Coldplay: Clocks Meaning

Song Released: 2003

Clocks Lyrics

Lights go out and I can’t be saved
Tides that I tried to swim against
Brought me down upon my knees
Oh I beg, I beg and plead

Singin’, come out if things aren’t said
Shoot an apple off my head
And a, trouble that can’t be named...

1. MHinchman72

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   Jan 19th 2010 !⃝

   The song "Clocks" by Coldplay analyzes a more religious based situation. The speaker is a guy who's pretty much on his deathbed, looking for hope. He feels the need to plead for the wrong things he's done so he can end up in a heaven. At the same time. He's alone and feels caught up not knowing what will happen next. For example the line, "confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks(gonna)," explains that time is running out. The less time he has, the more trapped he feels while feeling confused of not knowing what to do. Another example that he emphasizes throughout the song is that the speaker feels so alone and confused. No one can help him but himself. The line, "Tides that tried to swim against," explains this feeling of him being stuck in his own situation. He can only help himself out. In the trickier parts of the song such as the line, "Home, Home where I wanted to go," could mean the speaker trying to fix his problems so in the end he could end up in a place where he wants, heaven.
2. adam94

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   Jan 19th 2010 !⃝

   In the song "Clocks" by Coldplay, the main speaker is talking about how he is on the verge of a major breakup with somebody who he really cares about, and he wants that person to forgive him. There are many examples from the song that show his situation and narrate the story. The song starts by showing his desperation of the situation by saying,"Tides that I tried to swim against." It is obvious that he has been going through troubles with the relationship and by saying, "I beg and I plead" illustrates he wants to be forgiven because he really cares about the person. "Nothing else compares" confirms and really brings out how compassionate he is towards this person he loves. The very last line expresses the outcome of the relationship but reiterates his love towards her by using the word "home". Home is the place were he can find comfort and happiness which is how he wanted the relationship to resolve.
3. mono94

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   Jan 19th 2010 !⃝

   Although there are many interpretations to this song, the most obvious would be that the speaker is talking of his relationship with God and how he has strayed away. "Lights go out and I can't be saved." The speaker is dying and he no longer has a chance at salvation. His time has run out. The "missed opportunities" could be the chances he had to repent of his sins and be saved by God that he has missed and now regrets. He feels trapped and stranded with little hope because his time is up and he no longer has the chance to go "home" Heaven. From the beginning to end of the song the speaker seems to lose hope. At first he begs and pleads for forgiveness saying, "shoot an apple off my head." This allusion refers to taking chances. He takes a chance and hopes God answers his prayers. This sense of hope seems lost by the end of the song.
4. AlyseElaine

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   Jan 19th 2010 !⃝

   The message of the song "Clocks" by Cold Play has a deeper meaning than most listeners would think. The speaker of the song is a man who feels resentment and regret for not being a man of God. He is possibly on his death bed which is supported by the opening phrase "Lights go out." Darkness, which is what the speaker wants you to visualize when he says this, is very often symbolic of death, just like it is in the song. The speaker feels as though he might not make it into heaven so he "begs" and "pleads" for forgiveness. He feels pressured by the time he has left to live. Like many people. he feels ashamed by his sins and wants to be "saved" and go to heaven. When he says, "closing walls and ticking clocks," it is obvious he feels pressured by the time he has left to convince God that he is worthy to go to heaven. This leads to the most important example of this claim, heaven. Heaven is symbolized when the speaker repeatedly mentions "home." "Home, home where I wanted to go." This song is intriguing and should be further interpreted through the religious point-of-view.
5. cassidyfool

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   Jan 19th 2010 !⃝

   In the song "Clocks" by Chris Martin, the lyrics are describing a man whos battling a drug addiction problem and was kicked out of his family's home because of it. In the first verse, the speaker seems to be in a state of depression and hopelessness. The speaker says, "I can't be saved/Oh I beg I plead," which strongly shows that everything fell apart for him and he doesn't know how he'll ever save himself from the drugs. The second verse talks about him regretting all he's done and talks about how he is running out of time to change himself. The final part of the song, which repeatedly says, "Home, home where I wanted to go" shows that all along he was just trying to be accepted back into the family, but feels as if he has failed in trying to do so. Overall, the song is a sincere one, with a sense of hopelessness in it.
6. marissaT3

