I want to begin by saying that I can’t believe how involved this lyric analysis became.
I began writing what I thought would be a short and simple blog, such as I had done for Counting Stars by One Republic and Come With Me Now by The Kongos, but it mushroomed into much more.
The first time I heard Viva la Vida several years ago, the biblical symbolism was evident, but in doing this study I now realize that it has more biblical references than most Christian praise and worship songs!
I’ve never seen anything like it. Every single line has a spiritual meaning which can be derived from the Bible.
Take a gander at my analysis, and let me know what you think in the comments below!
To begin.
The first time you hear the 2008 song, "Viva la Vida,” (Spanish for "Live the Life") by Cold Play, you might find yourself drawn in by the relentless beat of the strings and drums, the ethereal tone, and the voice of lead singer Chris Martin.
(I'm assuming most of humanity has heard at least part of this song at this point, because at the time of this blog’s publication, its official video has well over 166 million youtube views. A popular song, to say the least. One of those songs you'll find playing in an elevator, or at a shopping center, or in a soundtrack.)
(I'm assuming most of humanity has heard at least part of this song at this point, because at the time of this blog’s publication, its official video has well over 166 million youtube views. A popular song, to say the least. One of those songs you'll find playing in an elevator, or at a shopping center, or in a soundtrack.)
But did you ever wonder who or what Viva la Vida was about?
Who is this king character speaking in the first person?
What’s with all the references to missionaries, Jerusalem, and St. Peter?
Is the song religious, or even Christian?
Is it about Jesus?
Or, is there something more sinister going on?
Could Viva la Vida be a thinly veiled song about Satan, a modern, yet slightly more hidden, version of the Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil?”
I intend to show with this blog that this song could indeed be about Satan. I am open to any other opinion such as what the the wiki article provided that it could be about any king, some say one during the french revolution. But after spending so much time with the lyrics, I can't think of any creature, spirit or flesh, who fits each and every line more perfectly than Satan.
Before we address the lyrics directly, I first want to introduce a scripture portion about Satan from Isaiah 14:12-17 which I believe contains many parallels with the character in Viva la Vida:
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof;
that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Keep this passage in mind as we will draw on it several times, as well as from other parts of the Bible.
Now for the song. All lyrics will be bolded/italicized and Bible quotes will be italicized.
I used to rule the world
Jesus said on three occasions in the book of John that Satan is the "prince of this world" (John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11). In the very first line then we know that this song could be about Satan.
The past tense indicates to me that this is written from the perspective of his loss of power, which at this point in history has actually yet to occur. But Satan will lose His power at the battle of Armageddon when Jesus returns for his millennial reign, at which point Satan will be trapped in a bottomless pit until the end of the 1,000 years (Revelation 20) when he will be released "for a season" before ultimately being cast into the lake of fire for eternity.
The past tense indicates to me that this is written from the perspective of his loss of power, which at this point in history has actually yet to occur. But Satan will lose His power at the battle of Armageddon when Jesus returns for his millennial reign, at which point Satan will be trapped in a bottomless pit until the end of the 1,000 years (Revelation 20) when he will be released "for a season" before ultimately being cast into the lake of fire for eternity.
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Satan has been given supernatural powers to effect the weather and the elements. You can see this in the Biblical Book of Job, Chapter One, where Satan was given permission by God to come against Job. Satan was able to cause people to rob Job's camels and kill his servants, as well as to send fire from heaven to consume Job’s sheep and a great wind to bring the house down on Job's children, killing them. So the idea of Satan causing tumult in the seas in not beyond the scope of his capabilities.
His hand may have even been at work when Jesus actually rebuked the winds and the sea and caused a calm:
And when he (Jesus) was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him (Matthew 8:23-27).
So we see Jesus calming the very winds and waves that had perhaps been provoked to tumult by Satan himself.
