In a church, by the face
He talks about the people going under

Only child know

A man decides after seventy years
That what he goes there for, is to unlock the door
While those around him criticize and sleep
And through a fractal on a breaking wall
I see you my friend, and touch your face again
Miracles will happen as we trip

But we're never gonna survive, unless
We get a little crazy
No we're never gonna survive, unless
We are a little crazy

Crazy yellow people walking through my head
One of them's got a gun, to shoot the other one
And yet together they were friends at school
Ohh, get it, get it, get it, get it no no

If all were there when we first took the pill
Then maybe, then maybe, then maybe, then maybe
Miracles will happen as we speak

But we're never gonna survive unless
We get a little crazy
No we're never gonna survive unless
We are a little crazy
No no, never survive, unless we get a little bit

Oh, a little bit
Oh, a little bit

Amanda decides to go along after seventeen years
Oh darlin'
In a sky full of people, only some want to fly
Isn't that crazy
In a world full of people, only some want to fly
Isn't that crazy, crazy
In a heaven of people there's only some want to fly
Ain't that crazy
Oh babe, oh darlin'
In a world full of people there's only some want to fly
Isn't that crazy, isn't that crazy, isn't that crazy, isn't that crazy

But were never gonna survive unless, we get a little crazy
No were never gonna to survive unless we are a little
But were never gonna survive unless, we get a little crazy
No were never gonna to survive unless, we are a little, crazy
No no, never survive unless, we get a little bit

And then you see things
The size of which you've never known before

They'll break it

Someday, only child know

Them things
The size of which you've never known before

Someday, someway, someway, someway, someday, someday


Lyrics submitted by Ice, edited by SacrificialNewt

Crazy Lyrics as written by Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel Guy Sigsworth

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Tratore

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Crazy song meanings
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  • +10
    General Comment

    It's Seal defending LSD and the acid-house scene he grew up with.

    "A man decides after 70 years, that's what he goes there for, to unlock the door"-

    Reference to Aldous Huxley, who died aged 69 in his 70th year. Huxley wrote "The Doors of Perception" (which the band "The Doors" were named after), a book which popularized LSD usage. When he was dying, he requested to be given a ridiculously large amount of LSD- showing a key purpose of his life was LSD- why he took it was to "unlock the door" to his creative potential. Many people criticized his encouragement of the drug in the early 60s.

    "Fractal on a breaking wall.."-

    A fractal is a pattern. When you trip, your brain reacts strongly to visual stimuli. Your memories can come alive like in a dream. Seal seeing his friend again (presumably his friend's dead, that's why it's a "miracle" might be a reponse to staring at some graffiti on a wall while tripping. The wall could even be the graffiti covered Berlin Wall which was being broken up at the time this was written and was on TV.

    "Crazy yellow people running through my head..."

    Talks about Vietnam, the fact that the country had been whole just a few years before and that countrymen who were at each other's throats had "been friends at school". At the same time as the Vietnam war was going on which the US was involved in, at home in the US and UK people, including the Beatles, were experimenting with LSD in a big way. This was the age of the first summer of love with the hippys' and their slogans "make love not war" and "give peace a chance". Seal is wondering whether, if the people in Vietnam had experienced the same mind-altering experience that Seal and his friends had when they first took ecstacy (I guess it's ecstacy becuase LSD usually isn't in pill form) during the second "summer of love" in the 80s when ecstacy was in heavy club use, they would be so eager to kill each other.

    "In a sky full of people, only some want to fly, isn't that crazy..?"

    People say to people doing LSD, "Isn't that crazy?" Seal turns the question round and says the above, isn't it crazy not to take LSD and fly? and again "We're never going to survive, unless, we get a little crazy", he views drugs as a release from the pressures of this world.

    "Only a child knows" Recalls the Christian idea of childish wisdom. Drugs can reduce you to a happy childish state, which some might term "wise", a sense of cosmic oneness.

    Please note, I do not endorse drug use, I only believe Seal was talking about the potentially beneficial effects of LSD and Ecstacy.

    gattion June 02, 2012   Link
  • +3
    Song Meaning

    I've been listening to this for a while and think the lyrics are much simpler than discussed here. Seal seems to be lamenting about how there's so much hatred in the world because people are rigid in their views. Think about this:

    A man decides after seventy years, That what he goes there for, is to unlock the door. While those around him criticize and sleep...

    who's the man? How about Reagan? In 1987, Reagan, an american president in his seventies, tell Russian prime minister to "tear down this wall." Reagan articulates the idea of tearing down the wall (of hatred).

    And through a fractal on a breaking wall, I see you my friend, and touch your face again. Miracles will happen as we trip.

    The wall didn't come down until 1989, but people were fleeing. The "trip" Seal is referring to is the notion of travel. He's in Germany on a trip and he's seeing the effects and inspiration of a wall being torn down.

    But we're never gonna survive, unless... We get a little crazy No we're never gonna survive, unless... We are a little...

    Seal thinks that for the world to change - it needs to embrace "crazy" ideas that go against accepted rules, practices and beliefs.

    yellow people walking through my head. One of them's got a gun, to shoot the other one. And yet together they were friends at school Ohh, get it, get it, get it, get it no no!

