"Viva la Vida" is a song by the English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends(2008). On the album, this song segues directly into the next track on the album, "Violet Hill".

The lyrics to the song contain historical and religious references, and the track is built around a repeating string section with a percussion background.

The song was released on 12 June 2008 as the album's second single, debuting to critical and commercial success. "Viva la Vida" reached the top spot of the UK Singles Chart and Hot 100, becoming the band's first number-one single and a Transatlantic number-one. The song won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009. The song became the sixth song in digital history to reach the 4 million mark in paid downloads.

The song's Spanish title, "Viva la Vida", is taken from a painting by 20th century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. It translates into English as "Long live life".

During the album's production, "Viva la Vida" is one of the songs that had polarized each member's opinion over which version they should choose. In an interview, vocalist Chris Martin recalls, "... we did quite a few different versions and went round the houses a bit and eventually settled on those treatments for it."

"Viva La Vida" soars in with a grandiose instrumental arrangement and sweeping lyrics detailing the pain of being deposed from a lofty position. The big sound of the song constantly verges on becoming overblown, but Coldplay know how to walk the tightrope perfectly. Bells and chimes and orchestral swells are all there on the chorus, but Chris Martin's voice still pierces through like a clarion call. Lyrically, the pain of the protagonist is clear, but the sweep of words about Jerusalem bells, Roman cavalry, and Saint Peter give "Viva La Vida" an air of intelligence rare in today's most popular pop songs.

The lyrics to "Viva la Vida" contain many religious references. For example, "pillars of sand" is a clear reference to the Biblical parable given by Jesus about the fool who built his house on sand, and the wise man who built it on solid rock, while "pillars of salt" is a reference to Lot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt. "I know Saint Peter won't call my name" refers to Matthew 16:19 where Jesus tells Peter that he will give him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and the belief that the apostle stands at the Gates of Heaven, permitting or denying admission. Other likely (but ambiguous) Biblical references are "Seas would rise when I gave the word" (Moses parting the Red Sea), and "... my head upon a silver plate" (the beheading of St. John the Baptist: Salome asked to have his head delivered to her upon a platter).

The song has inspired a great deal of debate about its meaning. People have claimed that the song may be about various subjects, such as the French Revolution. The band members themselves do not appear to have corroborated any of these claims, and have referred only to kings and revolutionaries in general, rather than any particular king.

Martin has explained the song lyric "I know Saint Peter won't call my name" in an interview with Qmagazine: "It's about ... You're not on the list. I was a naughty boy. It's always fascinated me that idea of finishing your life and then being analyzed on it. And this idea runs throughout most religions. That's why people blow up buildings. Because they think they're going to get lots of virgins. I always feel like saying, just join a band ... That is the most frightening thing you could possibly say to somebody. Eternal damnation. I know about this stuff because I studied it. I was into it all. I know it. It's still mildly terrifying to me. And this is serious." When asked about the song, bass guitarist Guy Berryman said: "It's a story about a king who's lost his kingdom, and all the album's artwork is based on the idea of revolutionaries and guerrillas. There's this slightly anti-authoritarian viewpoint that's crept into some of the lyrics and it's some of the pay-off between being surrounded by governments on one side, but also we're human beings with emotions and we're all going to die and the stupidity of what we have to put up with every day. Hence the album title."

Unlike the typical arrangement of Coldplay songs, in which either the piano or guitar is the prominent instrument, the track mostly consists of a string section playing the song's upbeat riff, along with a steady bass drum beat, percussion (including a timpani and a church bell), bass guitar, and Martin's vocals; there is limited use of electric guitar in the song. All the strings are arranged and performed by violinist Davide Rossi, who is also one of the main collaborators of the album. Rossi's strings comprise the main driving force throughout the song, with a strong beginning loop that supports Martin's voice, until the choruses where the symphonic power of the orchestra takes its fullest shape. The song is played in the key of Ab Major at a tempo of 137bpm, while the vocal range is Eb4-Ab5. Although Coldplay are widely labeled as an "alternative rock" band, the classical composition and historical subject matter of "Viva la Vida" have led to the song being labeled as "baroque pop" and "chamber pop".

