The song finds Martin singing of a young girl's dashed hopes and dreams of paradise. This song appears be some sort of sequel to the previous single, "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall," whose title is even included in "Paradise"'s lyrics.
In 2010, the producers of ITV reality show The X Factor originally approached Chris Martin to write a winner's song for the seventh series of the show in 2010. "Paradise" was originally conceived by Martin as a response to the show's request, but drummer Will Champion insisted that the song be included on Mylo Xyloto.
