This song not only holds the fourth spot on Coldplay's 2008 album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends but I will argue that it should hold a spot within the canon of songs about mourning.
It makes this case from the get-go. It opens with Chris Martin beautifully declaring ""Those who are dead / are not dead, / they're just living in my head." This statement is first accompanied with a piano which draws attention to the words and highlights their significance. Martin repeats the line once more, this time joined by strings, ultimately driving toward the main part of the song, during which the whole band comes in. A good model for thinking about this song is light traveling through a prism. It opens with Martin singing and piano playing. That is like the light traveling along. Suddenly it hits a prism and it brings out all its colors. Jonny Buckland's guitar work shines like a poignant purple. Another color is the verse that Martin repeats twice "You thought you might be a ghost / you thought you might be a ghost / You didn't get to heaven but you made it close / You didn't get to heaven but you made it close." On the second time Martin ends with "Oh oh oh". The band continues to rock and the song ends with Martin repeating the song's opening words.
Now the reason I want to include this song in the canon of mourning songs is because its mood seems to capture how the mourning process. You begin somber and slow pondering mortality. You then celebrate the person, as symbolized by the rocking and playful middle of the song. As you wonder about your own mortality. That is what Martin does with that verse he repeats twice. Finally you return to the thoughts that the mourning process provided you.
I hope that I have provided a commentary on this song that does it justice. Check it out for yourself by entering this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0xfWCDLoCU (Sorry for some reason, it will not allow me to hyperlink)
Please enjoy,
Nick Howard