    Again, current news in 1989... Tiananmen Square protests and senseless killings. soldiers firing upon people they knew and probably when to school with because they're ordered to politics getting in the way of a free world

    If all were there when we first took the pill, Then maybe, then maybe, then maybe, then maybe... Miracles will happen as we speak.

    if everyone took the same pill at the same time, then maybe we'd all be on the same page but because people around the world hold different beliefs, we can never get along unless one beliefs explores the others' "crazy" ideology which would be a miracle

    Amanda decides to go along after seventeen years wrong lyrics! It should be: A man decides to go along after seventy years repeating the first set of lyrics - about Reagan

    In a sky full of people, only some want to fly, Isn't that crazy?

    In Germany, even after the wall came down... some people were saying they didn't want to leave... didn't want freedom - isn't that crazy?

    In a world full of people, only some want to fly, Isn't that crazy?

    In China, when democracy was at hand, many people didn't want to stand up and get freedom - isn't that crazy?

    Crazy... In a heaven of people there's only some want to fly, Ain't that crazy?

    Even when we can agree about a Creator and our anointed right to live free some people still accept being repressed. isn't that crazy?

    any other interpretation of this song is really just..... crazy!

    lyricgeekon February 03, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    his best song

    cervanteon March 03, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    ok, so he said Pill once or twice in the song, its definately about drugs (sarcasam)

    I think its about the many people in this world that are too afraid to take risks, and that is crazy...

    and also about how we need to take risks in our lives in order to live. I have always said this quote, and it goes something like this:

    "One that has truly never lived can truly never die"

    and I think seal is trying to say that through this song.

    phoenix6475on December 17, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    you're all pretty much wrong about this song. the song was released around 1989 and is about various things that happened in the world at that time.

    the lyrics "And through a fractal on a breaking wall, I see you my friend, and touch your face again" is a referance to the berlin wall coming down.

    i don't know about the other lyrics but they most likely refer to world events around that time.

    they're may be a slight reference to drugs in there as the acid house scene was big in 1988 and 1989.

    anyway it's a great song.

    cosmeticcarrepairon July 12, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Parts of these lyrics are vague enough that it's easy to interpret them in any number of different ways.

    For my own life, I go for the living up to potential and taking risks interpretation.

    "In a church, by the face, He talks about the people going under."

    Reference to a pastor speaking at funerals, trying to come up with something good (and true) to say about the dead. I've been to more than my fair share of funerals lately, and it's interesting to consider what your own funeral will be like when you die. Will people miss you? Will you have done anything worthwhile with your life? Or will your life seem like a waste to the people who listen to the pastor struggle to find something good to say?

    "Only child know..."

    Young children know how to take risks! They're not afraid of what other people think of them. They don't hide their feelings. They're just out there giving it their all, trying, tripping and falling down, getting up and trying again.

    "A man decides after 70 years, That what he goes there for, is to unlock the door. While those around him criticize and sleep..."

    Reference to the same pastor from above, wondering if people are getting anything out of his sermons. Wondering if he's making any difference in their lives. Wondering if he'll have anything good to say at their funeral.

    THEN THE SONG SWITCHES FROM 3rd PERSON TO 1st PERSON....

    "...Crazy yellow people walking through my head. One of them's got a gun, to shoot the other one. And yet together they were friends at school." Referencing the two personalities in each of us, with competing desires for FREEDOM and SECURITY...work a job for the rest of our lives, or be an entrepreneur, risking it all, possibly getting rich, or possibly going broke. When in school, we were idealistic and thought we could have both Security & Freedom. Later in life, for most people, Security gets a gun and tries to kill our dreams of Freedom.

    In some ways, each of these desires can have a "yellow" (cowardly) side to them. It's obvious how killing our dreams and going only for security can be seen as a bit cowardly. But that's one-sided. It takes courage to be a good employee. People sometimes are forced to quit their job because they allowed their entrepreneurial dreams to go too far. They fail to excel in their job because they're too prideful (cowardly) to make amends with their boss. They end up going out own their own when they should have swallowed their pride and learned how to deal with personalities in the work place. When they go out on their own, trying to be an entrepreneur, they discover some harsh realities.

    "If all were there when we first took the pill, then maybe......"

    The pill of RESPONSIBILITY, often taken when we move out on our own, forces us to choose between Freedom and Security. If "all were there" and we were lucky enough to have some help and support when we first took the pill of RESPONSIBILITY, then maybe, maybe we can have both Freedom and Security.

    At any rate, "miracles will happen as we trip, ....as we speak."

    We've got to start taking risks. And we've got to promote ourselves. We're sure to fall on our face...probably a lot. But as we persist, miracles will begin to happen.

    "Through a fractal on a breaking wall, I see you my friend, and touch your face again."

    Reference to a person reuniting with his/her dreams, that may have been long-lost.

    I think this song is about someone reconciling within the needs for Freedom and Security. It sounds like Freedom was the outcast, and is now being allowed back in, reviving the dreamer. This person is choosing to let both co-exist and making a decision to get out of their comfort zone & go for it.

