JUEVES - LYRICS ("Viva la vida")

- Viva la vida – Coldplay

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.

I used to roll the dice,

feel the fear in my enemy's eyes,

listened as the crowd would sing,

now the old king is dead long live the King.

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.

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing

roman cavalry choirs are singing.

Be my mirror, my sword and shield

my missionaries in a foreign field.

For some reason I can't explain

once you'd gone there was never

never an honest word

and that was when I ruled the world.

It was a 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.

Revolutionaries wait

for my head on a silver plate,

just a puppet on a lonely string.

Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing

roman cavalry choirs are singing.

Be my mirror, my sword and shield,

my missionaries in a foreign field.

For some reason I can't explain

I know St Peter won't call my name.

Never an honest word,

but that was when I ruled the world.

Oh oh oh oh ohh oh [x5]

Hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing

roman cavalry choirs are singing.

Be my mirror, my sword and shield,

my missionaries in a foreign field.

For some reason I can't explain

I know St Peter won't call my name.

Never an honest word

but that was when I ruled the world.

- Notas:  El título en español alude a un cuadro del Frida Kahlo que tenía este mismo título (cuadro que es un bodegón de sandías, cosa que no entiendo que tiene que ver con la canción). La historia que narra la canción, cantada en primera persona, va sobre un rey que pierde su reino y se lamenta por ello. Algunos dicen que es Luis XVI que perderá la cabeza tras la Revolución Francesa.

La canción está plagada de referencias bíblicas como los “pillars of sand” que hace referencia al pasaje de sabio que construye su casa no en la arena sino sobre roca sólida, los “pillar of salt” que hacen referencia a la mujer de Lot que se convirtió en estatua de sal, o St Peter que en la Biblia es el depositario de las llaves que abren o cierran las puertas del cielo.

- 1. “…long live the King…” = La frase hecha es “the King is dead, long live the King” (“el Rey ha muerto, larga vida al Rey”), expresión que se usa desde 1422, cuando al cerrar el ataúd del Rey de Francia Charles VI el duque de Uzès la pronunciara pasando a indicar que de hecho, Charles VII era el nuevo Rey de Francia aunque la coronación no hubiese tenido lugar aun.
- 2. “…a-ringing…” = Es una forma reducida de pronunciar “are ringing”, como el verbo principal empieza por el sonido “”r”, y el auxiliar acaba con sonido “r”, en ocasiones se expresa gráficamente el unir ambas palabras eliminando el sonido repetido.