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.
I could show you all the joy
If you could look into your eyes like I do
I'd love to take you down toward the river
When you are dry
And if you have a little time
I'll spend the next lifetime by your side
I've learned to understand there's more
To this world than
The morning and the sky
It's very hard to sit and watch you now
It's very hard to know you're on your own
It's very hard to move through unfamiliar
Worlds I've never known
It's not enough to make some sense of it
It's not enough to even comprehend
It's not about the life we've left behind
Or the life that leaves us spinning in the end
If I could see you through the night
If I could help you see yourself like I do
I'd find a way to lift your courage higher
Like you lift mine
And I'd have something more to say
Then what I've said a thousand other times
I'd tell you there's a new train running
And the balance keeps us both alive
It's very hard to sit and watch you now
It's very hard to know you're on your own
It's very hard to move through unfamiliar
Worlds I've never known
It's not enough to make some sense of it
It's not enough to even comprehend
It's not about the life we've left behind
Or the life that leaves us spinning in the end
Oh, but it dawned on me
At four o'clock this morning
That through all the waiting
You're just now arriving
The life you're living
Is just now beginning
So move it on, move it on, move it on
It's very hard to sit and watch you now
It's very hard to know you're on your own
It's very hard to move through unfamiliar
Worlds I've never known
It's not enough to make some sense of it
It's not enough to even comprehend
It's not about the life we've left behind
Or the life that leaves us spinning in the end
If you could look into your eyes like I do
I'd love to take you down toward the river
When you are dry
And if you have a little time
I'll spend the next lifetime by your side
I've learned to understand there's more
To this world than
The morning and the sky
It's very hard to sit and watch you now
It's very hard to know you're on your own
It's very hard to move through unfamiliar
Worlds I've never known
It's not enough to make some sense of it
It's not enough to even comprehend
It's not about the life we've left behind
Or the life that leaves us spinning in the end
If I could see you through the night
If I could help you see yourself like I do
I'd find a way to lift your courage higher
Like you lift mine
And I'd have something more to say
Then what I've said a thousand other times
I'd tell you there's a new train running
And the balance keeps us both alive
It's very hard to sit and watch you now
It's very hard to know you're on your own
It's very hard to move through unfamiliar
Worlds I've never known
It's not enough to make some sense of it
It's not enough to even comprehend
It's not about the life we've left behind
Or the life that leaves us spinning in the end
Oh, but it dawned on me
At four o'clock this morning
That through all the waiting
You're just now arriving
The life you're living
Is just now beginning
So move it on, move it on, move it on
It's very hard to sit and watch you now
It's very hard to know you're on your own
It's very hard to move through unfamiliar
Worlds I've never known
It's not enough to make some sense of it
It's not enough to even comprehend
It's not about the life we've left behind
Or the life that leaves us spinning in the end
Lyrics submitted by pnkseashel
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I’m never completely sure what a GEG song means, but with their sound, I can’t bring myself to care too much. Just for fun, though, I’ll venture some guesses. I may be reading in more specifics than what’s really there…
I hear this as a woman singing to her boyfriend. She’s the ambitious type, all about making the most of every day and aiming for the highest goal (“the morning and the sky”). She sees a lot of potential in him, but he’s more relaxed about things, and she sees his career stagnating. Her constant pushing and dissatisfaction have undermined his confidence and alienated him. He has pulled away emotionally, telling her she needs to back off and let him run his own life. She finds it difficult not to interfere, but she does as he asks. Being separated from him, she begins to feel lonely and realize how much joy he brought into her life. She sees that she doesn’t need him to be just like her, and that their different styles complement one another (“the balance keeps us both alive”). This song is her telling him what she’s realized, and asking him to come back to her (“I’ll spend the next lifetime by your side”).
I can also see this from a more spiritual angle, which GEG seems to be fond of. It could be sung by somebody who’s recently died. She finds herself in an afterlife with many new dimensions (“unfamiliar worlds I’ve never known”), but still feels tied to the material world (“the life we’ve left behind”) and worries about how the ones she loves, perhaps her children, are getting on without her. With difficulty she learns to let go, content to sit back and watch them come into their own.
As a parent, this song is definitely about letting go when your child is moving into their own new world, but feeling that you want them to know that you will always be right by their side. That you wish you could show them how you see them, that you could fill them with courage. Life is changing, the parent says, but I know realize it's not about the life we are losing, or about how life will always "leave us spinning" - it's about recognizing, both parent and child, that this new world is the child's own, and it is about them moving on into it and claiming it for their own.