You were an island to discover...
Well finally I have gotten myself motivated enough to try and post about my all-time favorite song "Warning Sign" from Coldplay. I absolutely love this song beyond all reason. I got the Coldplay c.d. "A Rush of Blood to the Head" a few years ago because I remember John Mayer mentioning that he loved Coldplay and I thought, "Well, if John Mayer likes them that much, they must be really great so I went and got the album. I loved it, but I didn't really notice the song "Warning Sign" at first. I just knew that I loved the overall sound of the album and Coldplay.
So anyway one night I was searching through different iMixes on iTunes comprised of Buffy the Vampire Slayer songs (this was while I was still watching the series for the first time, I think I was watching Season 6 at the time) and seeing what kinds of songs people had chosen to put on their playlists, and if they were songs from the show or just songs that they thought fit the show. Anyway I was also checking to see how many of the songs I had already and I saw Coldplay and got really excited. I saw that it was "Warning Sign" and knew I had that. I went to my iTunes library and played it. I immediately loved the song and everything about it. I listened to it that night about 15 times in a row, while I was on the computer. From then on I was obsessed with the song. I listened to it constantly, mulling over the lyrics. I had yet to see the episode it was featured in but I looked it up on a particularly cool Buffy site and found out it was from a Season 7 episode called "Him". I didn't really know the context in which the song would be played yet but I was excited because the song is beautiful, musically and lyrically.
Finally when we got to "Him" I had kind of forgotten about it but I remembered as soon as I heard the opening chord and then I was just kind of disappointed. It plays during a part, where to me it doesn't really fit and makes no sense being there. Now, 99% of the time, BtVS is extremely good at not just putting in filler songs cause they're popular and if they do use a popular song its relevancy is so spot on that it doesn't matter, but with "Warning Sign" I just didn't see the fit with the scene. But that did not deter me from my love for the song. I just loved the sound and the lyrics and the meaning of it. Once I was finished with the entire series, I realized one day while I was listening to the song how perfectly, for me anyway, the song fit the Spike and Buffy relationship at the end of Season 7. That did it for me, the song "Warning Sign" was gonna forever have a huge spot in my heart. Here are the lyrics:
Warning Sign
A warning sign,
I missed the good part then I realized,
I started looking and the bubble burst,
I started looking for excuses.
Come on in,
I've got to tell you what a state I'm in,
I've got to tell you in my loudest tones,
That I started looking for a warning sign.
When the truth is,
I miss you,
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so.
A warning sign,
You came back to haunt me and I realized,
That you were an island and I passed you by,
You were an island to discover.
Come on in,
I've got to tell you what a state I'm in,
I've got to tell you in my loudest tones,
That I started looking for a warning sign.
When the truth is,
I miss you,
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so,
And I'm tired,
I should not have let you go,
No.
(piano solo)
So I crawl back into your open arms,
Yes I crawl back into your open arms,
And I crawl back into your open arms,
Yes I crawl back into your open arms.
Now for the most part I tend to look at this as Buffy's words to Spike at the end of the series, like in "Touched", "Empty Places" and "Chosen", but it also fits what Spike might say to Buffy as well. The first verse:
A warning sign,
I missed the good part then I realized,
I started looking and the bubble burst,
I started looking for excuses.
These two verses make me think of what Buffy might say to Spike about their relationship prior to this point ("Touched" and so on), that she missed what was good about Spike and what he could have been had she given him half a chance to show her something besides a sexual relationship, but she didn't want to give him that chance, Buffy didn't want Spike to be good and show kindness and the ability to change when he did not have a soul because the would show some basic internal flaw in Angel that was not inherent in Spike. Buffy did not want to see that Spike could be good and love her without a soul because it would mean that Angel, when he was Angelus, with his evil soulless ways could have been the same as Spike but was not. Also, after a while Buffy wanted to be punished, she wanted to feel dark and sick about what she was doing with Spike so any goodness that Spike had and wanted to show her, she blocked out and looked instead for the souless demon in him to justify her hating him. Chorus:
Come on in,
I've got to tell you what a state I'm in,
I've got to tell you in my loudest tones,
That I started looking for a warning sign.
