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Coldplay - Clocks Song Meanings

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I think this song is about addiction...

The lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
Have brought me down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead singing

(I try to fight my addiction, but it beats me down.)

Come out of things unsaid
Shoot an apple off my head and a
Trouble that can't be named
A tiger's waiting to be tamed singing

(If the problem is addressed, it must be named and therefore faced.)

You are
You are

(Addiction--to alcohol, etc--is...)

Confusion never stops
Closing walls and ticking clocks
Gonna come back and take you home
I could not stop that you now know singing

(I could not stop--nuff said. I feel like the world closes in on me and confusion descends because of my addiction.)

Come out upon my seas,
Cursed missed opportunities
Am I a part of the cure
Or am I part of the disease, singing

(Am I a slave to my addiction, or do I choose to recover? How much have my life have I lost to my addiction?)

You are, you are, you are
You are, you are, you are

And nothing else compares
And nothing else compares
And nothing else compares

(Slaves to addiction know that nothing else compares to our high.)

You are
You are

Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go

(All I wanted in addiction was to go home, back to the days before I felt so hopeless; I also wanted my future to have a home in which I felt safe)

Submitted by: dane
Added: 2006-05-18 08:28:19     Rating:

Clocks is simply about death. Listen to the lyrics.

Submitted by: charkxl
Added: 2006-06-30 14:21:17     Rating:

I agree with dane.
This song is about death. and life. And what you make of yourself.
I think its a somewhat celebratory song of life, kinda like TOOL's Parabol/a.

'you are, you are, and nothing else compares'
is saying, accept yourself and live your life.. all the other lyrics are just factors in a persons life, dealing with dying, finding your niche..

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-09-01 21:37:05     Rating:

I don't know...I kind of like the addiction interpretation. I just don't see enough evidence to suppport the death interpretation.

Submitted by: Deckard88
Added: 2006-09-12 23:31:11     Rating:

Yeah it could be about death. I just love this song with a passion.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-09-26 02:45:58     Rating:

Wow, it's about a man's fight against time. Time is eating his life away. This is why it is called clocks, because clocks keep time.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-11-11 14:41:29     Rating:

I agree with the interpretation that this song is about the inability of man to stop time from continuing...


"the lights go out and I can't be saved
tides that I tried to swim against
have brought me down upon my knees
oh I beg, I beg and plead singing "

the lights go out - death
tides that I tried to swim against - he tried to stop time, but failed..Now at his death he realizes his mistake

"cursed missed opportunities "
- things he wished he had done, but didn't because he believed he had more time

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-11-12 06:36:22     Rating:

Addiction interpretation ftw!

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2006-11-30 14:00:00     Rating:

i think this song is about a man's race against time which carries an inevitable separation with the one he loves. The separation could be death,trouble,or whatsoever,but it is definitely inevitable.this song is his plea, reflecting his hopelessness of fighting the inevitable to come by each passing seconds.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-01-23 01:13:45     Rating:

I know this is pretty much ridiculous, but for some reason I always listen to it as having to do with the natural world being destroyed. The song just kind of has the natural awe that I get when I'm camping and things like that, and the words are almost like.. He's trying to stop the destruction and everything, but it's spinning out of control. And the whole 'Clocks' thing I always took as just the amount of time left until we elimate the world. And then when he says 'Nothing else compares' I always just imagine it as him speaking of being somewhere completely and totally untouched by man.

Yeah, yeah. COMPLETE OVER-ANALYZATION. I'm a tree-hugger, and I see EVERYTHING as having to do with nature... Ha. So shoot me.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-05-23 21:59:16     Rating:

I think this is about someone who never really felt accepted in his own home and even as time went by, he still went through all this stuff and rebelled and stuff although all he wanted was to belong.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-06-30 19:57:04     Rating:

It's not about death it is about self-acceptance.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-07-04 11:49:15     Rating:

A number of people seems to think of it as addiction;although I agree about it somewhat, I don't think there is no explicit, even implicit symbolism in those lines that suggest drugs. But I there definite voice of regret about "missed opportunities". And that is more about likely about relationships.

What kind of relationships are "against" the tide? Cannot be talked about? Causes troubles that cannot be talked about?

Drugs and, even same sex relationships are not problems which cannot be talked about in this age and time, unless you are living in very "backward" parts.

The whole mystery about this lyric is the "you" which is incomparable. There's home mentioned twice...

"take you home" and "Home, home, where I wanted to go" ...

An out of fashion Freudian interpretation with the "tamed tiger" will lead us towards "incest". But it could just be something like relationships which would be condemned by "the world" like relationships with someone very close, like a friend's spouse or partner ...

