Coldplay
Album: X&Y
Song: Speed of Sound
Reviewed by: Kevin D. Hendricks
Note: We focus on reviewing songs, and therefore cannot comment on the appropriateness of the album in its entirety. Please use your best judgment whenever purchasing or listening to music.
The Band
If you went to the top of the world you’d find Coldplay. They’ve been hanging out there since their mega-hit “Clocks” played on nearly every radio on the planet. The four-member Brit band perfected their melodic pop-rock sound and took the world by storm, becoming one of the most successful bands in only a few short years. But success isn’t always easy; the band struggled to record and release their third album, X&Y. And of course, when a band’s music is overplayed and every move is hyped to death, all that popularity can come crashing down. Some former fans now seem tired of the group.
The Music
The pressure was on for Coldplay’s latest CD, but they eventually came out with soaring, melodic collection of beautiful songs. Critics have both picked and praised, but it depends on what you’re looking for. The album features a lot of the same for Coldplay, which means disappointment for fans looking for something groundbreaking. But it’s also better and stronger and more, which has other fans singing along.
The Song
Sometimes song lyrics are just incomprehensible. While “Speed of Sound” doesn’t quite approach that territory, it’s pretty close. The lyrics could mean any number of things and are quite easily open to different interpretations. The main line of the chorus, for example: “And birds go flying at the speed of sound / To show you how it all began.”
With that said, most of the words seem to move in a positive direction. It leans toward the uplifting, which is true for most of Coldplay’s songs. And, as usual, they steer clear of swearing or other potentially offensive content.
“Speed of Sound” hints at the mysterious, at the unknown. Belief and faith appear in the lines, “If you could see it then you’d understand / ah when you see it then you’ll understand,” and “Some things you have to believe / others are puzzles puzzling me.”
Much of the song seems to suggest growing up and discovering your place in the world, something at the forefront for lyricist Chris Martin, who has married and had a child since the band’s last album. Lines like “How long am I gonna stand / with my head stuck under the sand,” and “If you never try then you’ll never know” hint at a yearning to discover the world.
What’s most interesting is how the song pulls our thoughts toward what we can’t see or understand. It refers to things human inventors could never have dreamed up while pointing back to how it all began. From a Christian perspective, that suggests creation. It may not be Martin’s intention, but the song seems to be about wanting to find your place in God’s universe and accepting with faith all the unfathomable things He designed.
In a vague way, the song asks age-old questions about what it all means. While it doesn’t necessarily come up with solid answers, it does revel in expectancy and hope.
If you’re wondering about your future or your place in this world, take heart that God does have a plan for us. Even when life looked bleak for the Israelites held captive in Babylon, God promised, “‘I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’“ (Jeremiah 29:10-11)
And Jesus promised this to all who follow Him, trusting Him alone to lead them Home: “Do not let you hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. . . . I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)
So What Do You Think?
1. Do you ever wonder about what’s in store
for your future? What answers do you come up with?
2. What do you think “birds go flying at the speed of sound” means?
3. What kinds of things do you have to see to believe? What are you willing
to believe without ever seeing?
4. Do you think song lyrics should be open and vague or do you prefer concrete
answers?