Fun music, Viva la Vida, and Anti-War?

Fun Music

Okay so I like music probably to a fault and some of the lyrics and songs out there are just too crazy fun/clever:

"The television was snowing softly as she hunted for her keys"
Death Cab for Cutie, "Long Division," Narrow Stairs
The fact that they made a mainstream love/break-up song with math components is a triumph in my mind. Ah, but then, there's Kraftwerk :-)

"I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination"
Paul Simon, "Everything About It Is a Love Song," Surprise
The whole song and album has some pretty inventive lyrics. He's so gifted at metaphors and imagery.

Coldplay - Viva la Vida

I love so many elements of the new Coldplay album. There are quite a few elements that remind me of the Beatles - of course the fact that Violet Hill is a street near Abbey Road is a nod to the Beatles mentioned by Chris Martin. The tag at the beginning of the song Yes reminds me of the song I Am the Walrus. There is also a piano progression where it ascends in the song 42 that reminds me of Imagine by John Lennon. Strawberry Swing - the obvious title correlation to Strawberry Fields Forever I suppose.

Then there is the U2 vibe present in a lot of the songs - an Edge-ish guitar sound every once in a while. This might be also because of the presence of Brian Eno as producer of the album. I enjoy his work adding his unique brushstrokes on music in Paul Simon's Surpise album, various U2 albums, and now this Coldplay album. However as much as I like the song Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love, as I listened to the Reign of Love portion with some decent headphones, the background mechanical-type sounds were pretty annoyingly persistent.

All-in-all I love the album - Strawberry Swing and Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love probably being my most favorite. Coldplay is generally so inventive with song design and feel of the music that all of the songs are just a pleasure to listen to.

Anti-War Naiveté

One final note about the album: I thought their whole anti-war bit was done creatively on the music and lyrics side, but I wish that there were more constructive ways to get the message across. I think an anti-war type of message has to be more than "war == bad" and "leaders who take us into war == bad/idiots/not informed/so forth." I'm not questioning Coldplay's motives, but bands generally seem to just poetically call out a problem instead of helping with solutions.

Of course war is bad - war is horrifying. There are far better ways to resolve disputes. War takes its toll on the innocent and on whole generations of a people. Sometimes those who lead us into war are lacking in wisdom and understanding. But we should never go to war? What about the Revolutionary War? What about World War II? What about defending our lives, our families, our freedom? I'm not defending the recent conflicts or the people that started them, but I am saying that sometimes in this world of ours, there are things worth fighting for.

I wish that some musician out there would give a more realistic message. I'm not a brilliant person, but maybe something between the rare necessity of war and possibly the lamentation of its consequences with a message of warning - something like "Hey, we know war is pretty crappy but sometimes there are things worth fighting for."

One anti-war song I liked was U2's plea for peace in Love and Peace or Else with its message to warring factions - "Lay down, lay down your guns; are you daughters of Zion? Are you Abraham's sons?" Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all descended from Abraham and I thought they did a nice job of trying to at least have listeners consider that - we are all people, we are all really family. I think this particular song resonates with me because of U2's efforts to promote peace and help those in sickness and distress. They've seen first hand in Ireland, in Africa, and in other places what people are facing. They are not just blaming from an ivory tower - they're at least trying to find solutions.