NOTES ON COLPLAY'S VIVA LA VIDA

SEAS WOULD RISE= We can use WOULD to talk about events that were habitual in
the past, but not anymore. It’s the same as USED TO. You’ll find this use of WOULD
more times in this song.

Talking about a situation or habit that was true in the past but not now anymore

Both USED TO and WOULD can be used to talk about repeated actions in the past.
- She used to visit me every Sunday
- She would visit me every Sunday
But if we talk about a situation, we can only use USED TO:
- He used to be rich, but now he's poor.
- I used to have a dog when I was a child.

TO OWN= To possess.

DICE = A cube with numbers (dots) on every side. You throw/roll/cast the dice to get
a random number. It is used for games or gambling.
Originally, the singular was DIE and the irregular plural was DICE, but today you can
also say DICE for the singular and DICES for the plural. So the word DICE may be
singular or plural.

CROWD= A big group of people, a multitude.

LONG LIVE THE KING!= In Europe, in old times, when a king died people would shout:
"the king is dead, long live the king!". The first part of the sentence (the king is dead)
refers to the old king, and the second part (long live the king) refers to the new king,
because the moment a king dies, a new king (usually his son) takes his place.

I HELD THE KEY= To hold a key is to have it in your hand. Here, it is used
metaphorically. In English, If you "hold the key", you have the power, you are in
control.

ONE MINUTE... NEXT= This construction is used to express that a situation changes
suddenly and unexpectedly:
- I can't understand you, one minute you love me and next you don't want to be near
me.

CLOSED ON ME= If they close the door ON you, they close the door so that you can’t
enter, usually just as you are going to enter.

UPON= On (Old fashioned or literary).

PILLAR= Column.

A-RINGING= Ringing (Old fashioned or literary). In modern English, the gerund or

present participle is formed by adding a suffix (-ing) to the verb (ring - ringing). But
in old English it had a prefix (a-) and a suffix (-ing), e.g. "thou art awalking" = "you
are walking". The prefix is still used sometimes in poetry and some traditional songs,
like this Christmas carol:
"here we come a-caroling among the leaves so green
here we come a-wandering so fair to be seen".
I HEAR JERUSALEM BELLS A-RINGING= In medieval Europe, when the enemy
attacked a city unexpectedly, all the church bells would ring to alarm people. The
metaphor he's using here is when the Roman cavalry got to the walls of Jerusalem
ready to completely destroy the city. At that time (73 a.d.) there were no churches or
bells in Jerusalem, but he's not trying to be historical here, he's trying to bring up a
powerful metaphor of defeat, and the fall of Jerusalem, in Christian culture, is a strong
metaphor for that.

CAVALRY= An army made up of soldiers riding a horse.

CHOIR= A group of people singing the same thing at the same time. Of course, the
Roman army didn't sing in choir before attacking a city, but he's comparing the cries
of war of the soldiers to a choir.

SWORD= A weapon consisting typically of a long, straight or slightly curved, pointed

blade having one or two cutting edges

SHIELD= A protection you use to stop the enemy’s sword in a fight.

HONEST= The H is not pronounced here. Respectable; sincere.

WHEN I RULED THE WORLD= When I had all the power. "To rule" is to govern.

WICKED= Evil by nature and in practice.

SHATTER= Destroy into pieces, especially something fragile, such as glass or

porcelain.

REVOLUTIONARIES WAIT FOR MY HEAD ON A SILVER PLATE= This is a biblical

reference. Herod’s wife wanted to kill St John the Baptist and commissioned her
daughter to do so. She finally got him beheaded (they cut his head), and brought his
head on a silver plate as a present for her mother.

PUPPET= A marionette.

LONELY= Solitary; sole; only one.

WHO WOULD EVER WANT TO BE KING!= "I don’t want to be king" or "nobody would
like to be king".

SAINT PETER WON’T CALL MY NAME= In Christian imaginary, St Peter is

(metaphorically) the one who keeps the gates to heaven, so if he doesn’t call your
name, you are not among the people who can enter heaven. That means that you will
go to hell. The verb WON’T here may be a negative prediction or it may mean
REFUSE. This is very common in English:
- I invited him to come to my party, but he won’t come = he doesn’t want to come.
- Please, help me if you will = if you want to.

SOURCE: http://www.multimedia-english.com/