Each of these old light leaves is dirt,
barely held together by
tiny bone hands that used to be alive

Holding hands
loose gripped
at the deja vu dream scene end
of a lifelong relationship

These light leaves
is my hair on the bathroom floor,
my smaller selves down the sewer somewhere,
under berkeley, cincinatti, or on tour
Airplane rear
and hotel lobby ladies rooms: beware,
as these light leaves bagged up in plastic,
never to decompose or fertilize

When my balls are finally big enough to do it
I don't want no casket, no saddle,
no seethrough plastic mask,
no casket, no saddle,
no seethrough plastic mask

And when I finally do it
I wanna do the dirt
like the dead leaves do
and if you do leave the earth
when the earth leaves you

cold and hard as a marble table top
with nothing on top,
there's no hip-hip-hop-hooray
keeping Heaven's golden-barbed gateway,
no bright confetti, high-step march, ticker tape parade
There's no mound of clouds to lounge on,
no mound of clouds to lounge on


Lyrics submitted by onechad

Light Leaves song meanings
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21 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    This song seems pretty straightforward insomuch that Yoni's denouncing the idea that we're these bespoke individuals, perhaps something our consciousness creates. Instead we're nothing more than a collection of cells which fall apart on death.

    This idea is set up in the first two verses, where he talks of our bodies being made of dirt, which crumble away from each other as the "light leaves". He likens it to the loss of hair and ejaculate, which perhaps make the death of cells more evident whilst we're alive. I think the "Airplane rear and hotel lobby ladies rooms: Beware" may well be a reference not to masturbating, but to having sex in these places, as he then says that "these light leaves bagged up in plastic, never to decompose or fertilize", perhaps implying they are in a condom. It is difficult to say though, perhaps instead of washing away in a sewer they're in a bin liner, destined for a landfill.

    From then he says that this is not a fate he wants, and as there is no heaven to go to, he wishes to just rejoin the earth as is natural.

    Great song though, although it didn't stand our at first, it is one of the best on the album. Yoni's lyricism is unrivaled, and I feel a little dirty to have tried to unravel it.

    alltheriotson January 05, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Correct me if I am wrong, but this song talks a lot about masturbating. For example; "as these light leaves bagged up in plastic, never to decompose or fertilize" Dur. "my smaller selves down the sewer somewhere," Dur. "Airplane rear and hotel lobby ladies rooms: beware," He is talking about where he is going to stop by horny town to fire the mayor.

    Whitestelephanton August 30, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Very lovely suicide piece, which fits in pretty perfectly with the rest of the elephant eyelash CD. For a very, very similar piece, see Cex's "Kill Me," which is also a fantastic song similar in tone if not style. I especially love the image of the tiny bone hands of the leaves.

    vigormortison April 06, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Best song on the album by far, both musically and lyrically.

    Klieserberon July 24, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    In the last verse, it's not "No bright confetti hearts, death march." It's "No bright confetti high-step march."

    siumu62on July 02, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The last line of this song is so incredible.

    james85on January 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I disagree about the masturbation thing. I think that he is saying after he dies, he doesn't want to be buried or anything. His body is kind of just going to decompose and parts of it are going to go everywhere from airplanes to bathrooms. It is similar to the way leaves fall off trees and then become part of the earth. His body is going to go back to nature, it won't be lounging around in heaven.

    kaitlingraceon September 07, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i agree with the second half of that, kaitlingrace, but i still see the third paragraph/verse/whatever as being primarily a masturbation reference, that his "leaves" that will be decomposing back to nature include things such as lost hair and semen, because i don't see any reason for him being in a ladies bathroom except as some kind of sexual thing just my take on it.

    shitscoldon October 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i'm with ya shitscold, i think he intended to let it be interpreted that way also. when he talks about the hotel lobby ladies room and airplane rear the first thing that came to mind was that was where he was thinking about killing himself? when i think about it it seems kinda off though..

    elf4life420on October 19, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    in gnashville yoni says "practicing your plane wreck face in a first class lav," and in sick 2 think talks about airplane bathrooms again, so i think they are in some way a meaningful location to him. i heard an interview and he talked about how in high school he was depressed to the point that he would be in cars and just wish they would crash. no more insight, just sharing that incase someone can build off it.

    shitscoldon December 05, 2008   Link

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