Io questo video lo trovo geniale nella sua semplicità: la vita, la gloria e le miserie di Guglielmo II, ultimo Kaiser dell'Impero Tedesco (almeno su questa linea temporale...). Il tutto riassunto nei quattro minuti della canzone Viva la Vida dei Coldplay, senz'altro una delle più belle hit dell'ultimo decennio.
La scelta non è casuale. Fate caso al testo:
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
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead, long live the king"
One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand
I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
Once you'd gone there was never
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
It was a wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn't believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh, who would ever want to be king?
I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know St. Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can't explain
I know St. Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world.
Sarà che io ho una forma tutta particolare – incomprensibile ai più – di sensibilità, ma questo video, realizzato da qualche crucco promonarchico, mi suscita una particolare tristezza.
Oggi sei un'imperatore, interi reggimenti di dragoni sfilano al tuo passaggio, le donne fanno la fila per renderti omaggio, i potenti si contendono la tua benevolenza. E poi tutto precipita e ti ritrovi vecchio, senza più potere né prestigio, a passeggiare solitario tra i boschi di una silenziosa tenuta in campagna...
Come Gugliemo II di Germania, appunto.