(Following on from Part 1, we here complete Drobbingdon’s musical based upon Viva la Vida/Prospekt’s March by Coldplay.)
Act 2, Scene 1
Three years have passed. The revolution was successful: the FOX was overthrown. Drobbingdon, the leader of the revolution, has become leader of the land, with Prospekt his deputy.
In a hut in Violet Hill, now the capital of England, a small group watch Drobbingdon’s latest broadcast on an old TV…
Drobbingdon:When you try your best but you don’t succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can’t sleep
Stuck in reverse
When the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can’t replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you
Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
But the complaints rise, and Drobbingdon is forced to address the people.
Drobbingdon:The FOX is defeated, we no longer get sick, we are free! Why then are the people unhappy?
Voice in the crowd:Because we are still poor!
Drobbingdon:Our misfortunes are due to an unseen conspiracy…
Oh no, I see, a spider web is tangled up with me,
And I lost my head, the thought of all the stupid things I said,
I never meant to cause you trouble,
And I never meant to do you wrong,
And i, well if I ever caused you trouble,
Oh no, I never meant to do you harm.
Oh no I see, a spider web and its me in the middle,
So I twist and turn, here I am in my little bubble,
They spun a web for me,
They spun a web for me…
(Well, it had to happen… all that attention to the C: O: C: girls got the “boys” in a tizzy! A group from the great polluted city of Manchester, England decided to form into a Men’s Chapter of C: O: C: and they call themselves Men of Reformation, Church of Chris - M: O: R: - C: O: C. Thus, a subset of the original C: O: C: group has now stepped to center stage...)
The Story of M: O: R: - C: O: C:
It was a dark & stormy night in a dank Men’s Club in desolate Manchester, England. MTV BBC is playing on the bar’s TV, and a new video comes on featuring the visage of Great One - Chris Martin singing in all his glory. The last dancer was just gathering up his leather chaps and dog chain collar to call it a night. This dancer, Keith Comer, glanced at the telly and was struck by the sweet gentleness of our Coldplay singer, especially since the nightclub dancing life was seedy, rough and void of glamour. He immediately grabbed some money and went over to the local record shop and paid for Viva la Vida on CD, which he would listen to endlessly.
The Boys who frequent the Manchester Baths heard the music playing in Keith’s CD player and all agreed it was great, nothing like the pounding disco music that throbed at all the gay clubs in town. This was lovely and melodic, and Keith and his friends were entranced. Soon, they were making the trek to Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice celebration and got a gander of those C:O:C: girls shamlessly hussying about.
Yes - all the straight guys were hot for the C: O: C:-ettes, but Keith and his party pals KNEW they could do a better job. Then while on the road to Glastonbury, the Boy-friends were shocked to come up on the girls AGAIN, in yellow bikinis, none-the-less. This was a total affront to the Gay Guys of Manchester and they vowed to show the Hallelujah Hussies who really had the C: O: C: goods!
(During his current sequesterment in his bunker/basement, Archpope Drobbingdon has become convinced that the Viva la Vida album and related EP contain the basic elements of a narrative, which the band have chosen to obscure, perhaps through fear of how their radical new direction would be received. Their hints about recording a concept album may in fact be a clue. His attempts to reconstruct it have led to this, a musical play in two acts, which we at the CoCM have assembled from his sporadic e-mails and an envelope stuffed with scribbled-on napkins. We suggest that you play the songs where indicated, and read the description that follows, allowing the images to form in your mind. It’s like Titaniccrossed with The Matrix, but with songs. Seriously, it’s THAT GOOD.)
Act 1, Scene 1
Narrator (Prospekt, whom we will meet later…):No-one knows the exact day that the earth died. But we all knew it had been sick for a very long time. And when the land died, so did society. It got dark and cold, and the corn withered and died. One day, there just wasn’t any food left in the supermarkets, no fuel for the cars, no water you could drink. And we began to get sick, and die. That was a few years ago. No-one knows what today’s date is anymore. The Fox abolished clocks when they seized control. They shut down the internet and the phones, and soon they were marching into what little was left of the cities, to root out the resistance. But there are many of us who survive.
Open on a rainy rooftop in London, on a dark cold night, some years after the Event. Several people huddle together on a rooftop.
Chorus:At night we go walking till the breaking of the day
The morning is for sleeping
Through the dark streets we go searching to see God in their own way
Save the night time for your weeping
And the night over London, hey
There’s no light over London today
So we rode down to the river where the toiling ghosts spring
For the curses to be broken
We go underneath the arches where the witches are saying
There are ghost towns in the ocean…
Our Hero, Drobbingdon, and his lover are moving through the city, aiming for a resistance camp known as Violet Hill. But she is weak from hunger, and sick from the water. He tries to keep her spirit high as they move slowly.
