Visual analyses take information that may seem superficial, but in reality have deeper meanings that interconnect. They take small elements of an image and integrate them together to show what the picture is actually attempting to convey, whether it be a story, or a message. The elements that are incorporated into the album cover of Coldplay’s Ghost Stories accompany the music they illustrate in telling a story of the love and loss of a man and his relationship with a woman that he loved, and how he eventually finds a way to move on from his loss.

The first image in the album cover that should be viewed as the beginning of the man’s story is at the top of the left angel wing. It is of the man and who can be assumed to be his girlfriend at the time, who is blindfolded. She appears to be leaning forward, while he seems to be hunched slightly back. This is a visual metaphor of how their relationship started; the woman blindly jumped into their love, while the man was attempting to be somewhat cautious, keeping his distance and his emotional walls firm and tall. This is why he felt the loss of her love so deeply. He grew to trust her and opened up to her, then she left him alone, exactly what he feared most. 

The visual that explains the next stage of the relationship between the protagonist couple can be seen near the top of the right angel wing. It is of what seems to be a gyroscope, devices that are able to alter in direction while providing stability. A representation of how the woman must have affected the man’s life so greatly. She put a new spin on his life and the trajectory of it while providing stability to it. The image that follows this stage is in the bottom of the left wing. The woman is being pulled away from the man, while he desperately tries to hold on to her. This symbolizes the demise of the relationship they had, he felt as if she was torn away from him and that there was nothing he could do about it. By the visuals and lyrics provided, it can be assumed that at this point was the start of the man’s grieving process and depression. 

An image of the man standing in the mirror can be seen in the left wing. Marks can be seen on his shoulder blades, assumedly tattoos or scars. He seems to be standing quite rigidly, not wanting to move or feel. The tattoos, that he most likely got for his now former girlfriend, remind him of nothing but her and the pain that their breakup is causing him. While she was torn away from him, it could have been because she wanted to be with someone else, as seen by the image of a woman lying with a man in the right wing next to the gyroscope. Evidence of this is also heard in the song “Another’s Arms,” which is essentially about the pain of the man seeing the woman he loves with someone else. The woman is also mentioned as being like a “sky full of stars,” which explains the myriad of constellations in the background of the wings. This can be translated as the man saying that the woman is all he sees, and the most heavenly thing he has ever seen. Also, notice how the background of the entire album cover is of an ocean meeting the skyline. This is a visual representation of the depth of the man’s love for the woman is as deep as the ocean and as infinite as the sky. The starry sky in the background also ties into how he believes his former girlfriend is as heavenly and angelic as the sky itself. While the angel wings that surround the entirety of the smaller images could tag together with this concept as well, symbolizing that the woman was an angel to the man that flew away. The last image that can be analyzed for this album cover is in the middle of the right wing, a flock of birds and several doves. This symbolizes how the man wants to fly with the woman he loves, but understands that he cannot be with her, and also how the love that he had has flown away from him. Doves represent a sign of peace, so the presence of them could mean that the man is finally at peace with his life and what has happened to him. That he has moved on and is ready to resume the course of his life. 