Song Lyrics Interpretation: Up & Up by Coldplay | EET Teri (English Lecturer)

Song Lyrics Interpretation: Up & Up by Coldplay

(Click the words in blue to see the definition in Cambridge Online Dictionary)

Recently, we have been plagued with a lot of suicide incidents by famous people like the world famous chef Anthony Bourdain, fashion designer Kate Spade, and the rock band Linkin Park’s lead singer Chester Bennington among others. Reports show that the reason or one of the major contributing factors behind these people taking their own lives, despite their fortune and fame, is depression. Now I am no expert and this post is NOT in any way about how to deal with depression. For more information about depression and related cases, I suggest you visit this site: http://tspc.tw/tspc/portal/English/
 

This post is about finding a bit of light if you are going through a rough patch in life.

If you are in any way like me and you find comfort through listening to music and currently need a dose of positivity and encouragement in your life, then this song might just be the song that you need right now! 

Photo Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_%26_Up#/media/File:Coldplay,_Up%26Up,_Artwork.jpg

The title of the song is Up & Up by the American Band Coldplay. The song was released in April 2016. This particular song is not as popular as their other songs such as Hymn For The Weekend, The Scientist, Yellow etc. but the lyrics of this song is just something that definitely gives hope. Here is a link to the official music video of the song:

Just like mentioned in my previous post, the underlined words in blue in this article are all relevant links to the meaning of the words. You can click on them to help you understand the words better. I suggest that you listen to the song first (or a few times if you want to!) so you can get a feel of what the song is like before reading the article while the song is playing on the background so that you can really feel the emotions of the songwriter.

LYRICS	EXPLANATION
**In this song, we’ll come across the lyrics “up & up” a lot. It just simply means that we should look up (better things, be positive etc.) instead of being negative and looking “down”. J
Fixing up a car to drive in it again Searching for the water, hoping for the rain Up and up Up and up	Here, at the beginning of the song, the songwriter talks literally about simple problems that we encounter in our daily lives such as fixing our cars so we can drive it again and hoping for rain to come when the weather is too dry so we can have enough water just like what happened recently in Taiwan. These 2 examples can also be interpreted as us people facing problems that 1) we can fix ourselves such as fixing our car and 2) Problems and situations that we do not really have control over such as not having enough rainfall and water supply and that all we can do is just hope for rain. But still “up & up”! Be positive!
Down upon the canvas, working meal to meal Waiting for a chance to pick your orange field Up and up Up and up	A teacher teaches for a living, a driver drives, a sales person is after a sales target, and so on. “Down upon the canvas” symbolizes a painter doing his job. This line in the song is saying that we do what we have to do in order to live. “Meal to meal” is a famous English expression that describes a situation wherein someone is unable to meet his/ her financial obligations and has to constantly work to make ends meet. A similar expression is “paycheck to paycheck”. For example: “I am living from paycheck to paycheck because I have so many bills to pay.” “Waiting for a chance to pick your orange field” means that as people, we are all waiting for the right time to get the result of our hardwork. Put together, this couple of lines from the song means that it is okay for us to work hard and do our jobs even if we feel like we are getting somewhat tired because the time will come when we can already get the reward from all the times we had to work so hard.
See a pearl form, a diamond in the rough See a bird soaring high above the flood It’s in your blood It’s in your blood	Pearls are not formed very easily; that’s why they are very precious and expensive. Same goes with diamonds; it takes a long time and a lot of effort to dig up a diamond. But these are part of nature’s work and that’s just the way it is. As for birds, they just fly flawlessly even if there is a flood beneath them. “In your blood” is another famous English expression that means to come naturally. Usually used to express a talent that someone has. For example: “Singing is in your blood.” Meaning, you naturally have a good singing voice even if you don’t really practice. So this means that as people, we are naturally resilient. Even if life gets us down sometimes, we have the natural ability to bounce back and be okay again.
Underneath the storm an umbrella is saying Sitting with the poison takes away the pain Up and up Up and up, saying	This means that when we are facing a problem (storm) we should try to protect ourselves (underneath an umbrella). But no matter how much we try to protect ourselves we will still get affected like even if we use an umbrella when there is a storm or when it is raining, we still get a bit wet. But even if this happens we have to face and solve our problems because we cannot run away from them. This is what “sitting with the poison takes away the pain” means. It means that when we “invite” our problems (poison) to “sit with us”, it is the only way we can solve them –by facing them.
We're gonna get it, get it together right now Gonna get it, get it together somehow Gonna get it, get it together and flower Oh oh oh oh oh oh We're gonna get it, get it together I know Gonna get it, get it together and flow Gonna get it, get it together and go Up and up and up	“Get it together” is another famous English phrase that means to take steps to better the situation or solve a problem. For example: “You have to get it together or else you will lose your job.
Lying in the gutter, aiming for the moon Trying to empty out the ocean with a spoon Up and up Up and up	This part of the song talks about hope: Gutter is the side of a road where water flows. This line means that we have to dream big and aim high; that we always have to just keep looking up even if we feel down and sad. That even if we feel sad and hopeless (lying in the gutter), we still have to keep our hopes up (aim for the moon). So just how much hope should we have? This line in the song answers it! We all have to have a lot of hope to the point that we have to think about “trying to empty out the ocean with a spoon”. I think there must be so much hope there to even think about emptying the ocean using a spoon!
See the forest staring at every seed Angels in the marble waiting to be freed Just need love Just need love, when the going is rough saying	Photo Source: https://www.mypsdc.com/product-tag/large-marble-angel-statues.html Here are a couple more of symbolisms that songwriter used: The forest staring at every seed on its ground and angel statues that we often see in grand and fancy places. These angel statues often look really really nice and are made out of expensive marbles but despite their beauty and price, they cannot move at all and all they want is to be free.
We're gonna get it, get it together right now Gonna get it, get it together somehow Gonna get it, get it together and flower Oh oh oh oh oh oh We're gonna get it, get it together I know Gonna get it, get it together and flow Gonna get it, get it together and go
And you can say what is, or fight for it Close your mind and take a risk You can "it's mine" and clench your fist Or see each other as a gift
We're gonna get it, get it together right now Gonna get it, get it together somehow Gonna get it, get it together and flower Oh oh oh oh oh oh We're gonna get it, get it together I know Gonna get it, get it together and flow Gonna get it, get it together and go Up and up and up We're gonna get it, get it together right now Gonna get it, get it together somehow Gonna get it, get it together and flower Oh oh oh oh oh oh We're gonna get it, get it together I know Gonna get it, get it together and flow Gonna get it, get it together and go Up and up
Fixing up a car to drive in it again When you're in pain When you think you've had enough Don't ever give up

This is honestly one of my favourite songs at the moment. If you think the original version of the song is quite sad, here is a remix version that is more upbeat:
https://open.spotify.com/album/46ElgN92j4wktUnUkxUFKR

Have fun and never EVER give up!

EET Teri

{ End of Song Lyrics Interpretation: Up & Up by Coldplay }

Author (作者):  EET Teri (English Lecturer, Enrich English Tuition/睿騏英語講師 Teri )

Publication Date (發表日期): June, 2018

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