    "get a little crazy"

    Speaks of taking risks, doing things we aren't 100% sure of. Also speaks of giving 110%...like William Wallace in Brave Heart. Show me your meanest looking WAR face!AAARRRRRRGGHHH! Now go out there and kick some butt!

    FreeMeon August 11, 2006   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation

    I think this song is prophetical. Two prophecies can be found in it:

    A. This great song predicted one of the most challenging ideas shown to the world by the Wachowsky brothers' film, the exceedingly popular futuristic sci-fi "The Matrix". See these verses

    "A man decides after seventy years, that what he goes there for, is to unlock the door. While those around him criticize and sleep... And through a fractal on a breaking wall, I see you my friend, and touch your face again. Miracles will happen as we trip."

    "If all were there when we first took the pill, Then maybe, then maybe, then maybe, then maybe... Miracles will happen as we speak."

    Do you remember the taking Neo out of the matrix Scene? he sees a "liquid mirror", it could be the fractal through the breaking wall, and the man who decides to unlock the door maybe talks about Morpheus bringing "Neo, The One" out of the Matrix, he would be the same friend whose face Neo looks again, now real, after just chatting with Morpheus, even thoug he is not that old.

    "If all were there when we first took the pill", it's literal. Neo was asked to choose between a red and a blue pill.

    "In a world, sky, heaven full of people, only some want to fly" it prophetizes Neo speech and flying free at the very end...

    B. "Crazy yellow people walking through my head. One of them's got a gun, to shoot the other one. And yet together they were friends at school Ohh, get it, get it, get it, get it no no!"

    this verse talks about the 32 students South Korean killer at Virginia Tech on April 2007,

    It's crystal clear:

    "Crazy yellow people walking through my head. One of them's got a gun, to shoot the other one." the young man was "yellow", from South Korea,

    "And yet together they were friends at school..." he killed 32 of his schoolmates,

    "Ohh, get it, get it, get it, get it no no!" "Get it" 4 times... Every single victim had at least 4 shots!

    "This man was brutal," Joseph Cacioppo, an emergency room physician at nearby Montgomery Regional Hospital, told CNN. "There wasn't a shooting victim who had less than (...)four wounds."

    The complete news: nytimes.com/2007/04/17/world/americas/17iht-virginia.5.5325507.html

    Raoulon December 01, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Seal is my one love, my one life. Whenever I wake up in the dark of the night, his face on my wall is always there to soothe me back to sleep. hes a great man.

    SaveMyDay17on July 31, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    why does every song have to be about drugs? ;)

    i think this song, as wyldroza said, is about people that are afraid to fly.

    "In a world full of people there's only some want to fly, Isn't that crazy? "

    just said it right there

    txinon January 05, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this song for me is deeply spiritual. When I think of this song I think of the way my own consciousness has expanded as well as humanity's collective consciousness. When I hear this song I think about the fact that people are becoming more aware of their own souls.

    I get so spiritually high listening to this song and thinking about where humans have been, are now, and are going.

    line by line:

    A man decides after seventy years, That what he goes there for, is to unlock the door.

    This man is going to church to "unlock the door" - the Doors of thr 60s taught us about opening our "doors of perception," and this too is what church is intended to do, in spite of those around him who "criticize and sleep"

    I don't think the tripping and the fractals and stuff has to be interpreted specifically as acid or drugs. I definitely believe he's talking about the expansion of consciousness, but it need not necessarily be driven through LSD. In the first line, "only child know" harkens to a famous line by Jesus that says something like "you must make yourself as a child if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven." it sort of also reminds me of that famous line by Wordsworth: "Child is the father of the man" (this was also found in Brian Wilson's previously unreleased album, Smile). -- If children are first souls that have not yet come down from heaven, they are closer to God, the "father," than a man on earth who has been away from Heaven for man years.

    So here's what I think:

    I think Seal is talking about what Alan Watts called "cosmic conscisousness," a phrase that has been echoed by a number of new agers and gurus. Watts and his contemporaries, including Richard Alpert (Ram Dass of "Be Here Now") believe that Jesus experienced cosmic consciousness, a sudden burst of consciousness that caused him to believe that he was God -- not invalid, because Watts says that we all inhabit the potential for greater consciousness. But these gurus were in the 60s and 70s. More and more people are developing this cosmic consciousness, I believe, and I think it's reflected in Seal's 1991 lyrics. Check this out:

    Listen to the way he talks about "And then you see things

    The size

    Of which you've never known before."

    And I'm not sure entirely what to think of the pill, but I am convinced it's not literal. Think of the idea of instantaneous transformation, and perhaps even the idea of Adam and Eve's transgression of eating the forbidden fruit.

    I believe this a song about humanity, and I think someone might have been right when they mentioned the idea of the Berlin wall coming down. Another major event that happened that year (i think) was the massacre at Tianamen Square in China led by a group of pro-capitalist students:

    "Crazy yellow people walking through my head. One of them's got a gun, to shoot the other one. And yet together they were friends at school Ohh, get it, get it, get it, get it no no!"

    just a guess.

    but I get pretty moved by this song. it makes the hair on my hair stand up every time.

    Leroyskagnettion January 06, 2007   Link

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