But I actually believe in the case of Viva la Vida there's a more symbolic meaning: "The seas would rise when I gave the word" is more reflective of Satan's influence on humanity, that is, the seas and the fish who inhabit the seas, are symbolic of humanity, and being such Satan is speaking of his tremendous influence over them, that in fact Satan is able to cause the peoples and nations of the earth to rise in chaos and tumult under his leadership. As our Isaiah scripture portion above says, Satan had the power to "weaken the nations," "make the earth to tremble," and "shake kingdoms."
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own
Sweep the streets I used to own
These two lines foreshadow a future where he loses his power, just as the Isaiah prophecy proclaims, as well the book of Revelation, that the day will come where Satan’s powers are stripped from him and from his perspective he will be reduced to a “street sweeper,” the type of person who Satan in his pride would view as a “commoner,” or a “low-life."
And perhaps this line also indicates he knows he will also be used of God as one of the catalysts for the deaths of many of humanity's disobedient, and he will sweep the streets of its dirt, of the dead. A parallel to the biblical analogies of pruning the branches who don't produce fruit, or of the separating of the goats from the sheep. His role will be to sweep the defiant away to death, and ultimately to hell.
Meanwhile, Satan, too, will have dropped from the heights of being one of God’s most powerful angels to as low as the lowest of God’s creation, abiding in the lake of fire with every other creature who was disobedient to God forever.
And perhaps this line also indicates he knows he will also be used of God as one of the catalysts for the deaths of many of humanity's disobedient, and he will sweep the streets of its dirt, of the dead. A parallel to the biblical analogies of pruning the branches who don't produce fruit, or of the separating of the goats from the sheep. His role will be to sweep the defiant away to death, and ultimately to hell.
Meanwhile, Satan, too, will have dropped from the heights of being one of God’s most powerful angels to as low as the lowest of God’s creation, abiding in the lake of fire with every other creature who was disobedient to God forever.
I used to roll the dice
The Roman soldiers “cast lots” for Jesus clothing when they crucified Him (John 19:24). And of course rolling dice is used in gambling, games of chance that Satan uses to ensnare and enslave, and truly he rolls the dice with people's lives. All of living humanity is only alive because of God's great mercy. If it were up to Satan he would have destroyed us all long ago.
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Remember the Isaiah scripture,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?
One of Satan's main weapons is fear. He draws on fear and gains sustenance from it. But 1 John 4:18 says,
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."
And so the person under Satan's influence can not experience true love because Satan's fear overshadows it.
Listen as the crowd would sing,
This line really hits home knowing how, throughout all history, music has been such a tool of Satan and that he has had the ability, as a “pied piper,” to lead so many to death through music, and has caused so many to sing such blasphemous and God hating songs, multitudes not knowing or even caring about what they were singing. I mean, if Viva la Vida is truly about Satan and has hundreds of millions of views on youtube alone, that shows you what a crowd he has singing with him along to just this one song.
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!”
This reminds me of when the people of Israel begged Samuel to install a king (1 Samuel 8). Samuel was offended for God’s sake, because God was Israel's King, and yet here Israel was practically begging for a man to take the reigns.
Samuel mourned because this was a slap in the face to God, but this behavior from Israel was only a continuation of the terrible deception over us all since the beginning, because basically the same thing occurred in the garden of Eden when Eve, and then Adam, ate of the fruit and chose Satan as their king over God. Satan knows upon deceiving us that he becomes our king and ruler and that God’s position is usurped, and sadly, this of our own volition.
And, off course, Satan wants to declare that God is the old king, wants Him to be dead and for everyone to declare him the king and celebrate it. Funny how the people who celebrate Satan don't realize how much he hates them, how he would sooner kill every last human, even those who honor him, than leave just one of us living.
But Satan knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12) and that the "old King," that is, God, is not dead, and that he (Satan) won't have much more time as "prince of this world," and this is reflected in the next line.
But Satan knows his time is short (Revelation 12:12) and that the "old King," that is, God, is not dead, and that he (Satan) won't have much more time as "prince of this world," and this is reflected in the next line.
One minute I held the key
He held the key (past tense), but Jesus’ victory on the cross took those keys back. As it is written of Jesus,
"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18).
