I take
solace in this song whenever I feel introspective or morose. It infuses me with
new hope and imagination to hold up against the vagaries of life. This is my
interpretation of this gem of a creation by Coldplay.
This song is a depiction of the attempts by a girl to
maintain a child-like innocence in her life by dreaming.
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 her ambitions and aspirations - expecting the world to be fair and just, where people can end up being what they want to be and doing what they love doing - or simply being subject to an optimistic upbringing where the philosophy 'the world is your oyster' underpinned every lecture by parent and teacher alike. However, evidently the bar was raised too high and the expectations not reached (But it flew away from her reach) suggesting maybe a life not lived - plans not made, dreams not followed, opportunities missed, feelings not acted upon.
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 her ambitions and aspirations - expecting the world to be fair and just, where people can end up being what they want to be and doing what they love doing - or simply being subject to an optimistic upbringing where the philosophy 'the world is your oyster' underpinned every lecture by parent and teacher alike. However, evidently the bar was raised too high and the expectations not reached (But it flew away from her reach) suggesting maybe a life not lived - plans not made, dreams not followed, opportunities missed, feelings not acted upon.
At this juncture, the girl takes an escapist route and withdraws
into her mind, acting out the life she would have led if Fate allowed her to
follow her dreams (So she ran away in her sleep/And dreamed of para-para-paradise.../Every
time she closed her eyes). The line 'The bullets catch in her teeth' indicates
that in her dreamed-up paradise nothing can hurt her, nothing can go wrong.
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). But she 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 depicted 'lying under stormy skies' which could be a metaphor for her life's struggles or if taken literally, could act as a piece of pathetic fallacy. 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 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.
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). But she 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 depicted 'lying under stormy skies' which could be a metaphor for her life's struggles or if taken literally, could act as a piece of pathetic fallacy. 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 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.