Drobbingdon:Lovers, keep on the road you’re on. Runners until the race is run. Soldiers, you’ve got to soldier on - sometimes even right is wrong.
Lover:They are turning my head out, to see what I’m all about… Keeping my head down to see what it feels like…
Drobbingdon:But I have no doubt - one day, we’re gonna get out…
Lover: What happened to our world, Drobbingdon? What went wrong?
Drobbingdon recalls the day of the Event
Soon they spy the distant glow of Violet Hill. She stumbles, and cannot go on. He picks her up, and carries her. He cries at the gates, and they open slowly. Beyond them, he sees many shacks, lit by the first street lights he has seen since the Event. But even as he carries her through the gates, she dies. He falls to his knees, griefstricken.
Drobbingdon:Steal my heart and hold my tongue
I feel my time has come
For you I’d wait ’til Kingdom Come
Until my day is done
Say you’ll come and set me free
just say you’ll wait for me
In your tears and in your blood
In your fire and in your flood
I hear you laugh, I heard you sing
I wouldn’t change a single thing…
Now several of the rebels have gathered around them.
Drobbingdon(to the rebels): Let me in… unlock the door
I never felt this way before
I don’t know which way I’m going
I don’t know which way I’ve come
I need someone… who understands
I need someone… someone who hears
Rebel #1:We hear you, friend.
Drobbingdon:What am I going to do?
Rebel #1:Why don’t you ask Prospekt?
Drobbingdon:Prospekt? Who’s that?
Rebel #2:He’s our leader… kind of. He’s a very wise man. They say he knows how to the see the future, by staring into a glass of water.
Drobbingdon: Do you think he’d speak to me?
Rebel #1:Maybe… Hey, why don’t you write him a letter? I’ll take it to him - he’s sure to read it then!
Scene II
In Prospekt’s hut. Prospect reads the letter from Drobbingdon.
Prospekt:You ask me, ‘Will I see heaven in my future?’ Let’s see…
He stares into the water, and an image forms. He gasps, and pulls his gaze away again. What has he seen?
Prospekt:Bring him in to me!
Drobbingdon is taken in to Prospekt’s shack.
Drobbingdon:What did you see? Is there anything for me here? Is there any point in living?
Prospekt:Son, don’t ask me how full or empty your glass is. Trust me: cling to the mast, spend your whole life living in your past, going nowhere fast.
Determined to take revenge for the death of his lover, Drobbingdon makes a prophetic speech that stirs the resistance into action.
Drobbingdon: There’s a wild wind blowing
There’s a cold war coming
On the radio I heard
Baby, it’s a violent world
I can hear it coming
I can hear the silent sound
Now my feet won’t touch the ground
Time came a creeping
Oh and time’s a loaded gun
Time only can lead you on, still it’s
Such a beautiful night
Oh, love, don’t let me go
Won’t you take me where the street lights glow
I can hear it coming
Like a serenade of sound
Gravity, release me
And don’t ever hold me down
Now my feet won’t touch the ground…
The crowd cheer and chant. Yet even as they reach a crescendo, Drobbingdon mourns his lost love…
Drobbingdon:Reign of love, I can’t let go
To the sea I offer this heavy load
Locusts will lift me up
I’m just a prisoner in a reign of love…
If you Google the meaning of the song “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay, you will find many differing viewpoints-not to say any or all of them are wrong or bad. But the REAL meaning and song author’s lyrics speak FROM A FEMALE VIEWPOINT! In fact this is documented by THE FEMALE on the album cover in the De La Croix painting: “Liberty Leading the People.” This is the closest that Chris Martin has allowed himself to come towards the ultimate proclaiming of the coming of the Female Messiah. Also, the Viva La Vida video begins with the unfurling of a red rose - The Reign of Love - and ends with those very red rose petals disseminating from the band into the world.
I used to rule the world,
Seas would rise when I gave the word.
Now I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own.
The female in question once was a powerful woman who was at the top of her game. She had it all but now finds herself alone, and her status severely devalued compared to her former power & glory.
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies eyes.
Listen as the crowd would sing:
Now the Old King is dead. Long Live the King.
Once this female would have had the strength to make her enemies and nemesis quake in their boots. She would accompany her “King” on tour and listen as the crowds revered him and sang his songs. But this “King” of her heart is dead.
One minute I held the key,
Next the walls were closed on me.
And I discovered that my castles stand
upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand.