Next the walls were closed on me
This recalls our Isaiah scripture,
"Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:15).
Those very walls of hell will indeed close in on him.
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
Another very biblical image here from Jesus’ words,
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not:for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:24-27).
Of course Satan’s castles of lies are built on the sand, and the fall will indeed be great.
The pillars of salt line pulls from the story of Lot’s wife in Genesis, who upon God’s leading of Lot, his wife, and his two daughters out of Sodom just prior to its destruction, had commanded through his angels for them not to look back as they fled, yet Lot’s wife disobeyed and did indeed look back, becoming a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).
Satan’s own defiance and disobedience against God has produced the same result for him. A pillar of salt, a pillar of sand.
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
This line begins the chorus. Jerusalem is the site of Jesus' crucifixion, and it's my estimation that Satan, for his own pleasure, as fleeting as it may be, must bring up this moment (just as it was in The Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil, though in Viva la Vida's case, in a more veiled way) because it was the one moment he loved most in all history.
He thought he had won by seeing to it that God's Son was killed, not understanding in his limited knowledge that it was that moment that saved so many.
He thought he had won by seeing to it that God's Son was killed, not understanding in his limited knowledge that it was that moment that saved so many.
And the bells, I believe, as a symbol, further prove the protagonist is addressing the crucifixion.
First of all, bells can have a deep Satanic and occultic meaning, and while they also have represented a holy purpose from a biblical perspective in their use by the high priest when entering the holy place (Exodus 28:34), this holy use has been counterfeited and used throughout history to call on demons (see: http://www.theopenscroll.com/bells.htm).
First of all, bells can have a deep Satanic and occultic meaning, and while they also have represented a holy purpose from a biblical perspective in their use by the high priest when entering the holy place (Exodus 28:34), this holy use has been counterfeited and used throughout history to call on demons (see: http://www.theopenscroll.com/bells.htm).
And more to the point, “For whom the bell tolls,” an expression pulled from an Ernest Hemingway novel of that title, uses the ringing of bells as an indicator and commemoration of death.
In that context, the "Jerusalem bells ringing" line is meant to signify Jesus’ murder.
In that context, the "Jerusalem bells ringing" line is meant to signify Jesus’ murder.
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Under Pontious Pilate, the roman soldiers were the ones to crucify Jesus (Matthew 27). The idea of them singing in a choir expands on the idea of the crucifixion being a time of celebration for Satan, to say, "Hey, this is great. We should sing in jubilation." (How horrible and, well, satanic!)
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
This is Satan's request of the Roman Calvary to be his army against Jesus in the foreign land of Israel. But it's also a request to all humanity to continue doing his will as his missionaries in the world, to act as a mirror to be able to see attacks, a sword to bring hurt to his enemies, and a shield to protect from his enemies. Satan's primary enemy is God, His Son Jesus Christ, and those who love God through Jesus Christ. He wants to kill each and every follower of Christ just as he saw to it that Christ was killed. (The only thing Satan has forgotten is though Jesus and many of us have died and will die, there is a RESURRECTION! He can't and will not win!)
So Satan wants to use humanity to attack God as well as His followers, and as spirits, Satan and his demons need human bodies in order to express themselves in our physical realm.
Again, if he had his complete will, he would use one part of humanity (his followers) to destroy the other part of humanity (God's followers) and then he would destroy his own followers as well. I mean, he hates them as much as he hates us. He will only use them until they're no longer useful.
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go... there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
This “for some reason I can’t explain” line also occurs in the the remaining choruses of the song, but in those choruses it precedes a different line than "Once you go..." Instead, Martin sings, “I know St. Peter won’t call my name…”
My missionaries in a foreign field
This is Satan's request of the Roman Calvary to be his army against Jesus in the foreign land of Israel. But it's also a request to all humanity to continue doing his will as his missionaries in the world, to act as a mirror to be able to see attacks, a sword to bring hurt to his enemies, and a shield to protect from his enemies. Satan's primary enemy is God, His Son Jesus Christ, and those who love God through Jesus Christ. He wants to kill each and every follower of Christ just as he saw to it that Christ was killed. (The only thing Satan has forgotten is though Jesus and many of us have died and will die, there is a RESURRECTION! He can't and will not win!)
