Coldplay have always had a power, as one of my good friends says- "to take you to another place." And their new album is no exception. Rollings Stones interviewed the band about their new vision, style- and the story behind it.
"What I really love about that painting, and her in general, is that her colours were always so bright and vibrant and alive, and yet if you look closely, she's really aware of all the darkness." Martin, whose mother is a devout Christain, and who grew up in a church that was preoccupied with heaven and hell, cannot abide dualisms:
"all this talk about happiness and sadness and darkness and light. Both things always exist concurrently. I am a happy guy, but I am also a very sad guy. It just happens to be at the same time."
Chris Martin intrigues me. He appears to be a musical genius on some levels. Then simply an amplified version of the everyday man, on others. Maybe he's just asking the right questions. "Viva la Vida" with its lyrics echoing revolution, war, love- with its united violins and symbols roaring the presence of something bigger than ourselves-it releases energy, ignites power. It makes me feel invincible, turns my walk into a run- if only for 4:03 minutes. I can't explain it, but I can feel it. "Death and All His Friends" however, is quite the opposite. The muffled, melodic piano balanced by the isolated, sharp notes of the electric guitar make me feel immune, slow, aware. We think this will be a classic, dreamy, somewhat melancholy Coldplay classic. Then something unexpected, the same power as in "Viva la Vida" is released as a self-assured 'piano riff' enters. Strong, bold, colourful. Once again turning my walk into a run.
As I sit on my bed, feeling a million things at once- the lows, the highs, the runs, the walks. Seeing the colours. I wonder what it is about Coldplay that makes their songs timeless? What is it about their music that seems to unlock emotions and thoughts I didn't know I had? Where do their notes get their power from? I'd like to think I'm the only one who feels this way. But I'm not. And suddenly I realize I'm questioning something much bigger than Chris Martin's choice of chord progression. I'm questioning life.
I'm learning more and more that no matter how strong or powerful the light, its unrealistic to think that it will eliminate the darkness. The two coexist. That doesn't mean that we should doubt in the dark what we were told in the light, or that we should give the darkness the same authority or power as the light.
It simply means that the two are inter-related. And that greatest power is made from acknowledging that, and then making a choice.
Having studied Frida Kahlo in art history, her reckless passion has always facinated me.
She lived one hell of a long and painful life. And being an artist, she could have chosen to give more weight to the darkness than the light. She could have based her life on it, her identity. Its what many of us do.
But she didn't. At the height of her pain, struggle and trails- she saw her darkness for what it was, and used it to produce light. That's what gave her life, her work....power.
That's what gives Coldplay's music their power.
And that's what can give our lives power too.
Jesus never walked around in a bubble, ignorant and oblivious to the darkness.
He sought after it. He hunted it down. He hit it head on. He fought it. He didn't give more weight to the darkness than the light, he simply acknowledged it. Took what weapons he had. And fought it. And won. Everytime. He walked with the confidence of a man who's never known defeat.
Here are the conclusions I can come to:
Its unrealistic to say no matter how much light we have, that we therefore won't have any darkness. If the world was perfect and life was easy, we wouldn't need a God.
If we didn't have darkness we wouldn't be aware of the light.
In the same sense, even the smallest amount of light can eliminate darkness.
We cannot capture darkness, but we can capture light.
Darkness is not a powerful substance, it is simply the ABSENCE of light.
But why is that. What is the key to understanding this concept.
It may have something to do with the fact that every human heart is both heavy and light.
That on the same street you can go shopping for the most expensive, and glamorous things in the world- you can also see the homes of the destitute, the poor, the sick.
That for everyday we have a triumph, we'll probably have a trail to.
Its just how it is.
Light will always have a greater power than darkness. Because it can exist by itself.
Darkness is like a leech, something that must take different forms to exist. Once we're aware of this, we can eliminate its power, kill its sources- and choose to focus on the light.
Jesus did.
Coldplay did.
Frida Kahlo did.
I think I might too.
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