Coldplay’s rock hymn ‘We Pray’ perfectly captured the angst of life in 2024
Biblical allusions featured in song, which became popular worldwide
One of the world’s largest and longest-lasting democracies flirts with fascism, while tales of racial injustice continue to make their way into its headlines. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, fledgling protest movements in oppressive regimes struggle to find a footing, and the deadly conflict between Israel and Palestine continues with no end in sight.
What’s a person to do?
Pray, of course, maybe get others to pray with you. And that‘s just what the iconic band Coldplay did in 2024 as it released its chart-making rock hymn, We Pray.
The tune, which combined genres such as hip-hop and energetic pop, although not specifically Christian in nature, abounds in allusions to the Bible and looks forward to a day when the pain of life will be replaced by a heaven that is waiting for us. It should come as no surprise that one of its writers, Chris Martin, has a Christian background, and spiritual themes have frequently surfaced in Coldplay’s music.
The song perfectly captured the angst of living in 2024, a year that abounded with growing insecurities throughout the world.
First performed in public in June of this year and released as a single in August, the four-minute We Play struck a chord: It was among the top songs in the European charts and drew considerable air time in every populated continent. Although the song was not a top hit in the United States, it was performed on Saturday Night Live. Four versions of We Pray, two of them featuring guest solos — one of them in Spanish by Argentine singer Tini and the other by Palestinian-Chilean singer Elyanna in Arabic — can be found on the streaming platform Spotify, where it has been streamed well over 100 million times.
The prayer includes pleas for both personal blessings, opening with “I pray that I don't give up, pray that I do my best” along with a plea for forgiveness of sins, and calls for social justice throughout the world.
Allusions and current events
Here are the allusions and references the song makes to the Bible and to current events:
Pray Virgilio wins
At the time the song was written, Virgilio Aguilar Mendez was under the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Florida in a situation that his supporters saw as an example of racial profiling. Aguilar Mendez, a Guatemalan native and Florida farmworker at the time, was arrested after he apparently refused to obey the orders of a police officer; Aguilar Mendez did not speak English and did not have Spanish as a first language. The officer died of natural causes in the ensuing scuffle. Aguilar Mendez was later released and cleared of all charges.
Pray I judge nobody and forgive me my sins
This is possibly a reference to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus cautions against judging others and promises forgiveness of sins to those who forgive others.
Though I'm in the valley of the shadow of death
A clear allusion to Psalm 23:6, which in the King James Version begins: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”
And so we pray for some shelter and some records to play
This can be seen as a very loose paraphrase of a the sentence in the Lord’s Prayer that asks God to “give us this day all that we need.”
We'll be singing Baraye
Baraye is a 2022 song by Iranian Shervin Hajipour that became emblematic of protests in his country. It won a Grammy Award in 2023 as the Best Song for Social Change. He later was sentenced to jail by the Iranian government for the protest song.
I know somewhere that Heaven is waiting ... I know somewhere we'll feel no pain
Revelation 21:4 describes a heaven where there is no death, sorrow nor pain.
I pray that love will shelter us from our fears
1 John 4:18 says that there is no fear in love, and that perfect love drives out fear.
So for the ones who parted seas
An obvious reference to the Exodus.