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Macbeth and Song
The play Macbeth themes relate well to the songs of the 21st century. “Viva La
Vida” by Coldplay and “Fatal Wound” by Switchfoot are two songs that incorporate
these themes. These themes represent the struggle of the character Macbeth. The themes
include death destruction power and guilt. The themes that are represented in song
represent key parts in this play.
The song Viva La Vida relates closely to the themes of Macbeth. At the beginning
of the song it explains how a man use to have everything. “I use to rule the world seas
would rise when I gave the word.” This relates to Macbeth because Macbeth has
everything when he is king. He has the power he always wanted and everything around
him is good. But as quickly as power comes it goes “One minute I held the key next the
walls were closed on me and I discovered that my castles stand upon pillars of
sand.”(Coldplay) This relates to Macbeth because he starts loosing his power. People
become suspicious when people start dying that are in the way of Macbeth. It even gets to
the point where people directly blame Macbeth for the killings and start coming after him
which is also portrayed in the song. “Revolutionaries wait for my head on a silver
plate.”(Coldplay) Macbeth thinks he never should have done this in the first place which
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is also shown in the song. “Just a puppet on a lonely string oh who would ever want to be
king.”(Coldplay) Situations get worse and worse as Macbeth feels guiltier. Events reach
a climax when Macbeth is killed by Macduff. The themes of Macbeth and the themes of
“Viva La Vida” are closely related.
Another song that is closely related to “Macbeth” is “Fatal Wound by
Switchfoot”. The main relation between this song and this play is a mans struggle with
what he has done. In the play “Macbeth” it is Macbeth’s struggle with guilt. Macbeth is
guilty because he has killed King Duncan and friend Banqou. Lines from the song relate
to the killing “this is the real thing no rubber bullets now this is the final
bow.”(Switchfoot)Throughout the play especially after the killings Macbeth deals with
guilt. He see’s the ghost of Banquo and deals with other supernatural events. People
around Macbeth think he is going crazy because of his unnatural acting around them.
Macbeth screams has cold sweats and other things that make people suspicious. A line
from “Fatal Wound” that describes this guilt. “my breath avoids me my chest is in my
head my stomach's upside down.”(Switchfoot) These are the main themes between the
song “Fatal Wound” and the play Macbeth.
The songs “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay and “Fatal Wound” have very similar themes to
those of Macbeth. The themes that relate to the character Macbeth’s life are death
destruction guilt and power. These themes play an important role on the character
Macbeth and the people around him