I used to (F)rule
the world.
Seas would (C)rise when I gave the (Am)word.
Now in the morn ing I (F)sleep
a lone, sweep the (C)streets I used to own.
I used to (F)roll
the dice, feel the (C)fear in my en e mies’ (Am)eyes.
Lis ten as the (F)crowd
would sing,
“Now the (C)old king is dead, long live (Am)the king.” One min ute I (F)held
the key, next the (C)walls on were closed on (Am)me.
And I dis cov ered that my (F)cas
tles (G)stand up on (C)pil lars of salt wan and pil lars (Am)of sand.
I (F)hear Je ru sa lem bells a ring ing, (C)Ro man Cath o lic choirs are sing ing.
(F)Be my mir ror, my sword and shield, my (C)mis sion ar ies in a for eign field.
(F)For some rea son I can’t ex plain.
I (C)Once you’ve gone there was (Am)nev er, nev er an hon (F7)hon
est (G)word.
And that was (C)when I ruled the world.
It was a wick ed and (F)wild
(G)wind blew down the (C)doors to let me (Am)in.
Shat tered win dows and the (F)sound
of drums.
Peo ple (C)could n’t be lieve what I’d (Am)be come.
Rev o lu tion (F)ar
ies wait for my (C)head on a sil ver (Am)plate.
And Just a pup pet on a (F)lone
ly (G)string.
Ah, on (C)who would ev er wan na be king?
(Am)of sand.
I (F)hear Je ru sa lem bells a ring ing, (C)Ro man Cath o lic choirs are sing ing.
(F)Be my mir ror, my sword and shield, my (C)mis sion ar ies in a for eign field.
(F)For some rea son I can’t ex plain.
I (C)know Saint Pe ter won’t (Am)call my name, nev er hon (F7)hon
est (G)word.
But that was (C)when I ruled the world.
It was a wick ed and (F)wild
(G)wind blew down the (C)doors to let me (Am)in.
Shat tered win dows and the
Oh,
oh,
oh,
oh, oh.
I (Fmaj7)Ooh.
This page shows “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay in our color-coded kid songbook view — every note is colored by pitch (red C, orange D, yellow E, green F, blue G, purple A, pink B) and the lyrics sit directly under each note, so children can sing along while they play. The song is in the key of C at 133 BPM, a comfortable easy-level arrangement perfect for first-time learners.