In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Growin' up you don't see the writing on the wall
Passin' by, movin' straight ahead you knew it all
But maybe sometime if you feel the pain
You'll find you're all alone everything has changed
Play the game you know you can't quit until it's won
Soldier on, only you can do what must be done
You know, in some ways you're a lot like me
You're just a prisoner, and you're tryin' to break free
I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky
I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher
Gonna be a man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where the future's lying St. Elmo's fire, ooh
Burning up don't know just how far that I can go
Soon be home, only just a few miles down the road
I can make it, I know I can
You broke the boy in me, but you won't break the man
I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky
I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher
Gonna be a man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where the future's lying St. Elmo's fire
I can climb the highest mountain, cross the wildest sea
I can feel St. Elmo's fire burning in me, burning in me
Just once in his life, a man has his time
And my time is now I'm comin' alive
I can hear the music playin' I can see the banners fly
Feel like a man again
I'll hold my head high
Gonna be a man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where the future's lying St. Elmo's fire
I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky
I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher
Gonna be a man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where the future's lying St. Elmo's fire
I can climb the highest mountain, cross the wildest sea
I can feel St. Elmo's fire burning in me
Burning, burning in me
I can feel it burning, ooh burning inside of me
Passin' by, movin' straight ahead you knew it all
But maybe sometime if you feel the pain
You'll find you're all alone everything has changed
Play the game you know you can't quit until it's won
Soldier on, only you can do what must be done
You know, in some ways you're a lot like me
You're just a prisoner, and you're tryin' to break free
I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky
I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher
Gonna be a man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where the future's lying St. Elmo's fire, ooh
Burning up don't know just how far that I can go
Soon be home, only just a few miles down the road
I can make it, I know I can
You broke the boy in me, but you won't break the man
I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky
I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher
Gonna be a man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where the future's lying St. Elmo's fire
I can climb the highest mountain, cross the wildest sea
I can feel St. Elmo's fire burning in me, burning in me
Just once in his life, a man has his time
And my time is now I'm comin' alive
I can hear the music playin' I can see the banners fly
Feel like a man again
I'll hold my head high
Gonna be a man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where the future's lying St. Elmo's fire
I can see a new horizon underneath the blazing sky
I'll be where the eagle's flying higher and higher
Gonna be a man in motion
All I need is a pair of wheels
Take me where the future's lying St. Elmo's fire
I can climb the highest mountain, cross the wildest sea
I can feel St. Elmo's fire burning in me
Burning, burning in me
I can feel it burning, ooh burning inside of me
Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21, edited by alpineinc
St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) Lyrics as written by John Stephen Parr David Foster
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The song is about growing up, keeping your head high and do what needs to be done, no matter what. Fulfilling your dreams, don't stop believing. I listen this song every time I get the feeling I can't do something. When I feel like giving up, this one is the right cure. When I got news that would've made sure my dreams would never come true this one came on the radio the following morning and I just couldn't stop crying.... Great song.
This song, I believe is about RIck Hansen. He is a Canadian who suffered a terrible accident and was rendered parlyzed from the waste down. He has 'wheeled' himself all over the world (over 40,000km) to raise money and awareness for spinal chord injuries. The song was written two years after Rick's Man In Motion tour began (1985). There are lines like "All I need is a pair of wheels" And "Growing Up, You Don't See The Writing On The Wall" Great Song
Brian
@bfurtado This is the true correct answer, yet nobody has ever given it a +1. <br /> <br /> songfacts.com/detail.php
Fun fact: St. Elmo's Fire is a weather effect usually witnessed as a nimbus of light around the mastheads of sailing ships. Usually taken as the Saint watching over your ship.
Most motivational song in history. I have never managed to listen to this and stay in anything but a really energetic cheerful mood.
@traviswrdunbar the 80s movie of the same name has the character Billy explain what St Elmo's fire is near the end of the fim
I think its about the movie St.Elmo's Fire.....not mountain climbing
Good answer! Great song. The movie was not as good as The Breakfast Club.
@Hydra2 The Breakfast Club is over rated
About determination, strength, gumption
i loved the movie st. elmo's fire. it was greatt :]]
i love this song too.
Play the game, you know you can't quit until it's won Soldier on, only you can do what must be done
Some of the greatest lyrics I've ever lived by. Never surrender the fight, never give up. Whether its a person, a dream, a belief, a conviction, what you stand for at your core. Fight in this world to hang onto it. Because damnit people give up too easily.
I got no idea what the true meaning behind this song is, but to me, it's a song about being determined to do anything -- to prove yourself to the world in a way.
DrFeelgood03: John Parr said in an interview that this song was about a man in a wheelchair and he was just fine with SEF the movie using it.
This song is about the strength and determination that people can have. It was also used very appropriately in the movie St. Elmo's Fire to show Emilio Estevez and his companion's struggles with transition,, but still trying to make it better.