My B-side

5 comment(s):

The scientist.

Okay well here’s my rough sketch of this song. my take is that this is about a guy who used to be going out with this girl, but it would appear that he left her some time ago, though how long is not indicated. This is evident in the first three lines because he’s coming up to her, apologizing and then saying how lovely she is, presumably because he never told her when he was with her before. The next three lines are more of his apology, just saying how much he wants her and sets her apart and what not, but his explanation for why he changed his mind and come back has not come as of yet. He’s saying he wants to go back to when she wanted to tell him her secrects and ask him questions, and the next line is a sort of underlying theme in this song, that he wants to start from the beginning of their relationship. Funny how when relationships begin, all you need is love, then when they end its cus one person whats something more…hm oh well, thought for another day. Next is saying that when they’re fighting they’re just running in circles…tails line still tricky come back to, honestly no idea. Next time he uses the word “tails” it makes sense since you chase your tail, but this one, I dunno…he’s just weird and british I guess. Then he begins the science metaphor, saying that being apart is just like science (not explained yet, but basic idea is that science is hard to understand, so are relationships). Chorus is most clear part, saying he knows its not gonna be easy, but he loves her, so it’s a shame for them to be apart, then saying that now that he’s doing it its so much harder than he thought…then cool line because before he was saying “lets go back to the start” implying starting over, but the change to “take me back to the start” implies that this is too hard, he wishes they could just start over completely, just transport back rather then start over (eternal sunshine style I suppose haha). Next two sets of verses are tricky unless you inverse them. The things he was guessing at were the questions of science and progress.. this is how he explains why he left her. He’s saying that he basically over thought everything, that he didn’t really know what he was doing (hence “guessing at numbers and figures”) and that all he ended up doing was pulling their relationship apart. So now his realization is that he still loves her, because when he left her he finally heard his heart about all the noise of this thoughts, and realized he had made a mistake. Next line is really cool, this is where he’s hoping she still feels the same, telling her to say she loves him, and to come back to him, “haunt” him even which is a pretty intense version of coming back (cool line, kinda sad actually). The saying “oh how he rushes to the start” like hes’ going too fast cus he doesn’t know that’s what she wants. "Runnin in circles" once more, slightly changed though, tails more clear because its like their chasing thir tails, not getting anywhere arguing. Coming back as we are, saying that when they stop running around in circles, doin all that craziness then they’ll be like themselves, in love again. Repeat of chorus, saying once again not easy, but shame to be apart…not easy, man its hard. Then finale is him being like screw the hardness, I’m goin back to the start. In fact it could be that this song isnt actually him doing it yet, that he’s just imaginnng himself doing this, with the chorus being his inner struggle to decide if he really wants to try and go back to the beginning with this girl. In the end, with “I’m goin back to the start,” he decides he is going to…well start over with her.
Also note on title. He is “the scientist” because scientists do all this studying about, well science and that is what he did in their relationship, over analyzed everything, like a scientist of love!!!

By  Anonym, at 6/14/2005 2:04 AM  

Wow, the story of my life... Thanks, Janus.

By  Melissa, at 6/14/2005 4:35 PM  

Ah ha! I figured out that line. See i'm pretty sure the line is actually "coming up tails, heads only science apart," rather than "its only science apart" It just hit while i was listening to the song the other day, and it seems to make more sense. As for the meaning, well its still pretty vague. I suppose he could be saying he was running circles in his head as to whether he should go back for her, and decided to flip a coin. If it was tails, as it ended up being, he would try and get her back. If it was heads, then all his thoughts about why they weren't good for each other were true, if only there wasn't this "science," making things complicated, then they could be together. (this could be off the mark, but i actually like it...you have a little double-entendre action going with "heads" being the one for him not going to get her back, since his reason for leaving in the first places was because he thought with his "head" instead of his heart). Wow how do these get so long...hey just out of curiousity, why were you interested in this song in particular?

By  Anonym, at 6/21/2005 11:45 PM  

There's just something about. It's not like I'm a crazy Coldplay follower or anything like that. It's one of those songs where you can name the exact place, the exact moment where you first heard it. It has stayed with me since then and although I've never entirely understood what Chris Martin was going for(thus my reason of need for your explanation), bits and pieces HAVE related to me greatly in certain moments. Right now I think I'm in the mood of the first line "Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry." And it's just a beautiful song, my favorite of theirs.

By  Melissa, at 6/22/2005 12:08 PM  

Ah okay, good answer. And i certainly would never presume that what i scribbled out was Chris's actual meaning, my interpretation is simply that: an interpretation. And though i always enjoy the challenge of figuring out an artist's real thoughts in a song, when it comes down to it those bits and pieces you spoke of are all you need to stir the soul and what not. It seems to me like you didn't even have need of my analyzation, i was reading you the dictionary when your heart had already told you what the words meant. Gosh, i should be dragged into the street and shot for that metaphor...oh well, see yah Melissa.

By  Anonym, at 6/22/2005 3:34 PM  

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