Viva La Vida

This song is really cool because it made me and Hannah addicted to it. Every time we meet like at lunch and recess we always sing this song. But here is the real message of the song from a blog of which I read.

Great song. Love it. But have you ever wondered what the heck Chris Martin’s on about? Viva la vida means ‘long live life’ or ‘in praise of life’ – that’s fairly straightforward – but what about the rest?

Some say that it refers to the last days, when Jesus comes again to judge the world. Some say it’s a reference to Psalm 127: “unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain.”

Others say it’s about George Bush. There’s a great blog post that I haven’t got room to quote here, but it goes through all the lyrics and finds references to Desert Storm, 9/11, weapons of mass destruction, George Bush’s loss of popularity and even more – someone really spent some time on this!

Still others say it doesn’t matter, analysing it through the lens of Plato’s philosophy, Machiavelli’s politics and Openheimer’s theories about quantum mechanics (I know, I got lost about there too). These people reckon that the most important thing is your own interpretation.

If you listen to the Coldplay interviews, Chris Martin tells us that Viva la Vida is actually inspired by the French Revolution and the 1830 painting of it which forms the album’s front cover! But at the same time, it is about hell and eternal damnation, and what that means for life. It is a moving song, and it is meant to be thought-provoking.

Bit like the message of Jesus, really. Way too complicated for the best minds among his ‘fans’ to agree on, and yet his central message is simple enough for the smallest child to understand. People argue about exactly what certain lines in the Bible mean. There are some who know a lot of background facts and can bring in all sorts of clever theories to support their thoughts; and there are those who just know in their gut what’s right.

What struck me about the Coldplay fans is this: they all love the song, and they all agree that the central message is something moving and challenging. They care enough to find out more and to thrash out their thoughts with one another. They’re united on the broad things, but they argue about all sorts of minor points.

If we’re Christians, our central message is far more important than the interpretation of a song. It’s about eternal life or eternal damnation. The penalty for disagreeing with your neighbours on its interpretation can be discrimination, imprisonment, torture or death. All the more important, then, for the ‘fans’ of the message to be united across all countries! We are all different, and sometimes we disagree about minor issues, but what unites us is stronger than what divides us. Let’s be Christians that unite with the persecuted and the free to pray and to glorify Jesus Christ.

Credits From(http://student.opendoorsuk.org/blog/viva-la-vida)