This makes me think of what Buffy is telling Spike at some point during those last three episodes, she's telling Spike, ok I'm letting you in now and I'm telling you that I realize what I did before, I was looking for all the things that were wrong with you and wrong with out relationship and wrong with me so I didn't have to look at the relationship in terms of maybe finding something more worth living for and being happy and justified in my feelings for a soulless vampire. She was looking for a warning sign and overlooked the goodness that was already there. Chorus:
When the truth is,
I miss you,
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so.
I can see Buffy telling Spike and now I realize what I've done, what I did and I miss you, I know what you are offering and what you wanted to do for me and now I see that, I'm ready to admit that I feel so deeply for you and know that you feel the same way about me and I'm not afraid of the truth anymore. Second verse:
A warning sign,
You came back to haunt me and I realized,
That you were an island and I passed you by,
You were an island to discover.
I love this verse, to me its Buffy saying I wanted to see the bad things, the warning sign, that would make it ok for me to treat you the way I did and not allow you to love me, but you would not leave my mind, you wouldn't leave my heart and soul, you are a part of my very being now and you were haunting me, not letting me forget you and reject love. I realize now how special you were then and are now, you were there Spike, to give me unconditional love, if only I had let you, you were there to try and be a good man, an asset to my team and family and I wouldn't let you, you were an island to discover but I didn't want to see any of that so I passed right on by. Chorus:
When the truth is,
I miss you,
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so,
And I'm tired,
I should not have let you go,
No.
I think of Buffy telling Spike this after she comes to the realization that all she was really doing was looking for that warning sign. Buffy wanted there to be something wrong, but deep down she knew that somewhere in Spike and somewhere in herself there was room to make their relationship more than it had been up to that point. Buffy says but you know what, I realize now that I was wrong in doing that and I'm tired of pretending I was ok in pushing you away, I should have realized what I had and what you were willing to offer me and I should have helped you to be the man you had it in you to be before you got your soul, I shouldn't have turned you away and broken you down. But I can also see Spike saying this to Buffy as well, telling her this is how I felt when I was away from you in Africa. He would say he missed her so much then and realized that what he had done to prompt him to leave was the ultimate in wrong, and essentially is what he did to let her go, and he knows he never should have done it. I can see Spike telling Buffy he was tired of being seen by Buffy as only a soulless monster and acting on that image of himself, he wanted to be the good man he knew he could be song long ago like he told Cecily. Last verse:
So I crawl back into your open arms,
Yes I crawl back into your open arms,
And I crawl back into your open arms,
Yes I crawl back into your open arms.
This is the part that makes me tear up and makes me love the song more than I have ever loved any song before. This verse goes both ways. I think this song should have been played during the scene between Spike and Buffy in "Touched" (but I do concede that "It's Only Love" by Heather Nova was breath-taking), its the ultimate capper to their relationship, its their final peacemaking, its their silent "I love you" to the other and their realization that they have always been there waiting for eachother, and now they can be safe again in eachothers arms. Spike has always been waiting for Buffy, never gave up on her, went to fight for his soul, risked his life, did away with his pride and gave her simple, pure unconditional love and never wavered from that and never withdrew that love for Buffy, it was always there waiting for Buffy to crawl back into his arms and take it. And Buffy is finally giving this to Spike in return, Spike finally gets to hold her and love her the way he wants to as an ensouled man, but Buffy also holds him and gives him unconditional love and realizes that this love for him has always been there untapped somewhere beneath the surface waiting for the time when Buffy was ready to give it and Spike was ready to take it. They were able to take solace in eachother's arms for the rest of the series and know that they were truly, unconditionally loved for those moments and they were ok in doing so. Its just absolutely beautiful to me.
I love the song so much because I can see all these aspects of the Spike and Buffy relationship portrayed in it, but also because if looked at outside the context of Spike and Buffy (what? such a thing exsists?!), its still just as beautiful and heartbreaking and relatable. Its just about realizing that you made a mistake and didn't give the person who was trying to love you enough credit, you passed them by without even trying to see them. But in the end that person loves you so much and is waiting with open arms to take you back in and love you unconditionally. I can't think of anything more beautiful than that.
