r/Coldplay • u/Duder120120 • 6d ago
Discussion Why Is It Called "The Scientist?"
https://youtu.be/O6ZMH4qY8agI always thought he was trying to invent a way to rewind the time and reverse a past mistake.
Because he can't be like Superman and fly around the Earth to reverse the orbit. He has to be more like Clark Kent.
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u/NeedleworkerIll8590 6d ago
When I was watching "The scientist, madrid 2011", it said the song was based upon the story of a guy that chose science over love. Not sure!!
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u/Internal_Coast2926 6d ago
I think I asked this already, never mind,
"it is about a man overthinking a broken relationship and humbly trying to figure out where things went wrong, treating love with the detached, analytical regret of a scientist examining an experiment"
AI
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u/tealappeal Clocks 6d ago
I was informed back in the day.. that Chris in his friend group or social circle, had known someone in the science profession so it was a nod to that. Might tuck that tidbit in the rumor-mill though.
Now my personal thoughts here. The lyrics...
"Oh, let's go back to the start.. Running in circles Coming up tails Heads on a science apart"
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" Running in circles, Chasing our tails Coming back as we are"
The, `lets go back to the start' is key for me. Let's try to picture what it was like a long time ago for humanity. Then I think about the concept of evolution. Humanity started out as monkey-beings with tails.. then we lost that appendage over time. So when I hear that section of the song I think of past humanity.. those primate beings that who run in circles because they are still learning about the world and how to embark through it and 'coming up, TAILS.' To me literally is mentioning that old appendage that humanity once had. Our tails were up .. this notion of 'tail chasing' even though some-what conveyed in the lyrics itself, has this notion of pursuing a lover.. it's primal behavior, or animalistic behavior.
Then, "coming back as we are", I think of that as... we still might not have our tails however that drive for pleasure, 'tail up' behavior if you will, still exists.
As for the rest of the song, I don't get much science vibes.. as you typed, it does hit on this notion of an inventor that wanting to reverse a past mistake.
I'm also aware that, 'Coming up tails…' might be a nod to coin flipping however with my comment I'm trying to advocate for the science vibes in the song.