Coldplay: The Scientist Meaning
Song Released: 2002
The Scientist Lyrics
Tell you I'm sorry,
You don't know how lovely you are.
I had to find you,
Tell you I need you,
Tell you I set you apart.
Tell me your secrets,
Ask me your questions,
Oh, let's go back to the start....
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anonymous Jun 14th 2011, 08:12 report
To me it's pretty damn obvious. The guy loses his girlfriend in a car crash as in the video and he's a mess. Been there, done that and wore the T-shit. It reminds me of when I lost my 17 year old boyfriend in a car crash 21 years ago, you don't get much more final than that and no matter how hard I wish that the logical forward motion of time would just go away, I'll never, ever see him again :'(
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anonymous Jun 2nd 2011, 12:59 report
The song is about relationships in general. The first section is about the regret felt after a fight. He feels sorry about what happened and tells her that he stills loves her.
The second section is reaffirming how special she is to him and how he wants to be only her.
The third explains how he wants to go back to the start of relationship. A time when the feelings and energy was still between them. A time when they didn't have any baggage of past experiences. When you've been in a long relationship its tought for the two people to live in the moment. They often interpret the situation based on past experiences, often tainting what is really being said or felt. This negative energy often replaces the excitement and love you have for the other person.
The forth section is about how the love is still their but they are still allowing all the negative experiences control their actions and thoughts.
The chorus is talking about how difficult it really is to be in a relationship. at the end of the first chorus he is asking to go back to the start. He feels that it's something he can't control, but wants it anyway.
The sixth section is talking about how it stopped being about love and admiration. He started analyzing and labeling her actions to understand what made her tick. In the beginning we see the pure nature of someone and take only the good parts of someone. After a while though that changes and we begin to focus on the negative or irritating aspects and allow all the negative experiences control our feelings and thoughts.
The seventh section explains how we validate all those negative aspects about the person we love. We begin fighting whether we still love that person and the desire to be with them. He realizes though that his love is winning that battle.
The eighth section is asking her to see the relationship as he sees it. He wants her to be in agreement with him and disregard all the garbage and bad experiences. Let's start over and get back that feeling we had in the beginning. He still wants to be mesmerised by her.
The eight section is talking about how love is taking a hold of their relationship again and they are finally letting go of the crap. They are starting to fall in love again.
The final chorus is talking about how hard it is to be in a relationship, but now he is in control and is going back to the way it was in the beginning. They are both fighting for each other again and this is how he is solving loves riddle. We must keep fighting for each other and move through all the stupid crap we place at the center of our relationships. True love is when both people believe it and realize what is important-they are there for each other. -
anonymous May 25th 2011, 08:04 report
It's about a relationship in the past. The guy is genuinely sorry for breaking the girl's heart. Like they say, "You don't know what you got till it's gone."
Based on my story, my ex boyfriend told me to listen to this song and he quoted the lyrics, "it's such a shame for us to part." I guess he wanted to get back together but I was in a relationship at that time so we didn't. I love him so much and it would mean the world to me that he would take me back again now.
Christian, you're my scientist. I love you. -
anonymous Apr 26th 2011, 15:59 report
I think this song is, quite literally, about a scientist. A man who becomes so obsessed with trying to understand the universe, and it's infinite beauty and complexity. Such frustration is evident with the line "running in circles, chasing tails" and "come back and haunt me." He can't avoid these rampant curiosities any longer with ignorance.
He is talking directly to the universe (could imply a 'god,' though not in the sense of Yahweh, Allah etc.)
Throught the song, Chris Martin shows a childlike fascination with every element, and a toddler-esque anger; "No-one ever said it would be so hard."
I believe the meaning is deliberately vague to reflect the character's anger. At the end, it is revealed that the protagonist is "goin' back to the start."
Whether that means a re-evaluation of his current unhealthy infatuation, an admission that he will never understand the universe, or a "divine insight" that
has been granted is unclear. Such a meaning would also be consistent with Chris Martin's theological ideology. -
anonymous Apr 22nd 2011, 16:26 report
It is about someone that he loved. This person that he loved died.
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Nike Apr 20th 2011, 03:56 report
The "Scientist" is used as a medium by the poet to describe a person who unknowingly is distracted from his relationship due to many reasons (like here, its because of the scientist's involvement in science and nothing else)
Once you have this view in the mind (as the poet himself), every other line makes sense, the meaning is easy then.
