Paradise By Coldplay Song Analysis

Paradise By Coldplay
Song Analysis

The song ‘Paradise’ by Coldplay is very unique and special to me in numerous ways. One of the main reasons I enjoy it so much is because there is so much room for interpretation. Anyone can have a different perspective on what it means to them. The song to me represents the attempts by a girl to maintain a child-like innocence in her life by dreaming and running away to paradise.
During the first half of the song, I noticed the rhythm and beat rather then the lyrics and made a huge connection. The rhythm and beat in the beginning is slow, soft and gentle, much like a young innocent girl. As the song goes on, the rhythm and beat gets much louder and faster; it is almost as if the little girls innocence is being taken away from her. The first verse tells of a young girl who had high expectations (When she was a girl/She expected the world); these expectations could be the product of constant attention to fairy tales - expecting the world to be fair and just, where all girls can be princesses, marry their Prince Charming and live happily ever after. In my opinion, this is where one of the major themes of existentialism plays a role in the song. Existentialism is a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as free and responsible determining his or her own development through acts of the will. An existentialism theme that is present in this verse is known as absurdity. The un-realistic thoughts of prince charming, princesses and living happily ever after are all absurd because they do not happen or do not exist. Absurdity is the state or quality of being widely unreasonable. However, evidently the bar was raised too high for this young girl and the expectations not reached (‘But it flew away from her reach’) suggesting maybe a life not lived - dreams not followed, opportunities missed, feelings not acted upon. At this, the girl withdraws into her mind; acting out the life she would have led if Fate allowed her in her dreams (‘So she ran away in her sleep/And dreamed of para-para-paradise.../Every time she closed her eyes’). This line might also suggest freedom due to the fact that she is running away all by herself with nothing holding her back. Freedom is: the power or right to act, (or in this case) speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In my opinion, whenever freedom is present, surely enough, anxiety (the feeling of nervousness, worry or unease) follows shortly behind it. Maybe the reason the girl is running away is because she suffering from anxiety. Who knows? Another term can also been found in this line, subjectivity (decisions that are based on the inner experience and emotion rather then external fact or knowledge). This girl is choosing to run away without the influence of other individuals. The line 'The bullets catch in her teeth' indicates that in her dreamed-up paradise nothing can hurt her and nothing can go wrong. In almost every song imagery plays a very big role especially in Coldplay’s Paradise. When I hear the lyrics ‘bullets catch in her teeth’ I immediate think of a girl who is repeatedly being shot in the teeth. This is, among many things, very absurd because it rarely ever happens. As I thought about this verse more, it appeared to me that maybe the girl wanted to run away to be isolated or alienated from the rest of the world. She might have alienated herself on accident.
The second verse marks the start of a new era in the girl’s life. The rhythm and beat of the song has gotten much louder and faster. This shows how the young and innocent girl that once was, is no longer young and innocent. The second verse details how, as the girl grows up and matures, she faces difficulties and complications (‘Life goes on, gets so heavy’) and some hardships she faces are enough to break her spirit (‘The wheel breaks the butterfly’). In this line, it's assumed that the butterfly is symbolic of the girl - a beautiful and innocent creature - and the 'wheel' can be regarded as the 'Wheel of Fortune.’ This was an Elizabethan Era worldview where each individual would pass around a circle from good fortune to bad fortune to good fortune and around again and so on - much like 'what goes around, comes around'. Therefore it's said that the 'wheel of fortune' has turned and the girl has met with misfortune and has had extreme physical or emotional difficulty in moving past it (‘Every tear a waterfall’). This line emphasizes the fact that no single teardrop is any less massive than an entire waterfall. It compares pain to a material natural phenomenon as massive as a waterfall and tells us, no teardrop will go in vain. But the girl perseveres and finds comfort and distraction in her dreams (‘In the night, the stormy night/She closed her eyes.../Away she'd fly/And dream of para-para-paradise’).
In the final verse, the girl is portrayed as 'lying under stormy skies’, which could be a metaphor for her life's struggles. Her response to the storm - 'I know the sun is set to rise.' - reinforces her sense of optimism in life, allowing herself to believe that though her battle is not great at the moment, the wheel will turn full circle, the sun will rise and she'll reach a level of peace in her life - her paradise.
The last lines of the song - 'This could be para-para-paradise' - could reflect a changed mindset in the girl; for a while she had been languishing over her misfortune and finding solace in her dreams at night however, the words 'This could be' suggest uncertainty - that she's toying with the notion that changing a part of her life, altering some aspect of her existence will produce a positive outcome and maybe turn her unfortunate life into her paradise. What I find to be most interesting about the song is that its ends exactly how it begins; slow and soft. It is almost like the girl has completed a metaphorical circle of life. She has started as this young fragile innocent girl, turned into a young lady or adolescent and lost her innocence, but then quickly regains it at the end. I have always imagined the last verse of the song ‘Oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo, oo-oo-oo’ where the knowledgeable girl is sitting on a hillside watching the sun set in paradise and admiring how far she has come in the world and is eager to move forward.