Once powerful and prominent, our lady is now acknowledging her utter fall from glory. Here is the clearest lyric about just who the “King” was - “the castles stand upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand…” in reference to “Find my nest of salt - everything is my fault.” Also Jesus’s sermon on the Mount whereby a “wise man builds his house upon a rock, foolish men build it on sand.’” So the female realizes she had foolishly put all her eggs into an unstable basket.
I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing,
Roman cavalry choirs are singing.
Be my mirror, my sword, and shield-
My missionaries in a foreign field.
The female is just starting to understand her feelings and comprehend her position. The Catholic Church bells serenade her and the Roman choirs are her call to action. (Bono touches on this dawning of realization in U2’s “Get on Your Boots,” when he sings: “You don’t know..you get it, do you?”.) Things are beginning to make sense, and the female seeks (as Queens do) someone to represent her to the world - a missionary - but one who is a foreigner (England) to be her mirror to the world and offer strength and protection.
For some reason I can’t explain -
Once you’d gone, there was never an honest word.
And that was when I ruled the world.
Despite what the world may think of her “King,” the female knows that he was a good and honest man incapable of telling her lies and she trusted him utmost when she was with him.
It was the wicked and wild wind
blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sounds of drums.
People couldn’t believe what I’d become.
Revolutionaries wait for my head on a silver plate-
Just a puppet on a lonely string,
Oh who would ever want to be King?
The “wind” is commonly known as a Biblical reference to the Holy Spirit coming on someone and offering knowledge and prophecy. Broken windows and drums perhaps alludes to a sexual connotation - never-the-less, the female is now lowly and living in a state unbefitting of her royal status. She has allowed herself to become poor and impoverished. Friends who she thought she could trust end up betraying her and aim to have her framed and arrested on bogus charges. This “queen” answers only to her God and must always obey Him if she is to regain her power. “She is a Godly puppet,” and wonders if any man would want to be her companion.
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.
The Saint Peter reference is quite puzzling but if the reader watches a video entitled “Anna Molly” by Incubus, it will make sense. The female was once murdered as a youth and upon approach to the Pearly Gates, she was stopped by Jesus himself and sent back to life. The female was resurrected. And she lives today, apparently among us, always remembering when she was happy, had someone she loved and trusted, and ruled the world.
This “feminine” interpretation of Viva La Vida takes absolutely nothing away from Coldplay and only shows that Chris Martin and Coldplay are open musically to whatever force of nature inspires them creatively. Claims on You Tube that the song is about Napolean or the French Revolution, but nothing could be further from the truth. It has a modern-day component about it, despite usage of the French Revolution de la Croix painting, which truly shows the “Liberty” that the 2nd Coming of the Messiah offers the world - particularly at the perilous juncture we find ourselves at today.
Viva La Vida shows that absolute power is not absolute. It ebbs and flows and with the death of her “King,” the female was left so bereft, that she actually allowed herself to fall into a state of spiritual dissolution. But the fact remains, that God and the Church are calling her once again to action, and being the God-fearing, devout and obedient Godly servant , she begins to reformulate into her power–with the help of her missionary, mirror, sword & shield-the great Chris Martin. When appreciated from this female perspective, it shows the generous trust and love the female has for Chris Martin & Coldplay- that she allows them to tell her story to the world.
The Church of Chris Martin will soon be holding auditions in various locations to pick the next crop of COC girls.
These women represent the finest examples of what otherwise would be considered a “loose or immoral” woman rising above her circumstances and achieving sacred dignity & respect within the Church of Chris Martin.
There are requirements to attain such an exalted position that may lead to other career opportunities in the fields of escort services, pole-dancing, and unclothed modeling in men’s magazines. As such we are specifically looking for:
–”REAL ladies-Not sex-changed”
–Weight and height within reasonable limits.
–able to sing a few Coldplay tunes either in or out of tune (whistling acceptable.)
–ability to dance, strut, wiggle, or strip in public with no shame or blushing allowed.
–natural or enhanced bosom - no droopsy allowed.
–either natural or fake tan… no pastiness.
–IQ NOT to exceed the doubling of the breast size. i.e., 40 DD bust = no more than 80 IQ.
–tendency to accept the amorous interests of more than one man… at a time.
–pride in maintaining one’s looks and figure.
–must be able to rattle off certain memorized Coldplay lyrics and seem sincere.
This is a very important public position. C:O:C girls represent The Church at various events and a self-possessed and friendly manner is preferred. The ability to travel is a plus. Please email name, contact info and bust measurements with a color photo: to propaganda[at]thechurchofchrismartin.com. We will get back with you with a reply within a week. Thank you for your interest in the COC girl program at the Church of Chris Martin.
