Life is a waterfall
We're one in the river
And one again after the fall

Swimming through the void, we hear the word
We lose ourselves, but we find it all

'Cause we are the ones that want to play
Always want to go, but you never want to stay

And we are the ones that want to choose
Always want to play but you never want to lose

Aerials in the sky
When you lose small mind, you free your life

Life is a waterfall
We drink from the river
Then we turn around and put up our walls

Swimming through the void, we hear the word
We lose ourselves, but we find it all

'Cause we are the ones that want to play
Always want to go, but you never want to stay

And we are the ones that want to choose
Always want to play but you never want to lose
Oh

Aerials in the sky
When you lose small mind, you free your life
Aerials, so up high
When you free your eyes, eternal prize
Aerials in the sky
When you lose small mind, you free your life
Aerials, so up high
When you free your eyes, eternal prize

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh


Lyrics submitted by F4RiD

Aerials Lyrics as written by Daron V. Malakian Serj Tankian

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Aerials song meanings
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403 Comments

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  • +21
    General Comment

    I've always heard the lyrics as more of a warning about closemindedness "Aerials, in the sky, When you lose small mind, You free your life. Aerials, so up high, When you free your eyes, Eternal prize. " these lines here - these seem to be the pivitol lines, its about freeing your mind, opening "your third eye" if you will (Tool reference there for anyone keeping score ;-) ). I suppose it could also be about drugs - and using them to truely see the world for how it is.

    suicide_alon February 13, 2002   Link
  • +11
    General Comment

    This song has an effect, and emphasis, on life. It seems to speak about the cruelty, unfairness, and selfishness not only of life but of the human mind. Very cool. My favorite SOAD song.

    SolarSky329on February 09, 2002   Link
  • +8
    General Comment

    At the PoA tour Daron (Guitarist) said that this is about the stupidity of the world. They fucking rocked this song live too.

    ComaKonaon November 27, 2001   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    its certianly about life in that sense, i think the 'one in the river and one again after the fall' is a reference to the after life. just opening up your mind, breaking down the walls you've put up, 'lose the small mind' and gain happyness in life.

    axenicon December 07, 2001   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    to me it's about spiritual enlightenment.

    life as a waterfall. The holistic nature of the world. The oneness.

    Swimming thru the void we hear the word. the first part speaking of meditation. "hearing the word" refers to what a lot of religions consider divine revelation. Thru meditation you hear an 'audible' source, which is the word which guides you to enlightenment. (pretty eastern)

    We lose ourselves but we find it all? we lose our egocentric selfish nature, and unable to put what was gained it into words, 'we find it all' is almost asked as a question.

    we are the ones.. shows egocentric and prideful nature of 'normal' people.

    Aerials could be OBE(out of body experiences) if considered at face value, or just the accent to enlightenment, The loss of the closed mind and 'eternal prize'.

    xmod2on April 05, 2002   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    This song is about how people can lose their identities and become just like everyone else. Some lyric analysis: "Life is a waterfall,we're one in the river, one again after the fall." - We all start off the same and we all end up the same. "Swimming through the void, we hear the words,we lose ourselves, but we find it all." - As we go through life we are told lessons, but we ignore them. We forget who we really are in the mix of seeking the synthetic lifestyle, and that's the price to lose who we really are. "'Cause we are the ones that wanna play, always want to go, but you never want to stay." - We always want to be part of the scene. We strive for what we want and when we get it, it still does not satisfy. "And we are the ones that want to choose, always wanna play, but you never wanna lose." - We want and want. We do whatever we can but if trouble is ever near we do whatever we can to maintain innocence. "When you lose small mind you free your life." - When we stop to see the full picture is when we really have control of our lives. "Life is a waterfall, we drink from the river then we turn around and put up our walls." - We take and take and in the end we give nothing. This shows how greedy, oblivious and inconsiderate people can be.

    ROCKER094on June 25, 2009   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    In the words of Daron, "THIS IS A SONG ABOUT NOTHING."

    <3

    monalisasmiles4youon October 12, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    shavo said that the song is about a boy in a weel chair looking at acrobats in the sky and knowing he can never do them, relising the world is unfair

    zero36on January 25, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This is the best song on Toxicity. Plain and simple. The lyrics, and the music to support it is just mind boggeling. THis band ROCKS Listen and Feel. Music is the most important thing in life.

    mo0stahon February 22, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This song is clearly telling people to stop being greedy. "Life is a waterfall, We're one in the river, And one again after the fall." This means that we are a soul before and after life "Swimming through the void We hear the word, We lose ourselves, But we find it all" Swimming through the void is going through life, the word we hear is 'lose'. We lose ourselves means we feel like we lost out in life, but we will find it all (heaven). "Cause we are the ones that want to play, Always want to go, But you never want to stay. And we are the ones that want to chose, Always want to play, But you never want to lose." We always take things and never want to give anything back in return. "Aerials, in the sky, When you lose small mind, You free your life." Aerials are either angels or souls. When you lose small mind (stop thinking only about yourself), you free your life (lead a life on the road towards heaven). "Life is a waterfall, We drink from the river, Then we turn around and put up our walls." We take what we can, but never give anything in return. "Aerials, so up high, When you free your eyes, Eternal prize." Aerials so up high would be in heaven. Your eyes eternal prize is also heaven.

    There you go, it fits all the portions of the song perfectly. That is most likely the true meaning of the song, but it's my interpretation.

    WiredWizardon January 04, 2006   Link

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