Semiotic Analysis

Coldplay - The Scientist - X&Y - 2005



The Scientist is about starting over in a relationship, about a scientist who wants to rewind time to when they were still together.

The video starts are the end of the story, with Chris exhausted on a moldy old mattress. It shows him going back through an urban setting to the countryside, which suggests going back to simple times, as there is a common conception that the 'big city' is complicated and the countryside is more plain. It also suggests that life is continuing around them and that the countryside is isolated, where they're in their own world. It's implied that life is complicated after the breakup/loss. The imagery of Chris throwing away the jacket seems to suggest Chris throwing away a burden or trying to get rid of his loss. Perhaps it represents his heart. Chris sings about how "nobody said it was easy", reflecting on the difficulty and stress of breakups. The video shows how Chris loses his girlfriend in a car accident, which represents the event that splintered their relationship.

The whole video is in reverse, suggesting that Chris wishes to rewind time, undoing whatever he did wrong. The lyrics suggest that the Scientist was too busy "guessing at numbers & figures", not playing enough attention to his girlfriend. The song suggests overall that if he had another chance, he would cherish his girlfriend much more and pay more attention to her.

Scientist is very Coldplay, similar to previous songs with of love underlying many of their songs.