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   Jan 18th 2010 !⃝

   The Interpretation i got from the song \"Clocks\" is that the speaker was going throught a difficult time with a drug addiction. It seems like the speaker is singing this to his spouse or girlfriend who had kicked him out or left him beacuse of an addiction. In the second line of the second verse, he says,\" I could not stop you know that know.\" This meaning he could not stop because he was in a deep addiction and needed help. The \"you\" in the song is probably his wife and he is trying and wants to tell her something but never can complete the thought, leaving the phrase only with \"you are.\" We know the speaker is not proud of his problem and feels shameful in the first verse when he says \"trouble that can\'t be named,\" meaning he doesn\'t want to tell her or anyone his promlem and all the problems the come with his addiction. The phrase \" shoot an apple off my head\" is about a risk maybe to tell her his problem, or just trying to fix it. The song seems like now may be the time he is trying the hardest ti fix this and feels the most pressure. This is known when he says \"closing walls and ticking clocks.\"
7. Jazzi

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   Jan 18th 2010 !⃝

   The song \"Clocks\" written by Chris Martin can be interpreted in many different ways. However, in my opinion, I believe the song is about a man who is suffering from a problem, resulting in his girlfriend leaving him. The man with the problem is the speaker in this song. He starts out by saying \"I can\'t be saved\" and \"Tides that I tried to swim against.\" These lines can be interpreted to the problem he has, possibly a drug addiction. The drug addiction has ruined his life, even though he has tried to quit. There are many consequences that have resulted from this addiction and has put him \"down upon my knees\". He uses the metaphor \"a tiger waiting to be tamed\" to explain how he wants to tell his girlfriend, even though he knows it will be risky. He\'s ashamed of his problem and knows that time is running out. He regrets doing what he did and wants to go \"home\" or back to the way things used to be. However, at the end you learn that he fails at going back to the way things were before. Tricky parts, such as the \"You are...\" back up the meaning because he is ashamed of admitting his problem.
8. nicole24

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   Jan 18th 2010 !⃝

   The song, "Clocks" by Coldplay is about a man addicted to drugs. He is telling about his struggles that he encounters while under the influence of drugs. He says, "Confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks," to describe what goes on inside his mind while on drugs. The drugs affect his brain so that he cannot think correctly. He sees "closing walls and ticking clocks" because they are made-up images and headaches in his head. A person, who is addicted, wants drugs all the time, which is described when he says, "Come back and take you home." He wants to go "home" to the drugs and succumb to its affects. Home is a word that describes a place where one feels comfortable, and he is comfortable with drugs. The speaker also says, "curse missed opportunities." Drugs cause him to miss opportunities to get a job or hang out with friends, ets... At the end of the song, the man says, "You are/Home, home, where I wanted to go." He uses the past-tense of want (wanted) to indicate he is over his addiction. Now he can go "home." This song relates the hardships and power that a man loses while doing drugs and how power is redeemed by kicking the addiction.
9. Patti94

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   Jan 18th 2010 !⃝

   In the song \"Clocks\" by Coldplay, I think the speaker is addicted to drugs. He knows that time is ticking, but stopping his drugs is an all-or-nothing kind of situation. The quote, \"shoot an apple off my head\" shows how difficult he think stopping the drugs are. Throughout the song the overall tone is shame. When he says, \"Troubles that can\'t be named\" he is ashamed of doing the drug, and embarrassed to say what he really is doing. Some of the trickier parts in the song help back up the overall meaning and give it a more complex background. The speaker can\'t get enough courage to say everything that he truly wants to get out, so he stops in mid-sentence by saying \"You are...You are.\" At the end, he says \"Home, home where I wanted to go.\" Using the past tense of the word shows us how he has given up at trying to be drug free, and doesn\'t even want to go home anymore.
10. purplelion

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    Jan 18th 2010 !⃝

    The song "Clocks", sang by Chris Martin in Coldplay, is a song about messing up and running out of time to fix things. The speaker is a person who is going through a difficult break up. The story to me seams to be about a guy whose girlfriend, or wife, broke up with him and kicked him out of the house. THe line "Oh I beg, I beg, and plead," is the speaker begging for forgiveness because he has wronged the women. It could have been any act that he did, like cheating, or having an addiction, that caused her to kick him out. I feel that he also wanted to be taken back and come home but he ran out of time and chances. When the speaker says,"home, home, where I wanted to go," he uses past tens, which means he doesn't want or can't go back now. A tricky part of the song would be his constant use of the words "you are." I think this means he doesn't know what to think about the girl anymore. He doesn't know if he loves or cares for her anymore after all this has happened.
11. Patti94

