I'll never feel the weight of your hands
Inside mine like diamonds
Lace so fine ballerina
Cupcake and my earthquake
Wakes me from my sleep that
Never comes, are you breathing
Waiting for me

I didn't really want you
But I want you now
Was so foolish of me
Feel you tumbling down
Into that empty room, the lights went out
I want to rescue, want to scream out loud

I didn't think I needed you
But I need you now
Was so empty in me
Feel you crashing down
Into the empty world, the music stops
I want to rescue, want to scream out loud
You will always be mine

The room spins
they pull you from me, my body burns
Tell me all the rainbows
The colors that the rain throws
Ballerina, dance softly
She knows when to come only
When she's called on slowly coming to

I didn't really want you
But I need you
Was so foolish of me
Feel you tumbling down
Into that empty room, the lights went out
Want to rescue want to scream out loud

I didn't think I wanted you
But I want you now
Was so empty in me
Feel you crashing down
Into the empty world, the music stops
I want to rescue, want to scream out loud
You will always be mine

So so sorry
Just come back for me now
So so sorry
Just come back to me now
Or soon

I didn't think I wanted you
But I want you now
Was so foolish of me
Feel you tumbling down
Into that empty room, the lights went out
Wanted to rescue, want to scream out loud

I didn't think I needed you
But I need you now
Was so empty in me
Feel you tumbling down
Into that empty room, the lights went out
I want to rescue want to scream out loud
That you will always be mine


Lyrics submitted by _ellie

Ballerina Lyrics as written by Leona Naess Ethan Johns

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Ballerina song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    I always thought that this song was about the proverbial "girl dumps guy and regrets it."

    For me this song means so much more. On September 30 of 2006, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She was born still (deceased). This song symbolizes everything I feel for my daughter. Her pregnancy was very unexpected to my husband and me, and were very worried that it was just the wrong time to start our family. "I didn't think I wanted you." But as the pregnancy went on, I loved her more than anything. "But I need you now."

    Maille Paige will always be my ballerina.

    mortyyson March 23, 2007   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning

    I thought it's about losing a child when I first heard it. (Or maybe even abortion, even when this sounds like catched from very far ;) )It seems to be a lot deeper than all those break up and regret songs, it seems to be about loss. The 'empty room' where the 'lights went out' and the 'empty world' where the 'music stops' maybe stand for death. Also the beginning, 'I'll never feel the weight of your hands inside mine, like diamonds' make me think of a baby that you'll never see growing up, that you'll never hold in your arms. If the girl would be missng the guy she probably would have said 'never feel the weight of you hands AGAIN'.

    Despite, I think ballerinas, lace and cupcakes have not much to do with a relationship ^_^ It's all that stuff children love - well, at least little girls do. In her song "Home" she sings a line like 'where I lost my only child', maybe it has something to do with that? Anyway, this song is so sad and so beautiful, I will be loving it forever.

    rachel05111992on March 09, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I found Leona Naess because this song was at the end of an episode of Weeds. The scene is a montage of love scenes between characters, and the main character Nancy missing her deceased husband. It was an incredibly sad and moving moment, made so by this beautiful song.

    lily(myoneandonly)on September 26, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I discovered this song and Naess via the same Weeds episode mentioned by a previous poster. My lord this is such a sad and beautiful song. When I hear it I think of my long lost best friend who disappeared from my life two years ago. I think of her almost every day and this song nails that feeling of loss, of regret.

    bb6634on June 12, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is not about a loss of a boyfriend/lover, although it was a beautiful touch to the end of the Weeds episode in which Nancy crying as she watches old home movies of herself and her deceased husband. But it's not about the loss of a man. Most obvious clues are "ballerina," "cupcake," and "lace" (which are all girly things) and referring to the lost person as a "she." It is about the mother's regret about an abortion. A clue that it is a baby that dies and not an older child is that she says she'll never feel the weight of her hands inside hers. It says "pull you from me, my body burns." To me that means the doctors take the embryo/fetus out of her body. The "feel you tumbling/crashing down into that empty room" refers to the baby being drawn out of her and into the room at the abortion clinic. And the room spins because she's obviously drugged up and dealing with mixed emotions about what is happening. The lights go out and the music stops symbolizes the baby's death, leaving the mother in darkness. And the mother is torn up with emotions like she wants to change what has already happened, she wishes she could take save the baby but now she can't, and the "want to scream out loud" just shows the desperation she feels inside. The "tell me of the rainbows, the colors that the rain throws" are words to her lost baby, wondering what she is seeing in Heaven. And "she knows when to come only when she's called" to me means being called into Heaven by God, and "I'm slowly coming to" (which the lyrics above are incorrect with "on slowly coming to") means the mother is regaining consciousness from whatever drugs she was given to do the abortion procedure. When I first heard the song I thought it was about a stillborn baby, but then at the end I was convinced it was abortion when she says "so so sorry, just come back for/to me now."

    BabydollPon January 20, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Everytime I hear this song it just puts me in this mood like I've been here before... it just makes me so sad, but in a good way! I think she's describing all the little inside jokes they have... and that she didn't think she needed him anymore and she's describing all the feelings she's going through with him not there anymore but she's realized she needs him more than anything and she wants him to come back for her.

    Pixxie246on September 16, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song makes me soooooooooo sad, but I still love it! To me, it's about a girl that broke up with a guy but she regrets it in the end. Pretty simple, but just the way that Leona sings it makes it wonderful & sad & sweet.

    off_by-hearton January 24, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I, too, heard this song at the end of the Weeds episode. It is truly beautiful...I love how Leona's voice is almost small yet filled with so much emotion.

    SageSoulon June 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I first heard her sing this song on Dave Letterman late one night. She was so emotional and was crying when the song was over. I am completely pro-choice, but I really think she wrote this song about an abortion she may have had. Perhaps she found out later it was a girl or she imagined it was a girl-hence the ballerina title.

    runjulirunon August 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I just heard this song tonight at a Ray LaMontagne show and I fell inlove with it. Her voice is absolutely amazing. I love women singers who's voice can just give you chills.,. and hers is one of them.

    undeniable_dilemmaon October 22, 2008   Link

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