So Satan wants to use humanity to attack God as well as His followers, and as spirits, Satan and his demons need human bodies in order to express themselves in our physical realm.
Again, if he had his complete will, he would use one part of humanity (his followers) to destroy the other part of humanity (God's followers) and then he would destroy his own followers as well. I mean, he hates them as much as he hates us. He will only use them until they're no longer useful.
For some reason I can't explain
Once you go... there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
This “for some reason I can’t explain” line also occurs in the the remaining choruses of the song, but in those choruses it precedes a different line than "Once you go..." Instead, Martin sings, “I know St. Peter won’t call my name…”
I bring this up because one wonders what was he planning to say just after “Once you go...”? It's almost as if he stops mid sentence with a purpose.
I'm of the opinion that he was going to present a similar idea to not getting into heaven that the "St. Peter won't call my name" line represents (more on this later), but backed off because he didn't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. The idea could have been something to the effect of, “Once you go before God you will be judged, as I, and being found in disobedience and sin, you will not be able to enter heaven.” I guess only Chris Martin and God could answer this question for sure.
I'm of the opinion that he was going to present a similar idea to not getting into heaven that the "St. Peter won't call my name" line represents (more on this later), but backed off because he didn't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. The idea could have been something to the effect of, “Once you go before God you will be judged, as I, and being found in disobedience and sin, you will not be able to enter heaven.” I guess only Chris Martin and God could answer this question for sure.
The idea of "never an honest" word really seals it for me that this song is about Satan, because with regard to lying, Jesus said,
“He (Satan) was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44).
Our song's protagonist acknowledges there was no truth during his reign. He was a liar. He was Satan, or at the very least, satanic.
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
So here we have the supernatural use of the weather and elements represented again at the beginning of our second verse. We already addressed earlier the use of wind by Satan in Job chapter 1 to destroy a house. In these two lines you can almost see Satan riding the wind into some old and dark mansion, such as the Mandalay estate in Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca."
The greek word for "spirit" is “pneuma," which means breath or air, so this supports the idea that Satan, as a spirit would ride the wind.
There are other scriptural references that show a spirit can be represented by air or wind, such as when Jesus described how people are born again of the Holy Spirit. He said,
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
So Jesus likened the Holy Spirit to wind, something that can be felt, but not seen.
So this wind Chris Martin sings of, being wicked as he so describes, is not about the Holy Spirit, but about the Satanic.
The doors being blown down indicate that our bodies, as temples, have entry ports, doors if you will. These doors, our ears, eyes, mouths, etc., are points of entry that demons “bang" through as we ever so slightly open them.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
Shattered windows from the fierceness of the wind, too. Just another port of entry.
Drums hearken to the pagan drum rituals that have happened since the beginning of the occult. Satanic, paganistic music, is almost always beat and rhythm driven. Often, the melody is either diminished or non existent. The beat of the drums is another way demons enter, and it explains why modern music is more beat and rhythm driven than melody. Satan’s music, seems to lose the beauty and complexity of melody while embracing the baser forms of beat and rhythm.
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Again, from Isaiah,
"They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof;
that opened not the house of his prisoners?"
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
For my head on a silver plate
The Revolutionaries are the Believers in God who await for Satan’s demise, first his being cast into the bottomless pit for the duration of Jesus’ Milleniel Reign (Revelation 20), and then of course his being cast into the lake of fire forever and ever upon the creation of the new heaven and the new earth.
There is some irony to the use of "my head on a silver plate," because it was Satan who moved on the daughter of Herod's wife to see to it that religious revolutionary of his day, John the Baptist, was beheaded and his head brought in "a charger," basically a curved bowl or plate (Matthew 14:8-11). It can't be known if this charger was silver, but of course, it was also for silver that Judas betrayed Jesus (Matthew 26:14-15). In that sense, the betrayal of both John the Baptist and Jesus could be seen as rectified through Satan's head being brought on a silver plate. So much imagery in this song and so many layers of it! Surely, it's on purpose. It must be.
