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”
The gymnast, high above the ground,
Limbers up and falls timber town
Ankles splayed and all tied
The gymnast long has arrived
Lasy, your long sister lays
Waiting out this long light brigade
Prayed for snow a long time
And lazy, it long has arrived
Through the tarlatan holes
You've been slipping, been slipping away
And the weather will hold
It's been ever, so ever, so gray
And here as we're coming down
We're sounding out: it's a terrible, terrible tide
As it lights upon your eye
But there on the motorway, reeks of marmalade,
It's a chemical, chemical kind
As it lights upon your eye...
Lights upon your eye
The bosun calls upon the quay
Compass gone, he long has lost his way
To lighthouse shine, to calm tide
The bosun long has arrived
Through the tarlatan holes
You've been slipping, been slipping away
And the weather will hold
It's been ever, so ever, so gray
And here as we're coming down
We're sounding out: it's a terrible, terrible tide
As it lights upon your eye
But there on the motorway, reeks of marmalade,
It's a chemical, chemical kind
As it lights upon your eye...
Lights upon your eye
April marches on
April marches on
April marches on
April marches on
Limbers up and falls timber town
Ankles splayed and all tied
The gymnast long has arrived
Lasy, your long sister lays
Waiting out this long light brigade
Prayed for snow a long time
And lazy, it long has arrived
Through the tarlatan holes
You've been slipping, been slipping away
And the weather will hold
It's been ever, so ever, so gray
And here as we're coming down
We're sounding out: it's a terrible, terrible tide
As it lights upon your eye
But there on the motorway, reeks of marmalade,
It's a chemical, chemical kind
As it lights upon your eye...
Lights upon your eye
The bosun calls upon the quay
Compass gone, he long has lost his way
To lighthouse shine, to calm tide
The bosun long has arrived
Through the tarlatan holes
You've been slipping, been slipping away
And the weather will hold
It's been ever, so ever, so gray
And here as we're coming down
We're sounding out: it's a terrible, terrible tide
As it lights upon your eye
But there on the motorway, reeks of marmalade,
It's a chemical, chemical kind
As it lights upon your eye...
Lights upon your eye
April marches on
April marches on
April marches on
April marches on
Lyrics submitted by sendthestars
The Gymnast, High Above the Ground Lyrics as written by Colin Meloy
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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At the very end of the song, there's the most beautiful violin bit and Colin repeats "April marches on" four times. That's a clever little pun, and also probably an indication of when the song takes place. It tends to be rainy in the spring.
As to what the song means... "anticipation" is better than anything I've come up with yet. In the verses we've got a gymnast finally falling, a sister finally getting snow and a boatswain finally back home after being lost. So maybe "finally getting what you want"?
The chorus confuses me. It's beautiful, but it doesn't seem in any way related to the rest of the song. Maybe it's about a tanker truck accident that results in a chemical spill? Could it really be that obvious?
@toadtws I agree about that last part, I think it refers to a sort of chemical spill accident. <br /> Something to do with the great molasses flood in boston 1919. "Stinks of marmelade"...<br /> I think our guy was a sailor caught on the flood, and the motorway comes all the way from the port, spreading the overly sweet smell. <br /> The cold gray weather of boston makes is all harder and slower. <br /> On the other hand, the begining perhaps is about anticipation and frustration. Hiding pain, and comming to acceptance. <br /> Our little gymnast lost someone and has to move on with her life.