"Viva la Vida" was initially released only with iTunes Store pre-orders of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friendson 7 May 2008 – the "new edit" version of the song – which led to the song's temporary exclusion from the UK Singles Chart. It was released as a download-only single on 25 May 2008, and a physical CD single in Europe on 29 July 2008 to coincide with the release of the single's music videos. "Viva la Vida" was well-downloaded in the internet, becoming iTunes' best-selling song of 2008. From 24 December 2008 to 5 January 2009 an official remix of the song, named the "Thin White Duke Mix", was given away for free as a Christmas gift via the band's website.

The song was used as part of Apple Inc.'s iPod + iTunes advertisement campaign. Coldplay performed the song live for the first time at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards. It has since gone on to make many media appearances, including being featured throughout the episode "A Person of Interest" from the paranormal drama Medium, as a song played on the radio in the episode "We're Not in Kansas Anymore" from the teen drama 90210, and on the international soundtrack to the Brazilian soap opera A Favoritawhich helped push "Viva la Vida" up the charts in Brazil, where the telenovela been shown. "Viva la Vida" is now the entrance music for Birmingham City Football Club. In 2009, Solange Knowles covered the song. Lady Gaga also covered the song for BBC Radio 1. A live version of the song appeared on Coldplay's 2009 live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft. Pet Shop Boys also performed the song live on their 2009 Pandemonium Tour and the song appeared on their Christmas EP.

Critics were positive towards the song. In the Entertainment Weeklyreview of the album, critic Chris Willman wrote: "Take the title track ... on which [Martin] imagines himself as a paranoid monarch. 'Who would ever want to be king?' Martin asks. 'Revolutionaries wait/For my head on a silver plate!'. The confident majesty of the music, however, belies how he and his bandmates have invigorated their rock-lite reign." Josh Hathaway from The Plain Dealernoted "Viva la Vida" as the "catchiest" song on the album. Chris Jones of the BBC noted: "The string/brass mutations that bolster a track like 'Viva La Vida' ... conjure tunes so sweetly melancholy." In the IGN review, critic Chad Grischow wrote, "It is their one and only foray into unabashed orchestral pop, but the punchy strut of the strings and fantastic marching vocals make it far too charming and lively to dislike, and even harder not to love." "Viva la Vida" was nominated for "Record of the Year", and won "Song of the Year", and "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or a Group" at the 2009 Grammy Awards. This song also won the Ivor Novella Award for "Best Selling British Single". The song was included in Rolling Stone's annual "100 Best Songs" of 2008 at number nine, it was also voted number two on Rolling Stone's Readers' Rock List: Best Songs of 2008. "Viva la Vida" was also listed at number five on Blender's 1001 Downloads: The Top 144 Songs of 2008, as well in the number eight position on Village Voice's Pazz and Jop list.

Viva la Vidahas also been sampled in other several songs, such as in Flo-Rida's single Be on Youas well as a similar riff heard at the start of Agnes' song Release Me.

"Viva la Vida" has become the band's highest-charting single. Fueled by high digital sales, the song peaked at the top spot of the U.S. Hot 100, becoming the band's first US number-one single and their second top ten on the Hot 100. It is the first song by a British group to reach number-one on the Hot 100 since "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls in 1996, and it is the first song by a British rock band to top the chart since UB40's 1993 song "Can't Help Falling in Love". Although the song was initially successful in digital sales, after being released, it went on to become the band's highest-charting single in American radio, becoming their first top ten hit on the Hot 100 Airplay where it peaked at number eight. It had also become the band's first number-one single on the BillboardModern Rock Tracks chart. "Viva la Vida" also became the first song to top both the Hot 100 and Modern Rock chart since Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" in 2001 and 2002. On the BillboardHot Adult Top 40 Tracks, the song has become the band's first number one, as well as the first single on the Capitol Records label to ever top the chart. The single has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.. The song also become one of six songs to reach the 4 million mark in paid digital downloads.