The concluding verses suggest that the scientist is willing to change (rush to the start) and love (her) more than ever with even more dedication. -
anonymous Apr 14th 2011, 01:26 report
This is a song about a relationship with God.
Come up to meet you (in heaven)
Tell you I'm sorry (for all his sins)
Tell you I've set you apart (putting God before anything else)
Tell me your secrets (Christ has many secrets that he reveals to us once you accept him into your heart)
Nobody said it was easy (following Christ is not always easy)
Questions of science and progress do not speak as loud as my heart (if you look into your heart it will tell you that science and progress can't explain those things of the spiritual world)
Tell me you love me come back and haunt me (Jesus Christ loves you no matter what you have done, and you ask him into your heart his spirit will always live inside of you and "haunt" you for the rest of your life) -
crazyblue20 Apr 11th 2011, 23:55 report
I think this song is about a man (the scientist)telling his ex-girlfriend that he finally realized what went wrong in his relationship with her: he was seeing it as something scientific ("I was just guessing, at numbers and figures, pulling the puzzles apart") following settled parameters and assuming that was all he needed to do for a good relationship, instead of just following what his AND HER HEART says (thats why he says then "Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions"), which is what matters because love is no a science, there is no formula for it! But, since he feels THERE IS LOVE between them ("Oh, it's such a shame for us to part"), he fights for it and go back to her. ("Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry, you don't know how lovely you are [...] I'm goin' back to the start")
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anonymous Apr 6th 2011, 23:15 report
Say what you want , but this song is explained in really short lines. It's about a guy(apparently a scientist) who neglects relationships and any reference thereof .But now he obviously wants to change that and get back to relationships. A simple song with a simple yet beautiful meaning.
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anonymous Mar 13th 2011, 20:29 report
I personally think the song is about life. It's not easy and sometimes you wish you could start over. You begin your life thinking you have all the answers and that everything is concrete but when you look back you see where you made mistakes and wish you could go back. This is true of religion, love, and everything life has to offer. The song is about everything you question when you look back at your life.
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anonymous Mar 3rd 2011, 06:09 report
I just lost my daughter of nearly eleven years. When I heard this song, it reminded me of the great struggle I'm going through. I believed so hard for a miracle from God and showed great faith, but it wasn't to be the way I petitioned for. I thought I understood God and His work more, but now my faith is struggling. So I sit and try to rationalize things that I'm not sure can ever be rationalized at all. I debate inwardly between science and the love and emotion in my heart. I feel as if I want to go back to the beginning of her life and do everything to defeat the cancer that took her life. I want to go back to when she first became ill and do things differently instead of relying on medical science. I just want to go back. So I welcome her to come back and haunt me. I want to come up to meet her, and I want to meet God and ask Him why. I want to tell her I'm sorry for ever scolding her or doing something that might have hurt her when I didn't mean or want to. I want her to know all that she is to me and how she was always set apart in life and the after-life. I'm confused, and this song fits perfectly. As with all songs, the art is to have more than one meaning that can apply, but a lost love never had me asking the questions that this song references. It hurts so much, and now I don't know what to do. I want me belief to be strong again, but my faith was rocked so hard. I feel like resolution is tough and that I just keep going in circles in my thoughts. I wonder if anyone can understand why this song is so meaningful for people who lose a loved one.
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AnUnkindnessOfBlue Feb 20th 2011, 18:49 report
its about someone who died. "Come up to meet you" he wants to see her again. "Tell me your secrets,And ask me your questions,
Oh, let's go back to the start." He regrets not appreciating her and listening to what she had to say, he took he for granted and wishes he could start all over.
"Heads on a science apart.I was just guessing,At numbers and figures,Pulling the puzzles apart." He doesn't understand why she had to leave him, he doesn't want to believe shes gone."Questions of science,Science and progress,could not speak as loud as my heart."Hes confused and wants to figure it out, but he cant accept it all he knows is that he loved her."Nobody said it was easy,No one ever said it would hard." He's having a hard time coping with her loss. "Tell me you love me,Come back and haunt me." Hes telling her to come back no matter how she has to do (haunt=ghost) just come back to him to let him know she still loves him. -
anonymous Feb 15th 2011, 20:40 report
its obviously about god and how he is losing his faith....think about it
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anonymous Feb 3rd 2011, 20:38 report
This song is one of the best songs i believe i have heard ever, i believe that it is all about a breakup and how you dont really mean to do it and wish you could take it back, i just got out of a relationship and this song explains it all i wish i could go back to the beginning and how things used to be. It makes me cry everytime. When it says 'come up to meet you tell you im sorry you dont know how lovely you are. I had to find you, tell you i need you, tell you i set you apart. Makes me think that the statement that im sure we have all heard of which is' you never really know how good something is until its gone.' Is nothing but a 100 percent true. You break up with someone and you didnt at that moment know how good it was, there is always hard parts but usually more good then bad and you need to look into the good and dont loose sight of it. If you look to much into the bad and get all caught up you will do something you regret.
