

Nykkii said...

I think maybe this makes reference to the Roman Catholic church. Once upon a time they basically DID rule the world and now a majority of individuals have turned their backs not only on Christianity in general but on catholicism in particular...

Unknown said...

That's true,but it kinda sounds like a king that has fallen from grace or someone that used to command a lot of power but lost it,like King Henry VIII or the Tsar Alexander of Russia.

Nykkii said...

It does sound that way literally...but Im wondering if the king references are metaphoric

Nykkii said...

"I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand"

That part of the song indicates the fall of an empire...u know, once it was greece, then it was rome...maybe nnot in that order, but the world was 'ruled' at one point or another by various empires , so Im thinking maybe this references the fall of the roman empire that once ruled the world