Coldplay: Amsterdam Meaning
Amsterdam Lyrics
And I swerve out of control
If i, if I’d only waited
I’d not be stuck here in this hole
Come here my star is fading
And I swerve out of control
And I swear I waited and waited
I’ve got to get out of this...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:Amsterdam was released the same year I got into a nasty car accident and was left paralyzed from the waist down. Rush of Blood to the Head happened to be 1 of only a few cd's I had during my time in hospital and I played this song over and over. I really related to many of the lyrics in this song, and felt, at the time, that they were describing my situation... My star is fading... Swerved out of control... Another phrase I really related to was "dead on the surface, but I am screaming underneath".
I know that the lyrics are meant to be read metaphorically, but this song, for me, brings me back to that hospital bed, and the fear, regret, anger, and sadness I felt while I mourned the death of my old life, and struggled to re-create myself. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:The song is about someone going through harsh times and how he need a person to come and cut him loose. Its not about suicide, its just about how sometimes we do need a person to support and show a way through our troubles. It depicts how he has lost faith almost out of strength, unable to fight, but he is crying underneath…
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3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:i believe this song is about those who have made poor choices, and how they let it eat them up inside. They may be in a position in life that they are unhappy with and it really brings them down. The song gives a message, that it is never too late to change your life, stop dwelling on wasted time and look to the future.
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I actually wrote a chapter of a short story based on this song. It was about a teenage boy whose twin sister and his crush were murdered by his best friends girlfriend. His best friend and his girlfriend were on the run.
"Come on, oh my star is fading"
Refers to his sister and crush dying.
"And I swerve out of control"
The boy smashes his guitar out of grief over his sister/cursh and anger for the girlfriend who killed them and ran way with his best friend. He loses control and breaks on of the most important items to him.
"If i, if I’d only waited
I’d not be stuck here in this hole"
The 'hole' could mean two things: the grave where his sister/crush will be forever in or the metorical grave his is in because he has lost everything to him.
"But time is on your side
Its on your side now"
As they are dead, time won't age them.
"Not pushing you down and all around
It’s no cause for concern"
The sister/crush won't be worried by things that happen to them anymore. That won't lie in bed, thinking about all the 'what ifs'. They arent worried about anything.
"Come on, oh my star is fading
And I see no chance of release"
The boy doesn't think he'll ever be able to get over their deaths.
"And I know I’m dead on the surface
But I am screaming underneath"
On the outside, the boy seems depressed and quiet, but on the inside he is full of emotions: rage at the girlfriend for killing his crush and sister,then running away with his best friend, grief over them, worry for his best friend.
"Stuck on the end of this ball and chain
And I’m on my way back down again"
The 'ball and chain' refers to his grief. He is sunk deeper into it as he learns that his sister/crush's killer has harmed his best friend and he is in hospital in a coma.
"Stood on a bridge, tied to the noose
Sick to the stomach"
The 'bridge' and the 'noose' are metophors for the boy as he thinks about killing himself. He's 'stick to the stomach' of his horrible life.
"You can say what you mean
But it won’t change a thing
I’m sick of the secrets"
As people from his school gossip about their deaths, he knows that nothing they say is true. He wants them to know the truth.
"Stood on the edge, tied to a noose
You came along and you cut me loose
Again, the 'edge' (probably of a cliff or a buliding) and the 'noose' means thinking about suicide but then the boy finds comfort in playing his sister's guitar (after his smashed)and things turn around for him as his best friend awakens from the coma. -
Its about a depressed girl who worked as a prostitute in Amsterdam. one day she saw the coldplay guys walking through the street where she stood behind a window selling herself, and after that she decided to find another job.
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I always took the songs meaning as he is in love with someone and it's sucked the life out of him and he's begging the girl to cut him loose from the torment of the unrequited love.
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Its only called Amsterdam because thats where Chris Martin was when he wrote it. Thought I'd just clear that up.
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I sort of view it as a slow progressing depression I have depression and for some reason I cry listening to this song but feel SO much better afterwards. My favorite lyric is im dead on the surface, but I am screaming underneath, because it is so true everyday is like a constant battle to appear normal, to appear like there is absolutely nothing wrong with me but in reality I just want to scream and cry.
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This is obviously about Anne Frank. The songs called Amsterdam because thats where she was trapped in hiding for 2 years before she was found. Think about it:
"my star is fading"- meaning Star of David
"stuck in this hole"- stuck in hiding
"i waited nd waited"- a way of saying i waited so long but i was captured anyway
"i have to get out of this hole"- and then back to when shes in hiding, wanting to get out
"But time is on your side, It's on your side now, Not pushing you down, And all around
It's no cause for concern"- A way of interpreting what Anne was probably telling herself, like I'm sure I dont have to worry, the war will be over soon
"And I see no chance of release, And I know I'm dead on the surface, But I am screaming underneath"- Anne saying im see no chance of maing it out alive, i dont show it, but im terrified inside
"Stuck on the end Of this ball and chain"- Everyday, in and out, I have to do this over and over again
"Stood on the edge, Tied to the noose, Sick to the stomach"- A way of interpreting her fear of being captured by the Nazi's or dying
"you can say what you mean, But it wont change a thing"- we can be positive, but theres still a war outside of this building
"I'm sick of the secrets"- Anne thinking I'm sick of not knowing why this is happening, and what COULD happen any moment
Love Coldplay! Such a deep song! -
I don't know why but I interpreted this song in a completely different way. Mostly the last lines... 'Stood on the edge, tied to a noose.. You came along and you cut me loose'... it doesn't sound to me like rescue at all. If you read the lyrics in its entirety this seems like a sad tale. Like the writer was pushed over to an edge and the last thread that he was hanging on was cut loose by someone. Someone who is making him pay for one mistake that he made, "of not waiting". Someone who is now gone far ahead and is happy in life, whereas the writer himself is hitting rock bottom.
If you're "standing" on a bridge tied to a noose then it really can't be about hanging yourself.
But dunno... that's just me. -
It's not about suicide. I think it's much more symbolic than that. He's at a point where he isn't happy anymore ("come on, oh my star is faded," the star representing the brightness and happines in his life.) it could be a dead end relation ship, or job, or something of that sort. Something that's weighing him down, like a "ball and chain." he gets to his lowest point when things look like they're never going to get better ("stood on the edge, tied to a noose") until something good finally happens. He could have found a girl that cares for him, or the church. But whatever it is brightened his life, made him happy again. They "came along and cut me loose".
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I thought it was about an affair or being in love with someone you cant have because of something in the way. "Stuck on the end of this ball and chain" = marriage perhaps. "I'm sick of the secrets" = affair
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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A young girl falls into prostitution and ends up in the red light disctrict in amsterdam where she comes close to suicide before eventually finding salvation in someone.
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It's about someone who was about to commit suicide and then was rescued by someone. The message of the song is, that you should not give up and that there is always someone there, who will help you!
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I think this is about being depressed and thinking about suicide but then someone came into his life and mad everything seem much better
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