Look at the stars, see how they shine for you…
31 years ago on the 2nd day of March, a great prophet was born. (AKA Chris Martin.)
When that other great prophet, Jesus, was born, a star appeared in the sky above that showed wise men the way.
The Christians have been trying to explain the star of Bethlehem for centuries. Was it a comet? A supernova? Or something altogether more spiritual? No-one knows for sure.
But now, the CoCM can announce – we have found our star.
It is located at right ascension 0h38m27s, declination 4*51′50″ and is numbered 1708064 in the AXAF guide.
It is not actually yellow, more a cool red. It may not be visible to the naked eye, and it may not be visible from the Northern parts of Europe and the US, but IT IS OUR STAR.
And all it needs is a name.
VOTE NOW!
May 05 2008 | news and site news | No Comments »
{This is the second in a series of the CoCM’s Proverbs, the wise words of Our Prophet, Chris Martin.}
On Lyrics - “The lyrics come out and I just try not to get in their way.”
“When you hear someone like Ian McCulloch or Bob Dylan…those are lyrics that should be printed. Mine are just a bunch of feelings.”
“There’s so much to write about all the time, even if you’re seemingly on top. Life is always carrying on. You can write about why am I having a great day today, but then 200 miles away there’s a hurricane going on. There’s always life to write about.”
On Fare Trade - “Fair Trade chocolate tastes better, but also it was amazing to go to a rich, green area like this and know that for every bar of Divine chocolate you’re eating, you’re helping out the people who grew it for you far more than if you eat Nestlé.”
“How on earth could anybody stand in a field with these people and say that it’s the right thing to do to dump their excess produce cheaply on a third world country? It’s beyond me. But the truth is, the people responsible haven’t talked to the farmers in the areas affected.”
On Canada - “Canada is heaven on a stick!”
On being “cool” - “My eye-opening years were between 13 and 17. I was so cushioned until that. But at Sherborne, it was the first time I’d ever experienced somebody disliking me. Well, I used to walk funny, and, to be quite honest, I was a bit of a knobhead - I wouldn’t have liked me either.”
“When you’re born into a middle-class white family in the county of Devon, there are things that you feel like you’re not allowed to do. Like be a pop star or grow your hair long.”
“Some people are into bondage, and some people are into cross-dressing, and some people are into Coldplay — I don’t mind being a fetish. I don’t mind not being cool. I’ve never been cool in my whole life. Being voted the world’s sexiest vegetarian is about as cool as it gets.”
“It’s very strange being the world’s sexiest vegetarian, because eight years ago, if I’d invite someone over to my place for a tofu burger, they wouldn’t be interested.”
On Michael Stipe - “I’ve lost all respect for fame, but I haven’t lost all respect for respect. So the one great thing about being famous is that I get to meet people who I respect. Our relationship is akin to a dog and its master. I’ll always look up to him.”
May 03 2008 | Doctrine | No Comments »
Again taking “inspiration” from Radiohead, Coldplay released their new single free on the internet on Tuesday. Violet Hill is the first track to be released from Viva La Vida, and the first fruit of their sessions produced by Brian Eno, mastermind of U2’s Joshua Tree.
Musically, they’ve turned up the guitar and stuck 30 seconds of ambience on the front to make it long enough to be a single. This now means they are OFFICIALLY EDGY AND EXPERIMENTAL and NOT COMMERCIAL ANYMORE.
The key to understanding this song is to remember Jesus’s words upon the cross (according to Matthew and Mark, at least) - My Father, my Father, why have you forsaken me? As he dies upon the cross, Jesus asks God why he is being allowed to suffer. Likewise, in Violet Hill, Chris asks God why He still allows suffering in the world.
Violet Hill
Was a long and dark December
The long night of the soul, the darkness that has come upon the modern world.
From the rooftops I remember
As ever, Chris is looking down from on high, surveying the world. (See Gravity, Daylight.)
There was snow
White snow
Even in England, snow is ALWAYS white. Chris knows this (his parents are teachers). ITS A METAPHOR!
Clearly i remember
From the windows they were watching
While we froze down below
When the future’s architectured
By a carnival of idiots on show
You’d better lie low
The powers-that-be, a circus of idiots who control the world, watch us through CCTV, the internet etc. We are hiding below, powerless to change anything, frozen.
Don’t think there’s such a word as “architectured”, however.
If you love me
Won’t you let me know?
The song is a plea from Chris to God, asking for a sign. In X&Y, he recieved his vision from God, but in the four years inbetween, nothing has changed. Poverty is not History, AIDS is still rife, and Noel Edmunds is STILL on TV.
Was a long and dark December
A reference to Chris’s fave painter, Thomas Kinkade.
When the banks became cathedrals
And the fog
Became God
In the previous Dark Age, the Catholic Church grew to be the greatest single power in the Medieval World. Many within the Vatican saw its primary purpose to be the raising of wealth, not the glory of God.
This is Chris’s second direct mention of God in his lyrics. The first, God Put a Smile Upon Your Face, shows a man who has just realised the spiritual power of the universe. Violet Hill suggests a far more jaded point of view. He must be fighting with his wife or something.
Priests clutched onto bibles
And went out to fit their rifles
And the cross was held aloft
Millions were killed during the crusades. The Vatican was silent on the Holocaust. Noel Edmunds is STILL on the TV.
Bury me in honor
When i’m dead and hit the ground
A love back home unfolds
No idea.
If you love me
Won’t you let me know?
I don’t want to be a soldier
With the captain of some sinking ship
With snow, far below
In this incredibly layered metaphor, Chris says he will think for himself, refusing to adopt the values of CORRUPT LEADERS like George Bush who are like the Captains of a failing civilisation, as long as the people remain emotionally frozen subconsciously. You don’t get shit like that from Keane, do you?
So if you love me
Why’d you let me go?
I took my love down to Violet Hill
Violet Hill is a metaphor for the perfect world Chris has glimpsed in his visions. He tries to show us (”his love”) this world, what Jesus would have called “The Kingdom of Heaven”.
There we sat in snow
All that time she was silent still
The world is not ready. EXCEPT FOR THE CHURCH OF CHRIS MARTIN!
So if you love me
Won’t you let me know?
If you love me,
Won’t you let me know?
May 01 2008 | Doctrine and Interpretation and news | 36 Comments »
