The Meaning Behind “We Dance” by Coldplay and a Unifying Message With The Muppets

Coldplay’s Chris Martin curated the first-ever FIFA World Cup halftime show. The event featured Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, BTS, and others. Then Martin and his band appeared with The Puppets, the PS22 Chorus, and special guests to perform “We Dance”. And it reveals the hopeful message that Martin often reiterates in Coldplay’s own music.

We Are Family

The PS22 Chorus takes the first verse, trading lines between Staten Island fourth- and fifth-graders. They sing about how humans are all made of star stuff. And that star stuff is the connective tissue that supersedes culture, race, religion, and borders. This is Chris Martin’s World Cup “Imagine”.

Brothers, sisters, who are we?
Stars that make a galaxy.
I am you, and you are me,
All of us are family.

Here, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy join the chorus. Behind them, Count von Count sings along, nodding his head in perfect time with the rhythm.

Each other,
Yeah, we got each other.
Each other,
Yes, we got each other.

D-A-N-C-and-E,
Now we D-A-N-C-and-E.

Fix You

If you aren’t familiar with Coldplay concerts, then “We Dance” offers a peek into the kumbaya vibes of the band’s soft rock universal church.

Love,
We believe in love.

But the experience is more than an escape from a world in constant tumult. It forces people out of their comfort zones. Martin encourages people to dance. They supply lighted wristbands, and all of it can feel like an out-of-control tween’s birthday party, Christmas morning, or a stadium bursting with confetti.

Imagine a child’s art box exploding in time to the band’s electronic backing tracks. Yes, it’s corny and goofy, but I think that’s the point. If nothing else, then Coldplay exists to soften the edges of cynicism and pain.

It’s finding joy in a soccer match while forgetting, or ignoring, the politics of FIFA or the world around you. There’s a cliché in the language of politicians who remind us that there’s more connecting us than dividing us. But musicians like Martin, who operate in the tradition of Bob Marley, Bono, and John Lennon, are there to remind the audience of lost, innocent, and too often, abandoned ideals. This is Coldplay’s attempt to fix you.

All the world in one romance,
We dance, we dance, we dance, we dance.

Photo by Tullio Puglia – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images