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Sean Dwyer Jan 24th 2011, 00:59 report
It's about my parents' divorce and my break up in the same time frame. thats what it means for me, not for you.
Regardless of the artist's intentions for the song/poem (whatever you're interpreting), once down on paper, or in this case in sound waves we purchase, it becomes yours, mine, everyone's. everyone is free to have their own interpretation based on how the work makes them feel and how it resonates with their life experiences. so figure it out for yourself. what does it mean to you? -
anonymous Jan 8th 2011, 16:27 report
This song is very near to my heart, because it reminds me exactly of a situation in my life. I felt like my relationship was going in circles, like there was nothing but fighting. I knew in the back of my mind that my relationship could'nt last forever, for multiple reasons. I really thought too hard in the relationship, like "guessing at numbers and figures," instead of just living. However, I deeply loved the guy, and I let myself get more and more attatched. When it says "nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard," it reminds me of when all my friends told me that I needed to end the realationship, and I didnt, because I figured it wouldn't be hard to lose him. For the longest time after we had finally fallen apart, I just wanted to go back to the start, and live the whole relationship differently, to take it seriously. I wanted to go back and tell him he really was incredible, and that I need him, and just apologize. Sometimes I still do.
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anonymous Dec 9th 2010, 13:56 report
There are so many perspectives and ways you can take this song. Some people think it's about a faulty relationship, some people thinks it's just about wearing your seatbelt. I think it's a lot more profound than that.
With this song, I think it's entangled with love, but as you listen to it, you can almost feel the guilt he's expressing. The video is a main part in this song too, because it tells the story. Basically, he blames himself for the car accident, so like all of us in some point in life, he wants to rewind back time s that won't happen...
But he dies too, after the girl. That's where people get confused, because he just gets up and walks away. But, of course, he'd be injured if he was alive. He's dead but that is almost oblivious to him because he just feels guilty about the girl dying because he thinks it's his fault. One of my personal best lines from this song is:
"And it's such a shame for us to part."
It's like, because they're both dead, he reckons he'll go to hell because of what he thinks is his fault. If you watch the video he's actually dead and it's his spirit wanting to relive the past. It's very confusing and innovative, but that's what I love about this song. -
anonymous Nov 12th 2010, 11:21 report
hey i doubt that anyone one will read this, but ill post it up anyway, im a 15 year old boy canadian of ethiopian descent, and i loe this song, soo much that i even quesiton myself why sometimes, this song has no one interpretation, as it over thousands, this has soo many different means deep inside of it, each one of use aqquiring a new meaning from it, this summer, a girl i hardly knew left, to a new country, i realised i hardly knew this girl, however we decided to get close in summer, and i started to love this girl, when she left i was absolutly heart broken, thats the long story short, and when i like someone, i feel that almsot every poiece of music reminds me of that person, idk if its the same with you, and when i came along this song, i just felt that my emotions created a song, and it was this, the scientist symbolizes loss, in anyway, wheater your mom died, or your dearest freind has moved, it always makes me cry and im a guy, this song always puts me in a dreamy limbo sort of state, i dont want to bore you all but this is how this song makes me feel....
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anonymous Nov 8th 2010, 15:42 report
The meaning of this song I think, is a very simple one...its about love,loss and dealing with the regret of things left unsaid....maybe break-up but I think probably a death, could have been a spouse, child, parent, sibling, best friend, grandparent almost anyone you love. What sets a great song like this apart from the ones just sound "great", is the fact that when you listen to it, it touches you, moves you...captures every emotion you felt during a difficult time so accurately that you almost feel like someone read your mind and wrote your thoughts down. Truly a great song
More Coldplay song meanings »
The Scientist is considered:
Songs about Breakups
Songs about Love
Emotions: Sad Songs
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