The horrible end of the world, feeling of death, confusion are all there with an emphasis on time which takes the song to another level ... It is very appropriate when you consider the delivery: the events are not chronological... The feelings are mixed... There is no horror, no fear of unknown or violent ending... It's more like passion, a forbidden passion, and finally unconsummated ...

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-07-04 12:10:54     Rating:

A number of people seems to think of it as addiction;although I agree about it somewhat, I don't think there is no explicit, even implicit symbolism in those lines that suggest drugs. But I there definite voice of regret about "missed opportunities". And that is more about likely about relationships.

What kind of relationships are "against" the tide? Cannot be talked about? Causes troubles that cannot be talked about?

Drugs and, even same sex relationships are not problems which cannot be talked about in this age and time, unless you are living in very "backward" parts.

The whole mystery about this lyric is the "you" which is incomparable. There's home mentioned twice...

"take you home" and "Home, home, where I wanted to go" ...

An out of fashion Freudian interpretation with the "tamed tiger" will lead us towards "incest". But it could just be something like relationships which would be condemned by "the world" like relationships with someone very close, like a friend's spouse or partner ...

The horrible end of the world, feeling of death, confusion are all there with an emphasis on time which takes the song to another level ... It is very appropriate when you consider the delivery: the events are not chronological... The feelings are mixed... There is no horror, no fear of unknown or violent ending... It's more like passion, a forbidden passion, and finally unconsummated ...

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-07-29 23:05:16     Rating:

I agree, this song is about incest. Tamed Tiger, going home etc. It makes sense, plus I heard an interview about it

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-08-05 23:11:04     Rating:

This song does so much more than man and man or man and substance, but it taps into the simple comparison of man and time. From what I've gathered, "lights go out I can't be saved/ tides that I tried to swim against" (and so one) simply shows a man that may have tried to beat time by seeking a way to go into the past and eventually got "washed up" by the reality that you CANNOT CHEAT TIME.

I mean, it is kind of strange that the song mentions water and the colossal bodies of it and then is entitled "Clocks." If anything, water is most known for being [one of] nature's most tranquil or nature's most destructive forces besides wind and earth, and thus it is identified with or as nature's most unchangable force: Time. And it makes sense that man, by the end of the song, would eventually be overwhelmingly baffled by its mysteriousness and greatness and finally submit to it ("And nothing else compares" "You are")

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-08-09 12:01:32     Rating:

Well...

I think the lyrics are narrated by someone who is coming to grips with SOMEthing in their life, be it addiction, death, or the loss of our ecosystem. Kudos to Coldplay for capturing the feeling without making it scenario-specific.

I think there is a "the-spiritual-rug-has-been-pulled-out-from-under-my-feet" feel to the song, especially in the first verse with not being saved, brought to his knees, and singing comes out if things aren't said.

As for what I get out of this song... personally I think it's about Albus Dumbledore's life. But that's just me.

Submitted by: memphis10ec
Added: 2007-08-26 10:15:32     Rating:

This song reminds me of my lost First True Love. We were SO in love, it was like the world kept spinning but we were still, staring in each other's eyes. I swear she was all I could see. But eventually we broke up, and she left me...not for another person, but just to go on with life. The problem with that is, it left me hoping that we could still get back together. Day after day, month after month, I harbored this ill-begotten hope. Over time it got better; clocks kept ticking, years went by. Finally I was able to love again, but my First Love will always be deep in my heart.

The lights go out and I can't be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
Have brought me down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead singing

Two interpretations here:
1. During the day I could distract myself, feel normal, not think about her....but at night, when I'd turn out the lights to go to sleep, not being beside her made me feel such anguish! It all came crashing down on me in the lonesome darkness of my bedroom. I would pray to God for some relief from being in love with someone who didn't love me anymore.
2. My first opportunity to have sex after we broke up, I couldn't do it. This is so embarrassing to remember! We were alone, clothes off, then the lights went out and I couldn't get aroused. It's like "she" was there. I was "begging and pleading" for myself to get aroused, to perform, but I ultimately had to beg and plead forgiveness. I told this girl I still loved my ex...and she said it was ok, but I never saw her again. Luckily I got over that (for the most part).

Come out of things unsaid
Shoot an apple off my head and a
Trouble that can't be named
A tiger's waiting to be tamed singing

When I started dating again, whenever we'd drive past places my ex and I went, I'd get these...feelings. However, no way was I going to be able to express them. The places and the memories had to remain "things unsaid", but I felt them. "Shoot an apple off my head" is kind of like the dread on a date of passing one of the places that we shared and going right back to the past in my head, thus ruining the date.