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    Jan 18th 2010 !⃝

    In the song \"Clocks\" by Coldplay, I think the speaker is addicted to drugs. He knows that time is ticking, but stopping his drugs is an all-or-nothing kind of situation. The quote, \"shoot an apple off my head\" shows how difficult he think stopping the drugs are. Throughout the song the overall tone is shame. When he says, \"Troubles that can\'t be named\" he is ashamed of doing the drug, and embarrassed to say what he really is doing. Some of the trickier parts in the song help back up the overall meaning and give it a more complex background. The speaker can\'t get enough courage to say everything that he truly wants to get out, so he stops in mid-sentence by saying \"You are...You are.\" At the end, he says \"Home, home where I wanted to go.\" Using the past tense of the word shows us how he has given up at trying to be drug free, and doesn\'t even want to go home anymore.
12. fantasyfanatic

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    Jan 18th 2010 !⃝

    In "Clocks" Chris Martin is unclear about what the subject is. The narrator keeps the problem unnamed and unclear. The line "Trouble that can't be named, a tiger's waiting to be tamed" gives the impression that the narrator is struggling to overcome a difficult obstical that is too embarrasing or private to mention. My interpretation of the song is that it is about all of man-kind's problems, and that the narrator is everyone. Everyone has some kind of problem in his or her life, whether emotional, physical, or mental, that they struggle with every day. If Chris Martin had named the problem in his song, then only some people would be able to relate to it. By not giving the name of the problem lets us all create our own interpretation of the lyrics and lets us all relate to the issue we think the narrator is struggling with. After hearing the song and analyzing the lyrics, I am only left with one possible conclusion. That the song is meant for us all to interpret differently and to relate to the narrator through the issue we think the song is about.
13. witchofoz93

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    Jan 17th 2010 !⃝

    The song “Clocks” has many meanings, but it seems to me that the speaker is confessing his love to someone who doesn’t love him back. The “tides that I tried to swim against” were the feelings he tried to push aside because he knows she isn’t interested, but he “can’t be saved” from this. When the speaker mentions shooting an apple off his head, he means that he knows that this confession is a huge risk- an all-or-nothing moment. The girl may even be moving away, which explains why time is running out, and he “curse[s] missed opportunities” because he never told her before now. He’s begging for her to see his side and says that there’s nothing he can do to stop the way he feels. At the end of the song, the speaker suddenly changes to past tense, so by now he may have admitted his feelings to the girl. However, it appears that he was denied. He refers to his love as “home,” and says that he only wanted to be with her, but she doesn’t return his feelings. Now he will continue living while holding on to this unrequited love.
14. sweetie209

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    Jan 16th 2010 !⃝

    In the song "Clocks" we see that the speaker is asking his wife to take him back. The speaker maybe Chris Martin since he wrote the lyrics of the song. I think that the subject of the song is that he did something that his wife disagreed with and accept it, so he got kicked out of their home.When the speaker says , "curse missed opportunities." It could mean that his wife gave him chances so he could change, but he didn't take them serious. It talks about how the speaker wants to be home with his wife, but she will not take him back.The speaker says, "I can't be saved." Which means that it is too late and he can't fix what he has done in the past anymore. It could also mean that his wife will not take him anymore, so there is nothing he could do in order to be back with his wife. I think that the speaker has realized what he has done and wants to fix it. He understands that he did bad by how the speaker says, "A part of the cure, or am I part of the disease."
15. magana_alyssa55

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    Jan 15th 2010 !⃝

    The author of the song “Clocks” is Chris Martin. Although he is the author he is not necessarily the speaker. The speaker varies in both gender and age. The song describes an individual who is suffering from a drug addiction, which leads to abandonment of close friends and family. Listeners can interpret this because of the lines in verse two: “come back and take you home, I could not stop that you now know.” In this line the speaker pleads to be reunited with a loved one and regrets not being able to stop his addiction. Another instance where listeners may interpret that the speaker is suffering from a drug addiction and regrets not being able to stop is in verse one:
    
    “Trouble that can’t be named, a tiger waiting to be tamed.” In these lines the speaker appears to be ashamed by his or her addiction by leaving it unnamed. The speaker then illustrates how hard it’d be to stop their addiction by referring it to the difficulty of taming a wild tiger.

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