Tone Analysis- dramatic irony in "Paradise" by "Coldplay"

Through the use of a dramatically ironic tone in “Paradise,” Cold Play utilizes dismal hyperbole, employs disheartening figurative language, and contrasts slumbering imagery to tell the story of a girl whose dreams far surpassed her reality, “so she ran away in her sleep.”

            Throughout the song, there are instances of dismal hyperbole that help to further intensify the dramatically ironic tone. “She expected the world,” “dreamed of paradise…every time she closed her eyes,” and “every tear a waterfall” consist of “Paradise’s” hyperboles. “When she was just a girl, she expected the world” causes the effect of her running away in her dreams to escape reality to have more of an impact and evoke more emotion, as the innocent young girl expected far more than reality could actually grant her. Following suit, “dreamed of paradise…every time she closed her eyes” alludes to the girl’s strong desire to constantly escape to her dream filled paradise, which she can only escape to while she sleeps. By exaggerating and saying that every single time she closes her eyes she will go to this paradise, Coldplay is able to stress the girl’s distaste in reality and her desire to escape. As the young girl is unable to make this dreamscape a reality, she becomes disheartened every time she awakes. Showing this, “Life goes on, it gets so heavy…every tear a waterfall” portrays the burdens of her reality that depress and discourage her, causing her to cry. By stating that every tear is a waterfall, the narrator is able to stress just how saddened this child is by the life she is living. By employing dismal hyperbole, the dramatically ironic tone is able to be enhanced by the exaggerations of the child’s desire to escape reality and her depression of the life she is living.

            Following suit, the disheartening figurative language that presents itself throughout the song causes the dramatically ironic tone to evoke more emotion from its audience and further intensify its meaning. The narrator objectifies the girl’s life so that he is able to show the physical effects that these intangible aspects have. “Life goes on, it gets so heavy” allows the concept of life to become like a burdening object that weighs down on the girl, further showing how her life is nothing like her paradise dreamscape, and how it burdens her every time she is forced to wake up from her dreams. She does not enjoy the life she has, and it is nothing like she expected, but the dramatic and tragic irony of the situation is that she is able to obtain what she wants, but only while she slumbers. Following suit, the narrator utilizes personification to show the dreams and desires of the girl. “When she was just a girl, she expected the world but it flew away from her reach so she ran away in her sleep” personifies the dreams of the child, and is able to further enhance the irony of the situation by allowing her dreams to “fly away” from her until they are entirely out of her reach, but once again, she can reach these expectations in her dreams. Due to her ability to reach these expectations in her dreams, but not in reality, the ironic tone is further enhanced.

            Alongside hyperbole and figurative language, the narrator contrasts slumber-like imagery to a “stormy night” to enhance the tone and show the contrasting relationship between her reality and dreams. While the girl slumbers, she is able to achieve all of her hopes and far surpass her expectations, but in reality, she can never do this. To enhance this relationship, the narrator creates a stormy, dark night in which the narrator sleeps and escapes to her paradise. “In the night the stormy night she’ll close her eyes in the night the stormy night away she’d fly,” and “lying underneath these stormy skies” paints the vivid landscape of a turbulent, dark night that conflicts with the internal paradise of the girl, showing the conflictions of her fantasy and reality. Through this use of imagery, the narrator is able to create an atmosphere that visually compares the fantasy and reality of the girl. This enhances the dramatically ironic tone as well, as it is able to show how everything is pleasant in her dream-world, but reality awaits when she wakes up with the “stormy skies” and unpleasant truths.

            Through the use of a dramatically ironic tone, the narrator is able to tell the story of a girl whose dreams far surpassed her undesirable reality. She is unable to reach her goals and expectations in real life, but she is able to live in them while she sleeps.  As her dreams are the only place that she can be truly happy, so when the sun in reality sets, the sun in her dreamscape rises, and so lying underneath those stormy skies, she knows the sun must set to rise.