There is some irony to the use of "my head on a silver plate," because it was Satan who moved on the daughter of Herod's wife to see to it that religious revolutionary of his day, John the Baptist, was beheaded and his head brought in "a charger," basically a curved bowl or plate (Matthew 14:8-11). It can't be known if this charger was silver, but of course, it was also for silver that Judas betrayed Jesus (Matthew 26:14-15). In that sense, the betrayal of both John the Baptist and Jesus could be seen as rectified through Satan's head being brought on a silver plate. So much imagery in this song and so many layers of it! Surely, it's on purpose. It must be.
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh, who would ever wanna be king?
Satan also knows that while he may be prince of this world, God is King of the universe and still in control of everything. So much of what Satan tries to accomplish, in the end, will be to the glory of God. Asking "who would ever wanna be king" is a possible recognition of his fate, and that what he got for his sin was definitely not worth whatever he got out of the sin.
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
He returns to his chorus, his one moment in history in which he thought he could celebrate, where he thought he got the victory over God and His perfect Son, Jesus. But in that moment of Jesus' crucifixion where Satan thought he won, he actually lost, because Jesus died and shed His perfect blood to give all of humanity the opportunity, at least for those who would receive it, to be redeemed of the terminal sentence of joining Satan and his demons in the lake of fire.
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
Ever still recruiting for he knows his time is short and hates God’s greatest creation, humanity. Wants to take every last one of us to hell with him. But, sorry, Satan, God has another plan!
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
For some reason I can't explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Addressing the line, "For some reason I can't explain..." we must understand that this is meant tongue in cheek and is complete sarcasm. Satan, of course, knows why he won't ever enter heaven. His lies, his sin, his hatred of God. And so he says that line in a completely sarcastic way.
Now, the idea of Peter standing at the gates of heaven allowing or denying entrance is more Catholic lore and legend than scriptural truth, but we get the point: Satan knows full well he won’t be called from the Lamb’s book of life to enter in, hence the knowledge that Peter won't call for him.
Now, the idea of Peter standing at the gates of heaven allowing or denying entrance is more Catholic lore and legend than scriptural truth, but we get the point: Satan knows full well he won’t be called from the Lamb’s book of life to enter in, hence the knowledge that Peter won't call for him.
I also find in watching the video that Chris Martin has this almost sarcastic look on his face when he sings this line, as if his character wouldn’t want in to begin with, which only further serves to reinforce the idea that this line isn't sung out of remorse or sadness, but out of a mocking tone that acts as if he's too good for heaven. Arrogant to the end, that's Satan.
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
And here we return to the lies being the basis of Satan’s rule.
The chorus is then repeated once more.
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry 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
I searched for interpretations of this song that were similar in this analysis and found none. I was actually quite surprised because the main character of this song seems so clearly, at least to me, to represent Satan.
Could this song be about anyone else? (Let me know what you think in the comments below).
Could this song be about anyone else? (Let me know what you think in the comments below).
And if it is about Satan, how many people who claim to be followers of Christ have sung this song, using the first person voice of Satan himself?
Church, you better watch what you listen to and sing. Remember the warning from the last blog (Ye Shall Know Them By Their...Music?), what Jesus said,
Church, you better watch what you listen to and sing. Remember the warning from the last blog (Ye Shall Know Them By Their...Music?), what Jesus said,
"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things:and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:34-37).
Let's really think about the music we are listening to and singing. Let's stop supporting satanic music and feeding ourselves with it. Let's start to really glorify God.
Make up your own songs, from your heart, and that will really bless God! Or, find some songs written and sung by the pure of heart, and sing those, too.
Come out of this sinful music, God's servants. Its' time to get pure!
Make up your own songs, from your heart, and that will really bless God! Or, find some songs written and sung by the pure of heart, and sing those, too.
Come out of this sinful music, God's servants. Its' time to get pure!
What do you think? Feel fee to comment below!