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Coldplay - Speed of Sound Song Meanings

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This song is about somethings that you cannot invent, like birds flying. It's talking about how ideas keep on coming out but no one can do it and somethings are better left unsolved.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-03-16 15:44:40     Rating:

This song is about England and about his life.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-08-07 19:33:51     Rating:

I heard that it was written about a friend of one/all of the members of coldplay who is blind. It is about how he has a different outlook on life than those who can see. "all that noise and all that sound... Birds came flying from the underground if you could see it then you'd understand.” “ideas that you'll never find/all the inventors could never design…the sign that I couldn't read, or a light that I couldn't see, some things you have to believe, but others are puzzles, puzzling me.” He sees the world by hearing, which means that he can “see” things that others can’t. And the “puzzles” are things that people have told him about that he has never known or experienced because he’s blind.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-08-15 01:40:14     Rating:

Everytime I listen to this great song I just get the impression that it's about being on tour. The demands, the pressure and the constant expectations but also the incredible highs of a super band. "if you could see it then you'd understand"

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-10-14 01:09:03     Rating:

Ok after long thought this is my two cents. What travels at the speed of sound? Words correct? All words travel at the speed of sound. Things you can not event are emotions or feelings, you can't invent feelings. All that noise and all sound are problems that the birds or words tell us about. The underground is the mouth. While the heavens, the planets moving at speed of light and such, is thought. I take that back the blind persons interpretation makes a lot more sense. Wow never would've thought of that! When you see it, brilliant not with your eyes with your ears brilliant.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-11-17 02:31:49     Rating:

If this song is truly about a blind person, then why do they say: when you see it then you'll understand

It's not as if this friend is going to get cured of blindness.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-11-23 12:55:58     Rating:

I just think this is an empty song. I mean, a set of words put together, that sound great when listened to "within" the right music (melody).

Submitted by: DaneFil
Added: 2006-12-16 03:00:53     Rating:

This song is about having so many ideas, but having no clue how to figure it out. He is wondering how people got those lights up in Japan and China, he wonders how everything was made, and how he can make his ideas come to life.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-01-12 21:54:15     Rating:

While the song is great, this group is not deep and you are giving them too much credit. It is about a person who is fascinated by the progress we (humans) have made in airplane technology.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-01-23 01:56:17     Rating:

I've always simply interpreted this song as him singing about the beauties and wonders of the mind. As we go through life, we create our own little world in our heads. Years and years of experience and imagination and knowledge have just weaved through one another to create this impossibly intricate web of mystery. And for the people who love things like, say... reading and writing, and who thrive off of their imagination, have an even MORE colourful mind that just boggles anyone when the individual tries to explain what goes on inside their heads. And even now, as we're living, the web isn't finished. Every second, every millisecond, something is being added to it, a new thread is weaved as we take in a new scene, smell, sound.

For example:
"How long before I get in?
Before it starts, before I begin?
How long before you decide?
Before I know what it feels like?"

I just think he means, 'how long before I can get into your head? Before you decide to show me the world you've created in there? I want to know what it feels like, to be you, to see the world the way YOU do.'

And then I know there's a whole bunch of stuff about birds in there, but I just think of the birds as the thoughts in the person's head. "If you could see it then you'd understand." I.e. 'If you could see what I see, the way I've imagined this, the way I see the world, then you'd understand.' But the stuff inside a person's head is so hard to explain...

I suppose the blind thing is all good and well, but I like this interpretation better because it seems more creative and insightful.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-01-24 21:32:08     Rating:

Alright, let me get this straight... You guys actually believe that this song is about blindness??? I'm sorry to break the news to the blind community, but the song is clearly about acid. The song begins, "How long before I get in? Before it starts, before I begin?" In that opening statement he is describing what every person feels when first drop acid; the hour or so of apprehensiveness before the drug kicks in. The remainder of the song describes what an acid trip is like, perfectly, to a tee. I've listened to this song many times and I never understood it, until I tripped on acid. Tonight I listened to the song for the first time since I tripped. Immediately, I knew it was about acid. The song ends, "if you could see it then you'd understand, ah, when you see it then you'll understand." Obviously, if you have never tried lsd then you might struggle to make the connection. Regardless, please do not opine in disagreement until you try acid. BTW- I've never closed my eyes sober and seen birds flying or japan lit up, and I doubt know of any blind people that have bragged about having such visualizations either.

