Derek Belch



Derek Belch

PWR Rhetorical Analysis

Coldplay Takes Us Back to the Start

Britney Spears wiggles her way through a group of men in a steam room while Christina Aguilera dances in a wrestling cage surrounded by hoards of hungry beasts – both clothed in next to nothing. Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit screams his head off in front of a crowd of tattooed adolescent boys and attractive women while 50 Cent and his entourage walk into a night club singing about his desire to have sex and use drugs. Through the haze of partying and sexuality, society longs for something different. Enter Chris Martin of Coldplay, singing while walking through a city backwards, in black jeans and a long-sleeve white shirt, showing no skin but that of his hands and face.

It’s not enough these days to simply write an album and have it go Platinum. Thanks to MTV, modern artists need to work twice as hard as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. If there is a hit single, there must be a music video; there must be something to give the song a face, something to distinguish Eminem as “Slim Shady” from Eminem as “Superman”. As much as they are a form of entertainment, music videos send a message. Whether that message is conveyed positively or negatively, is lucid or metaphoric, is the artist’s choice. In addition, how the message is presented to the viewer is essential when measuring the success of a video. To use a numeric example, the first paragraph shows that four out of five music videos are about sex, alcohol, and parties; the rare fifth is something different, something that evokes a sense of emotion and depth. Most of today’s popular music is so derogatory and mundane lyrically that there is nothing to do in a video but manifest sexual desires and testosterone. However, songs which possess deeper meaning, those that aren’t about genitalia or fast cars, are the songs that contain the ingredients for profound, successful videos.

Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin insists that “The Scientist” is “not a sappy love song”. Even if it wasn’t intended to be a true love song, Martin’s fans view it as a song about love nonetheless. The chorus, “Nobody said it was easy, oh it’s such a shame for us to part, nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard, oh take me back to the start”, makes the listener think that Martin is mourning over a lost love and wishes to make things right again. Whether this loss was through death or a nasty breakup, he wants to start over and go “back to the start” of his relationship. Thus, the music video, accomplishing this wish by running in reverse, starting with the end and ending with the beginning. How is this done? Martin simply walks through London--backwards. The video is not an anti-war statement, a political cry, or another Romeo and Juliet dramatization that demonstrates the power of true love. Rather, it is open to interpretation, designed to stir emotion and make the viewer think.

The video itself is a story. It opens with Martin lying on a mattress in what appears to be a run down area, as there is pavement and walls covered in graffiti underneath and behind him, respectively. But when Martin gets to his feet (since everything is done backwards, this is quite a wobbly effort), there are trees and a blue sky behind him, illustrating that it is a beautiful day and nothing is wrong. He continues to walk (backwards) down the street, jumps a wall, skips over a path full of fresh autumn leaves, and meanders through a casual game of basketball completely impervious to what is around him. Of course, due to the mellow cadence and sad nature of the song, the viewer is not fooled by Martin’s frolicking, blue skies, and the crisp, autumn atmosphere.

The ensuing scenes take Martin down and across train tracks and up a hill into a forest. The director plays with lighting, changing from day to night and back to day, and changes the location of sticks and branches to imply that Martin has spent some time here before making his way down to civilization. Once again, the director appeals to the viewer’s nature-loving side by draping Martin in golden orange leaves falling from the trees above him. Martin continues to walk, now wearing a jacket that had been removed the day before, all the while also wearing a preoccupied look as he sings, almost as if he is in denial of something. He makes his way into an open field where the camera flashes to a girl lying peacefully on the ground, unscathed, also dressed in black pants and a black jacket. (It is assumed that she is Martin’s girlfriend, lying dead on the ground). While it is still bright out, the sky has turned cloudy and grey.

The final words of the song, “Oh take me back to the start” are heard as Martin makes his way into a car that has the front windshield popped out. He sits down, shakes his head, then tilts it back with his eyes closed, illustrating that he had been knocked out or sleeping beforehand. The car begins to shake and bounce as the camera shows the girl on the ground start to rise and drift into the car through the windshield; glass follows her into the vehicle and the windshield is restored to its normal state. If the viewer hadn’t figured out yet that a car accident had taken place, then he knew as the car began to roll up a hill and drive (backwards again) through a broken fence. The fence repairs itself and the car is shown swerving around a large truck; the song’s slow, melodious conclusion is playing in the background during this time. The car is now alone and peacefully driving (backwards), while Martin and the girl are talking and laughing together. The girl is shown taking off her jacket without her seatbelt on, as she would need to remove it momentarily. Viewers (male and female alike) have admitted to crying in the last few seconds of the video, where the girl places her jacket in the backseat and puts her seatbelt on. At this point, the connection has been made that the girl took her seatbelt off to get her jacket and put it on, thus not having the seatbelt on as the car plunged down the ravine. The remaining seconds of the video show the car drifting slowly around a corner and back into a forest, Martin and the girl talking and laughing all the while.

The culminating effect on the viewer causes a flash forward as he imagines the scene in real-time: the girl takes off her seatbelt to put on her jacket; the car swerves and plunges into a ravine; the girl flies out of the windshield and dies; Martin wakes up after some time has passed, notices the girl’s death and begins to walk through the forest; time elapses through night and day as he makes his way into the city (the director utilizes the time effect to show that Martin might have sat in the woods for hours upon hours, mourning over what had just happened); he walks through the city preoccupied by thoughts of his girlfriend’s death; Martin finds an abandoned mattress and lies down to reflect.

Less than a month ago Coldplay won three awards at the MTV Video Music Awards (the only award show of its kind for music videos) for its video of the hit single, “The Scientist”. The video was one of a kind among the likes of rappers and hip hop artists, as it was nothing but lead singer Chris Martin singing and walking backwards. (Martin actually went the extra mile and practiced pronouncing his lyrics backwards so when the tape was reversed and the real song played, his mouth would match what was heard). While other (feeble) attempts have been made at doing music videos in reverse, “The Scientist” is the first to do it successfully, and the first to receive recognition. In essence, “The Scientist” is the perfect music video. It depicts the subject matter of the song in an effective manner and stirs emotion in the viewer. In other words, it’s a tear jerker. It expresses regret and sorrow, and the desire to get a second chance. While complex in terms of metaphor and thought process, the video is simple in appearance. Its message is powerful, as are the lyrics, sound, and performance of the song itself. In his video, Chris Martin gets his second chance by taking steps back in time, steps “back to the start”.

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