Interpretation of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida"

Viva La Vida=Long live the Life

Summary

Reading Between the Lines

The song is about someone who used to be powerful. He had everything in his hand, and it made people hate him. He used everything in his power to keep his position which made him change. And when he made a single but huge mistake, everyone was waiting for his beheading and he lost everything he owned. And when he lost everything, all that he could have is his faith. He used all his vacant time ( which is all day, since he has nothing to do anymore) worshiping and hearing preachers and he became religious.

A classic story of Richest to Rags and finding salvation in religion.

Reading Beyond The Lines

This is a story about death. A person believes he has everything going good in his life, and when he died he was shaken, and everything bad he has done flashed to him and he realized all the bad thing he has done. And for the last seconds before facing St. Peter, he's trying to be religious and all but everything's too late now, and he just feels like St. Peter wont allow him to enter God's kingdom.

Hence the title, Viva La Vida=Long Live the Life
Live your life with a Godly purpose because you never know when your time will come.

I
"I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own"

(Line 1, 2) He's saying that he used to have great command over something that with just a word from him, seas of people would rise.
(Line 3) When you're an important person, You wake up very early in the morning to do your obligations, but he's just a nobody now. Hence, he sleeps in the morning because he has nothing else to do, he's all alone.
(Line 4) But he isn't really sleeping, he's just lying while thinking of/going through/reminiscing his past glory.

II
"I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!""

(Line 1) He had power, but he gambled it.
(Line 2) And he loved playing because he knew/felt he was gonna win over his enemies.
(Line 3,4) And every time he gambles his life, he triumphs over his enemies;therefore he wins everything that his rival has. He's now the new king of his enemy's kingdom.

III
"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"

(Line 1,2) Everything happened so fast. One minute he has power/control over his kingdom, next thing he knew he was imprisoned/locked up(walls...closed on me).
(Line 3,4) He never knew he had a weak foundation until the time came that his castle was falling apart.
{a biblical reference:
Building a house upon sand= It's easy to stand a house upon sand but it's just as easy to bring it down= faith that has a weak foundation gives up easily
Building a house upon a rock= It's harder to stand a house upon a rock but it will withstand harder weathers= faith with strong foundation can endure more

hence; he had everything running so fast that he lost everything just as fast.}

IV
"I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field"

(Line 1,2) Him, losing everything, made him call upon God. And he had a "Calling" .
(Line 3) Now, he wants his religion to symbolize his image(mirror), his power(sword), and his strength(shield). He doesn't need material things, but the Kingdom of God.
(Line 4) He's now going to church and hearing mass, but he still feels indifferent from it.

V
"For some reason I can't explain
Once you go there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world"

(Verse V) When you're on the top, you feel like you have to hold on to anything just to stay on top, that he lied/stole/cheated/& fooled people just to remain there and rule the world.

VI
"It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become"

(Line 1,2) All the power pushed him to becoming a different person.
(Line 3) He learned how to destroy people's spirits, and make people terrified of him.

VII
"Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?"

(Line 1,2) People who hated/envied him, waited for him to make a mistake that would cost him his castle.
(Line 3)They made him follow their instructions; hence he became this tyrant person. They made him do bad stuffs to keep his rule over the world.
(Line 4) A king is just someone who follows what all his people wants and if he does something they don't want, they'll try to bring him down. And now, who would want to be king?

VIII
"For some reason I can't explain
I know St. Peter wont call my name"

(Verse VIII) He knows and accepts that he has committed a lot of crimes/sins, that he feels that when he dies, St. Peter won't call his name to allow him to enter the kingdom of God.