Also, I know anyone in a relationship has had one of these moments: we're just driving along going to wherever, and my date says, "What are you thinking?" Oh God, I'm in trouble now! I'm thinking about "her" but I can't say her name to my date! That is the trouble that can't be named. And since I can't control when I'm going to think about her, She is the tiger in my head that can't be tamed. (BTW, if your date asks you what you're thinking, just say "politics" LOL.)

You are
You are

This is sung to "her". Anywhere, any time, any place, no matter who I'm with, she is...

Confusion never stops
Closing walls and ticking clocks
Gonna come back and take you home
I could not stop that you now know singing

Like I said before, she didn't leave me for someone else. She just didn't need me, I guess. So, even to this day I'm left wondering. "Closing walls and ticking clocks" reminds me of time I spent sitting alone trying to figure this all out. It was a waste of time, because there was no explanation. After our breakup, we still saw each other, but she moved to a town 80 miles away. I visited her as often as I could, even breaking the car down and having to ask my parents to come get me one time. But every time I visited her, I felt like this time I was going to come back and take her home. Or, if she'd asked me, I would have moved in with her and made her home my home too. I was so co-dependent on her, I "could not stop that" behavior. I was out of control.

Come out upon my seas,
Cursed missed opportunities
Am I a part of the cure
Or am I part of the disease, singing

I'm asea, adrift without her. The first line invites the listener to come and feel what I feel, get in my "boat" for a moment. "Cursed missed opportunities" is self-explanatory, but here's an example. After we broke up, I went to visit her one time. I don't know exactly how it happened, but we ended up having sex (I don't say "making love" because we were broken up, after all). Anyhow, in the middle of the night, I had to leave to get back home. What I needed to come home for, I can't even remember now! Today, over and over in my mind, I think that if we'd woken up in each others arms that morning, we'd still be together today! Talk about a missed opportunity!

Someone told me one time that the only one who could get me over her was me. Not her (she wasn't even around any more). So, I had to stop thinking about her and get on with my life. MY thinking about her, obsessing, was part of the disease. MY stopping thinking about her, getting back out there with a social life, taking chances, kissing someone else, etc., that was part of the cure.

You are, you are, you are
You are, you are, you are

And nothing else compares
And nothing else compares
And nothing else compares

I eventually got married, and so did she. She has two kids now, and is happy. I saw her for the first time in like 20 years, and we had lunch. Now we both know we can't go back, but we agreed no other relationship was like that one we had back then. Nothing else compares. (Oh, and about that confusion I mentioned earlier: I did ask her what the hell happened back then to make her leave me. Her answer: "I don't know". Can you believe it?! I have to laugh...or else I have to cry.

You are
You are

Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go
Home, home where I wanted to go

We never made a home together, but we did get engaged and we talked about having four kids and even what their names would be and everything! "Home" was where I wanted to go, but in the end it was not where she wanted to go.

Anyhow, CLOCKS keep ticking, and hopefully time heals all wounds.

Apologies to Coldplay if this is not what you meant.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-10-23 22:18:39     Rating:

I have two interpretations for this great song. The first interp is that this song is about regret. Things you can't change in the past, missed opportunities to make things right, people you've hurt and things you should have (or not have) said. It's a battle against time and man not being able to go into the past and change it.

The second interp is pretty literal in terms of when your body gives into the seduction of sleep. WE ALL GIVE IN. When I was in med school I used to stay up til the wee hours of the morning to study and literally having to fight against going to sleep on top of my books. No matter how badly I tried to force myself to stay awake, I gave in to sleep. Like a tiger or beast who is finally tamed. Sleep is another natural force that man cannot control. No matter what you do, your body will always give in to sleep.

I used to wonder why the words "you are, Home" are repeated over and over again. I think Home refers to the sensation when you are on the brink of falling asleep. It is that very moment when you lose consciousness and fall asleep. You feel relaxed, safe, happy, protected in a dream state, as if you are home. If you pay attention to the way these words are repeated, it has a very hypnotic feel to it. Freaky but cool.

Submitted by: anonymous
Added: 2007-10-28 13:39:33     Rating:

I think the song is about not having enough time to live. "cursed missed oppertunities, closing walls and ticking clocks, oh I beg I beg and plead". We don't have enough time to do all that we want, say all that we want, and be all that we want. "closing walls and ticking clocks" basically means times running out to do it all, and its constantly in the back of our minds.

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