Submitted by: sunshineflower
Added: 2007-01-28 03:27:50     Rating:

Hey! Leave my blindness interpretation alone!!
You are all taking it too literally. The stuff that others said about visions of the mind and seeing the world in different ways is what I was trying to express, but perhaps I didn't do it very well. Because this person is blind, he can't literally see, that's true. But the line "when you see it then you'll understand" is about seeing in different ways, such as through sound and touch and smell, and those who are fortunate to have sight don't understand how that works, and they never will. So it doesn't actually mean that this persons sight will be restored, or that others will go blind in order for them to understand. In fact, I think that the final line "WHEN you see..." is actually more of an expression of hope that we can eventually learn to understand one another, and not just concerning blind vs seeing either, but all types of people.
Anyway, it was just something I heard and liked. I'm not claiming that I'm right and everyone else is wrong, all responses are equally valid.
I think it's amazing that one song can be interpreted in so many ways and touch so many people on so many different levels. It just goes to show that Coldplay are an awesome band to achieve that!!

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-03-16 07:29:15     Rating:

Bats leave the cave as the Tsunami approaches at 500 mph.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-03-23 12:30:43     Rating:

It's about blind men.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-05-25 01:59:20     Rating:

I feel the idea of acid is simply ridiculous. I highly doubt they were on an acid trip as they wrote this song. This song, whether it's about blindness, or pure amazement to the world, or acid, holds more meaning. I have to say that Coldplay brilliantly created this piece and it would be very interesting to hear the truth.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-07-23 05:08:16     Rating:

I liked the bats interpretation, but the blind makes more sense.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-08-26 23:31:45     Rating:

Oh, and from what I gathered by listening to the song, it seemed like they were saying that lights, not birds, were coming from the underground.

But really, I think think this song is truly in its name. It could have been from the writer's imagination.

Light. It's truly a song about light.

And if you've ever seen the video, by the time he grabs his head and begins to see all kinds of photogenic shapes of psychedelic and spectral light, it would overwhelm you. Seriously, overwhelm you. So as a person, you may realize at some point that the world is still spinning around you or, in some really intimate time of your life, the type of power that you're sitting under a meteor shower. And that rush of energy is just so mind-boggling it explodes and all you see is surging light bursts consuming your horizon and zenith entirely. Just looking up.

And maybe your find your purpose.

That's what I've gathered. Much credit to Coldplay for synchronizing the feeling of the song to the perfect music video.

Submitted by: sdpat11
Added: 2007-11-09 03:12:30     Rating:

This song is about living in exile on the surface of Earth. "How long before I get in? How long before you decide?" means "How long before you allow me back inside the Earth?"

"Birds came flying from the underground,
if you could see it then you'd understand?"

Birds (not only birds but also humans)originated under the crust.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-11-21 16:33:52     Rating:

I didn't think this was about acid until the person above pointed this out. I really thought the idea silly, until I looked at the lyrics again. I'm not saying that this is definitely about LSD. But, it has many parallels. I also find his comments about the 1st groups of verses true....

Nay-sayers who has never done acid or similar, please...."If you could see it then you'd understand"

Some lyrics that has heavy parallels to LSD experience:

"Planets are moving at the speed of light" --
Trails you see, when you are tripping.

"I'll start before I can stop"
This is often the way during a lsd trip... You find yourself doing stuff without really thinking about it...

"Ideas that you'll never find All the inventors could never design"
You will often think of *GROUND-BREAKING* ideas on a LSD trip. It makes 100% sense at that moment. However, most are lost, when you are straight again...

"All those signs I knew what they meant, Some things you can invent"
Similar to above.

"While others are puzzles, puzzling me"
You'll see things you can't explain during a trip...

There are many more. But, again, if you haven't been there, you just wouldn't understand !

Come on, other people who dropped acid, chime in...

K

Submitted by: Slycook
Added: 2007-12-01 23:39:31     Rating:

This song has many ideas concerning spirituality and enlightenment. The song begins with the singer talking about climbing "a mountain" and "trees" hoping to catch a better gaze of the cosmos. He is intrigued by the beauty of nature, including the "speed of light" and birds. In an attempt to learn something from nature, the singer implies that the heavens have clues to how the world works. These clues piece together to form a "[puzzle] ". In essence, the true meaning of nature is "puzzling [him]". He also wonders when "[he will] get in" and possibly become part of the elite who have reached some form of enlightenment. He is currently wondering when he will understand the purpose of nature and more so the purpose of his own life. Hopefully, this will help him get his "head out of sand", or a sense of persisting confusion. When he says that "some things you can invent", he realizes that some ideas about the meaning of the cosmos can be interpretated and can be very opinionated.

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