Liam Vasey

ENG 1201

Professor Bell

October 4, 2020

“One minute I held the key, Next the walls were closed on me” these lyrics are just part of the
lyrics that shows how sometimes in life you can have everything one moment, and nothing the
next. Which entails that you shouldn’t ever take anything for granted. The song “Viva la Vida” by
coldplay has two different music videos, the official music video and the Anton Corbjin version.
Both depict relatively the same things, however there are some key differences between the two
videos. These two videos are both based around the Liberty Leading the People painting. The
official music video for "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay and the Anton Corbjin version shared some
similarities but, yet had some major differences. The main relationship between the two videos
is that it is trying to depict that despite being perceived as evil, deep down we are all still human
on the inside and no one is above anyone.

These two versions have some similar rhetorical appeals, but also have some differences too.
In the official video the appeal has mostly pathos, they are just trying to make you happy when
watching the video, such as how the French people were feeling when the revolution was over.
Since all that happens in this video is the band is singing and dancing inside the painting. The
alternative version also uses pathos, however it uses it in a different way. This video makes you
feel bad for the king. In this video the king is walking around the city and countryside in France.
He walks around carrying the painting instead of being inside of it, throughout the whole video
he seems very sad or mournful. This is because of the perception that everyone dislikes him
since he was such an evildoer as a king. They are trying to make the king seem human in this
video, despite all the terrible things he has done. Which really makes you feel bad for him. This
is significant between the two videos, because although they both use the same rhetorical
appeal, they are used to appeal to different emotions to the viewer.

The official music video and the Anton Crobjin version both confirm their rhetorical appeals
using certain visual elements. Such as in the official video, you can clearly see the band smiling
while they are singing and dancing while inside the painting. That confirms them trying to
convey happiness to the audience making it a feel good video. In the alternative version
sadness and anguish is displayed well. You can tell because the main character, the king, is
never seen smiling in the video while constantly having his head down while he is walking
around. I also noticed that he seemed to only sing the parts that talked about his losses. “I know
Saint Peter won’t call my name” this is one of the only lines throughout the video that he was
singing, this is because this part displays that he won’t be going to heaven when he dies which
confirms the display of sadness in this video.
I think that only one of the videos really displays the main claim, the alternative version. This is
because the first video really doesn’t display much emotion besides happiness, which is why I
believe they made another video. In the alternative version the videographer is really trying to
display the king as human, despite what everyone thinks of him. He does this by following him
around throughout a day, where he is just walking around dwelling about the bad mistakes he
has made. Which really shows that everyone is just human on the inside, and that we all make
mistakes. It also shows the king walking in a crowd of people without anyone even batting an
eye at him. This symbolizes that a king isn’t above everyone else, and is still human-like, by not
being the center of attention in a crowd or even being noticed.
“Now in the morning, I sleep alone, Sweep the streets I used to own” these lyrics from the
beginning of the song symbolize the same main claim that everything can change in a small
period of time, that just shows that we are human. The claim is fairly easy to find from the
videos, but it portrayed best from the alternative version. All in all, The official music video for
"Viva La Vida" by Coldplay and the Anton Corbjin version shared some similarities but, yet had
some major differences. The main relationship between the two videos is that it is trying to
depict that despite being perceived as evil or rude, deep down we are all still human on the
inside.

Work Cited

Coldplay, director. Coldplay-Viva La Vida(Official Video). 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?

v=dvgZkm1xWPE.

Coldplay, director. Coldplay - Viva La Vida (Anton Corbijn Version). 2011,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kVxpsi1XQ4.