"A warning sign,
You came back to haunt me and I realized,
That you were an island and I passed you by,
You were an island to discover." "Warning Sign" by Coldplay
Night.
So anyway one night I was searching through different iMixes on iTunes comprised of Buffy the Vampire Slayer songs (this was while I was still watching the series for the first time, I think I was watching Season 6 at the time) and seeing what kinds of songs people had chosen to put on their playlists, and if they were songs from the show or just songs that they thought fit the show. Anyway I was also checking to see how many of the songs I had already and I saw Coldplay and got really excited. I saw that it was "Warning Sign" and knew I had that. I went to my iTunes library and played it. I immediately loved the song and everything about it. I listened to it that night about 15 times in a row, while I was on the computer. From then on I was obsessed with the song. I listened to it constantly, mulling over the lyrics. I had yet to see the episode it was featured in but I looked it up on a particularly cool Buffy site and found out it was from a Season 7 episode called "Him". I didn't really know the context in which the song would be played yet but I was excited because the song is beautiful, musically and lyrically.
Finally when we got to "Him" I had kind of forgotten about it but I remembered as soon as I heard the opening chord and then I was just kind of disappointed. It plays during a part, where to me it doesn't really fit and makes no sense being there. Now, 99% of the time, BtVS is extremely good at not just putting in filler songs cause they're popular and if they do use a popular song its relevancy is so spot on that it doesn't matter, but with "Warning Sign" I just didn't see the fit with the scene. But that did not deter me from my love for the song. I just loved the sound and the lyrics and the meaning of it. Once I was finished with the entire series, I realized one day while I was listening to the song how perfectly, for me anyway, the song fit the Spike and Buffy relationship at the end of Season 7. That did it for me, the song "Warning Sign" was gonna forever have a huge spot in my heart. Here are the lyrics:
Warning Sign
A warning sign,
I missed the good part then I realized,
I started looking and the bubble burst,
I started looking for excuses.
Come on in,
I've got to tell you what a state I'm in,
I've got to tell you in my loudest tones,
That I started looking for a warning sign.
When the truth is,
I miss you,
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so.
A warning sign,
You came back to haunt me and I realized,
That you were an island and I passed you by,
You were an island to discover.
Come on in,
I've got to tell you what a state I'm in,
I've got to tell you in my loudest tones,
That I started looking for a warning sign.
When the truth is,
I miss you,
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so,
And I'm tired,
I should not have let you go,
No.
(piano solo)
So I crawl back into your open arms,
Yes I crawl back into your open arms,
And I crawl back into your open arms,
Yes I crawl back into your open arms.
Now for the most part I tend to look at this as Buffy's words to Spike at the end of the series, like in "Touched", "Empty Places" and "Chosen", but it also fits what Spike might say to Buffy as well. The first verse:
A warning sign,
I missed the good part then I realized,
I started looking and the bubble burst,
I started looking for excuses.
These two verses make me think of what Buffy might say to Spike about their relationship prior to this point ("Touched" and so on), that she missed what was good about Spike and what he could have been had she given him half a chance to show her something besides a sexual relationship, but she didn't want to give him that chance, Buffy didn't want Spike to be good and show kindness and the ability to change when he did not have a soul because the would show some basic internal flaw in Angel that was not inherent in Spike. Buffy did not want to see that Spike could be good and love her without a soul because it would mean that Angel, when he was Angelus, with his evil soulless ways could have been the same as Spike but was not. Also, after a while Buffy wanted to be punished, she wanted to feel dark and sick about what she was doing with Spike so any goodness that Spike had and wanted to show her, she blocked out and looked instead for the souless demon in him to justify her hating him. Chorus:
Come on in,
I've got to tell you what a state I'm in,
I've got to tell you in my loudest tones,
That I started looking for a warning sign.
This makes me think of what Buffy is telling Spike at some point during those last three episodes, she's telling Spike, ok I'm letting you in now and I'm telling you that I realize what I did before, I was looking for all the things that were wrong with you and wrong with out relationship and wrong with me so I didn't have to look at the relationship in terms of maybe finding something more worth living for and being happy and justified in my feelings for a soulless vampire. She was looking for a warning sign and overlooked the goodness that was already there. Chorus:
When the truth is,
I miss you,
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so.