The single was also successful in the United Kingdom. Although the song had been disqualified from the UK charts due to initially being available only by pre-ordering the album on iTunes, it became eligible to chart after the album was released. "Viva la Vida" hit number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Coldplay's first chart-topping single in the UK. The song remained in the top 40 through early 2009, and on 15 March 2009 dropped to number 34.

In Canada, the single made a "Hot Shot Debut" at number four on the Canadian Hot 100 on the issue of 24 May, making it Coldplay's highest debut there. It is also Coldplay's highest charting single in Australia, where it reached number 2.

In Spain, the single peaked at #2 and achieved Double Platinum status due to the 80,000 copies sold. It also had a strong airplay in the Spanish radio stations.

During the 2008/2009 season, the German football club Hamburger SV used "Viva la Vida" as their goal celebration song.

The song also became the anthem of Spanish football club FC Barcelona during the 2008-09 season. It turned out to be a season of unprecedented success for the Spanish side, as they won all six competitions they could possible be involved in, which no football club has ever managed before. The song was selected by the manager of the club, Josep Guardiola - himself a Coldplay fan - to help motivate and encourage his team. It is often played at the Camp Nou before the start of a Barcelona match.

Canadian figureskater Patrick Chan has used this song for his short program.

Coldplay were first accused of plagiarism of "The Songs I Didn't Write" by American alternative band Creaky Boards, for the melody of "Viva la Vida". Creaky Boards' band member Andrew Hoepfner claimed that Martin had heard them playing the song at a live show in October 2007. The band released a video clip, in which it compares sections of both songs. Coldplay denied the claim; band spokesman Murray Chambers said Martin was working in AIR Studios in London at that time, having checked the singer's diary. In addition, Coldplay had recorded a demo version of "Viva la Vida" in March 2007, long before Creaky Boards performed it live in October of the same year. Creaky Boards later retracted the accusations and speculated that both songs may have been inspired by the video game The Legend of Zelda.

On 4 December 2008, American guitarist Joe Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit against Coldplay in Los Angeles. The suit claims that "Viva la Vida" incorporates "substantial, original portions" of his instrumental track "If I Could Fly" from his 2004 album Is There Love in Space?. The band has denied the allegation, saying the similarities were "entirely coincidental". On 14 September 2009, the case was dismissed by the California Central District Court, with both parties potentially agreeing to an out-of-court settlement.

In May 2009, Yusuf Islam stated that the song is very similar to his song "Foreigner Suite," (recorded under his former stage name, Cat Stevens) saying "My son brought it to my attention and said: 'Doesn't that sound like 'Foreigner Suite?'" Islam said that any legal action he might take "depends on how well Satriani does." Coldplay drummer Will Champion denied the claim, stating, "We're confident we haven't done anything wrong." In June 2009, Islam later said, "They did copy my song but I don't think they did it on purpose," adding, "I don't want them to think I am angry with them. I'd love to sit down and have a cup of tea with them and let them know it's okay."

The official music video for "Viva la Vida" was directed by Hype Williams and premiered at Coldplay's official website on 1 August 2008. The video depicts the band performing against a blurry, warped version of Eugène Delacroix's painting "La Liberté guidant le peuple." Since its release, this video "Viva La Vida" has become one of the most viewed music videos on YouTube, with over 70,000,000 views worldwide.

A second, alternate video was shot in The Hague, the Netherlands, directed by Anton Corbijn and released alongside the first. This second version is a tribute to Corbijn's video for Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" and portrays Chris Martin as the king from whose perspective the song is sung. During the video, he carries Eugène Delacroix's painting "La Liberté guidant le peuple.". At the end, he hangs the picture up in a white stall on top of a hill. As he sings the last chorus, his band mates surface heading his way, tying in loose ends from the "Violet Hill" video.

Swedish singer Darin's cover of the song reached number 1 on 30 October 2009 on the Swedish Singles Chart.

In 2010, it was yet again included as the B-side of Darin's "You're Out of My Life" single, reaching #3 in the Swedish Singles Chart.

Coldplay's original single had already charted in Sweden for a total of 49 weeks between 15 May 2008 and 23 October 2009, peaking at number seven.