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.
The lights turned on and the curtain fell down,
And when it was over it felt like a dream,
They stood at the stage door and begged for a scream,
The agents had paid for the black limousine
That waited outside in the rain.
Did you see them, did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?
Eighteen years of American dream,
He saw that his brother had sworn on the wall.
He hung up his eyelids and ran down the hall,
His mother had told him a trip was a fall,
And don't mention babies at all.
Did you see him, did you see him?
Did you see him in the river?
He were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?
The streets were lined for the wedding parade,
The Queen wore the white gloves, the county of song,
The black covered caisson her horses had drawn
Protected her King from the sun rays of dawn.
They married for peace and were gone.
Did you see them, did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?
And when it was over it felt like a dream,
They stood at the stage door and begged for a scream,
The agents had paid for the black limousine
That waited outside in the rain.
Did you see them, did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?
Eighteen years of American dream,
He saw that his brother had sworn on the wall.
He hung up his eyelids and ran down the hall,
His mother had told him a trip was a fall,
And don't mention babies at all.
Did you see him, did you see him?
Did you see him in the river?
He were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?
The streets were lined for the wedding parade,
The Queen wore the white gloves, the county of song,
The black covered caisson her horses had drawn
Protected her King from the sun rays of dawn.
They married for peace and were gone.
Did you see them, did you see them?
Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that the empty quivered,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?
Lyrics submitted by planetearth
Broken Arrow Lyrics as written by Neil Young
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
At least part of the song is actually about the Kennedy assasination. With the first verse being Neil's perspective on being a rock star, the key to the rest of the song is the line from the second verse "Eighteen years of american dream" . This line is the only concrete line in a song full of imagery and allegory. If is to be taken seriously (there is no reason to think otherwise) then the obvious 18 years would be the ones immediately after WW2, where the USA took on its role of dominant power of the democratic world: 1945-1963. I don't really understand the rest of that verse, but it does end with the line "Did you see HIM?" not "them" as in the 1st and 3rd verses. The third verse is ostensibly about a wedding. But caissons are used in funeral processions not wedding processions. So if you transpose funeral for wedding and black for white then the rest sort of follows. Coincidentally, sufferers of Addison's Disease of which Kennedy was one, tend to have darkened (brown) skin due to a hormone disorder.
although i don't agree with your interpretation about the first part of the song, the Kennedy stuff makes sense. But what I'm really curious about is what, if anything broken arrow is a metephore for.i don't think that brown skin refers to anyone in particular.for me its just there for meter.
I actualy read this in a book called "don't be denied" which is a bio on neil. it says he wrote this song for his bassist in his very old band. They were called the "squires". Neil felt bad because he needed to move on with his musical career and this left his old bassist behind. it says:
Did you see him, did you see him? Did you see him in the river? He were there to wave to you.
the waving part shows that the bassist knew neil have to move on and he supported him no matter what he did.
"This is what i read in the book." and i think this a great song and i always listen to this when I put on some music
@expectingtofly Spot on, that makes a helluva lot more sense than frednurk 100's opinion that it was a reference to the JFK assassination. Songfacts.com pulls from a Rolling Stone interview with Young where he says he wrote it when his "head was in a bad place," he makes reference more than once that he dedicated this song to his old The Squires bandmate, Kluh or Klun, something like that, who, they say, was brought into B. S. as a temporary replacement for another band member's absence, and Neil was given the sorry role of breaking the news that he was out of the band when he had thought he was a permanent replacement.
this is just one of those songs that lives in a time that we are not in. we had to be in the moment to define it. but we aren't. so just enjoy the emotion it portrays.
Broken Arrow and Expecting To Fly are shocking to me considering NY’s age at the time of writing/recording...I get the feeling of Neil just testing the limits of his talent, seeing what he’s capable of.
You really understand the song. Great post. Although your comment about JFK’s Addison’s disease is a bit superfluous, as it’s not something Neil would have necessarily known, nor commented about. ~L~
@Laylah77 Exactamente! I see so many people take a lot of liberties when they write what they "think" was in NY's head when he wrote it, whether he actually said it or not.
According to Native Americans a broken arrow symbolizes peace. It also has a military meaning :a nuclear warhead that could accidentally go off. To me the song is about wanting peace to prevail like the broken arrow that the brown skinned Indian on the banks may be holding, and wanting to escape from the way things are in our country now with the threat of nuclear war looming over our heads and also about todays youth growing up and being frustrated and filled with anxiety because of the many problems we are facing in our country today as a whole.And being disillusioned with the American dream. To me, it's about the longing for a simpler time when we can all live in peace.
The meaning and mental images of those times was all over the place and open to personal interpretation. depending on where one was in life. In Neil's case this imagery was powerful enough to him to name his ranch in Redwood city after it. The very same ranch of Old Man fame.
@andrew1090 Good answer.
I think the second verse is about one brother being drafted and sent to Vietnam while the other brother was part of the peace movement which also involved drugs. Hung up his eyelids and ran down the hall could be about acid but also about not wanting to see the horrors of war. Could you tell that the empty quivered brown skin Indian on the bank that was crowded and narrow held a broken arrow is the key to the song. The last arrow taken from the quiver was broken. Signal of peace. End to the war. The Native people were slaughtered by "Americans" The history of war and death being called the American dream. The river bank is crowded and narrow. Americans have taken over all the land and leave nothing for the original people. This song, to me, is as important now as it was then. It runs through my memory often. Maybe one day we will come together and put an end to the fighting.
i love the drug reference in this one. second verse "his mother had told him a trip was a fall." but what does the rest of that verse mean? he saw that his brother had sworn on the wall. everyone tells me it just rhymed, but is there anything else?
The verses are split in half. The first half of each verse sings about the crowds and the fame and the sensations of being in the music business. The first verse this deals with the ending of a show, and the exhilaration you feel when they call your name. The second verse deals with the feelings of what you miss while on the road, falling in love and marriage and babies. The second half of each verse deals with his feelings of being so distracted with following his own dream that he never noticed the way Native Americans only have broken dreams these days, while the other Americans are too distracted by glitz and such. The song expresses his guilt at being an American who got everything he thought he wanted, while giving little back to anyone else.
@ndo Sounds good in theory but I don't think Neil ever referenced any of that as to the meaning of the words.