I can see Buffy telling Spike and now I realize what I've done, what I did and I miss you, I know what you are offering and what you wanted to do for me and now I see that, I'm ready to admit that I feel so deeply for you and know that you feel the same way about me and I'm not afraid of the truth anymore. Second verse:
A warning sign,
You came back to haunt me and I realized,
That you were an island and I passed you by,
You were an island to discover.
I love this verse, to me its Buffy saying I wanted to see the bad things, the warning sign, that would make it ok for me to treat you the way I did and not allow you to love me, but you would not leave my mind, you wouldn't leave my heart and soul, you are a part of my very being now and you were haunting me, not letting me forget you and reject love. I realize now how special you were then and are now, you were there Spike, to give me unconditional love, if only I had let you, you were there to try and be a good man, an asset to my team and family and I wouldn't let you, you were an island to discover but I didn't want to see any of that so I passed right on by. Chorus:
When the truth is,
I miss you,
Yeah the truth is,
That I miss you so,
And I'm tired,
I should not have let you go,
No.
I think of Buffy telling Spike this after she comes to the realization that all she was really doing was looking for that warning sign. Buffy wanted there to be something wrong, but deep down she knew that somewhere in Spike and somewhere in herself there was room to make their relationship more than it had been up to that point. Buffy says but you know what, I realize now that I was wrong in doing that and I'm tired of pretending I was ok in pushing you away, I should have realized what I had and what you were willing to offer me and I should have helped you to be the man you had it in you to be before you got your soul, I shouldn't have turned you away and broken you down. But I can also see Spike saying this to Buffy as well, telling her this is how I felt when I was away from you in Africa. He would say he missed her so much then and realized that what he had done to prompt him to leave was the ultimate in wrong, and essentially is what he did to let her go, and he knows he never should have done it. I can see Spike telling Buffy he was tired of being seen by Buffy as only a soulless monster and acting on that image of himself, he wanted to be the good man he knew he could be song long ago like he told Cecily. Last verse:
So I crawl back into your open arms,
Yes I crawl back into your open arms,
And I crawl back into your open arms,
Yes I crawl back into your open arms.
This is the part that makes me tear up and makes me love the song more than I have ever loved any song before. This verse goes both ways. I think this song should have been played during the scene between Spike and Buffy in "Touched" (but I do concede that "It's Only Love" by Heather Nova was breath-taking), its the ultimate capper to their relationship, its their final peacemaking, its their silent "I love you" to the other and their realization that they have always been there waiting for eachother, and now they can be safe again in eachothers arms. Spike has always been waiting for Buffy, never gave up on her, went to fight for his soul, risked his life, did away with his pride and gave her simple, pure unconditional love and never wavered from that and never withdrew that love for Buffy, it was always there waiting for Buffy to crawl back into his arms and take it. And Buffy is finally giving this to Spike in return, Spike finally gets to hold her and love her the way he wants to as an ensouled man, but Buffy also holds him and gives him unconditional love and realizes that this love for him has always been there untapped somewhere beneath the surface waiting for the time when Buffy was ready to give it and Spike was ready to take it. They were able to take solace in eachother's arms for the rest of the series and know that they were truly, unconditionally loved for those moments and they were ok in doing so. Its just absolutely beautiful to me.
I love the song so much because I can see all these aspects of the Spike and Buffy relationship portrayed in it, but also because if looked at outside the context of Spike and Buffy (what? such a thing exsists?!), its still just as beautiful and heartbreaking and relatable. Its just about realizing that you made a mistake and didn't give the person who was trying to love you enough credit, you passed them by without even trying to see them. But in the end that person loves you so much and is waiting with open arms to take you back in and love you unconditionally. I can't think of anything more beautiful than that.
"A warning sign,
You came back to haunt me and I realized,
That you were an island and I passed you by,
You were an island to discover." "Warning Sign" by Coldplay
Night.
posted by Not This Girl, Not This Day at 1:15 AM
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