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.
Alone you find yourself just hanging, and to fill the hole you cling to all that seems, to hide the little girl that crying, underneath the rage that you let others see.
'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow
While others look at you on show.
You're dancing dirt into the snow
While all around you people grow
And watch you bleed.
And watch you bleed.
So now you look at me, eyes wooden.
An anchor through your head; crimson for disguise.
An opal for a wound you carry, fairy lights of pleading someone look at me.
'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow
While others look at you on show.
You're dancing dirt into the snow
While all around you people grow
And watch you bleed.
And watch you bleed.
The more you push through broken glass, the thicker it becomes.
And the more you turn on broken worlds, the sooner you will need.
The more you push through broken glass, the thicker it becomes.
And the more you turn on broken worlds, the sooner you will need…
A gun.
'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow
While others look at you on show.
You're dancing dirt into the snow
While all around you people grow.
'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow
While others look at you on show.
You're dancing dirt into the snow
While all around you people grow
And watch you bleed.
And watch you bleed.
So now you look at me, eyes wooden.
An anchor through your head; crimson for disguise.
An opal for a wound you carry, fairy lights of pleading someone look at me.
'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow
While others look at you on show.
You're dancing dirt into the snow
While all around you people grow
And watch you bleed.
And watch you bleed.
The more you push through broken glass, the thicker it becomes.
And the more you turn on broken worlds, the sooner you will need.
The more you push through broken glass, the thicker it becomes.
And the more you turn on broken worlds, the sooner you will need…
A gun.
'Cause you're dancing dirt into the snow
While others look at you on show.
You're dancing dirt into the snow
While all around you people grow.
Lyrics submitted by AgathaKavka
Dancing Dirt into the Snow Lyrics as written by Melissa Higgins
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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‘Cause you’re dancing dirt into the snow while others look at you on show. You’re dancing dirt into the snow while all around you people grow And watch you bleed. And watch you bleed.
I don't think the song is about sexual abuse, but i think the girl in the narrative she tells was at some point. She feels dirty... clumsy... watched and all her movements picked to pieces by people not necessarily out for her best interests. Dancing dirt into the snow suggest that although she is disturbing something so pristice, innocent and untouched (like what may have happened to her) she's not doign anything bad. She's not abusing anything, she's dancing.
When i first statred thinking that, i thought "well perhaps dancing dirt inot the snow is a bad thing".. Well i don't anymore. She's dancing and expressed feelings that are positive, and the snow have the footprints and markings that remember that feeling.