Viva La Vid Dictatorship And Losing Power

Viva La vida is a song about dictatorship and losing power. The theme of the song is that power corrupts people. Viva La Vida translates to live the life in english. The song is about going from riches to rags and making mistakes. The song says in stanza 1, “I used to rule the world. Seas would rise when I gave the word. Now in the morning I sleep alone. Sweep the streets I used to own.” (1) The meaning of these lyrics is that he used to be a monarch, and seas of people would go to battle when he said. This is said in the past tense. He than says that he sleeps alone, sweeping the streets that he used to own. He lost his power, and became a peasant. How he lost his power is explained in the next stanza. “I used to roll the dice,” (2). He
took risks, hinting at how he lost his power. The song says, “Listen as the crowd would sing. ‘Now the old King is dead! Long live the King!’ ” (2). He took over many kingdoms by taking these risks. His downfall is explained in the next stanza. “And I discovered that my castles stand, Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand” (3). The castles represent his kingdom. He says that his castles had a bad foundation. “Never an honest word, And that was when I ruled the world” (4) He lied and tricked people so that he could increase his wealth, and became corrupt. “Shattered windows and the sound of drums, People couldn’t believe what I’d become” (5) People finally realized what he had been doing to expand his power, and he went from a respected ruler, to a terrible tyrant. He went from rags to riches, because power corrupts people. He had an immense amount of power, therefore, he was corrupted immensely.