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.
Breathe life to the street from the mouth
Those ruby red lips have much to give
Pull life from the land with your capable hands
Those life loving beautiful broken hands
Oh, I'll stand with you and marvel
At the cosmos pink and bright
All the pages flipping backwards
Til time is gone and wrong is right
Rivers running up the hills and to the sky and down to the sea
Where a merman with a twinkle casts a hook in me
Sing me a salty blue song, I'll be gone
With watery cheeks down flowered lanes
Tattered sails on a ramshackle ship, I'll go pale
Staring straight in the face looming tempest waves
Otherwise I'll wither and die here
On this reach of rubble rambling
With two years filled up with sand, dear
In a broken daze I'll be scrambling
Like rivers running up the hills and to the sky and down to the sea
Where a merman with a twinkle casts a hook in me
Summer sky falling into the sea, taking part of me
See the bones on the sand in the light
All the heards of the sea rushing by, pay no mind
To the dancing reflections gone wild
And at night a fractured star fell
And pierced right through the thick of me
I cried out in pain and joy, yes
I'm not dead, not numb, not withering
Like a falling leaf who keeps her green
I'm turning bright in the sea
Where a merman with a twinkle casts a hook in me
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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such a beautiful song. I'm surprised it has no comments yet.
I agree. I was surprised as well.
Imagery, music, singing all great.
I really like this song. It has such beautiful imagery all throughout the lyrics! A definite beautiful song :D
i adore this song
It's a shame so few people have heard this song, I listen to it every day.
Amazingly beautiful. About growth. And finding love. And losing it. And recovering. And the thought that at anytime you could die. You could lose the spark that makes "you" you. You could give up and sit down and never get up. That's what I get from it, anyways. :S
Very nice version on emusic.com (the only song on there of Laura Veirs to date, in some compilation album). Better than the versions on youtube. There's a moment (at the end of the chorus, on the title line, at about 0:46.5 for the first time) when electric guitar or something with vibrato or reverb plays and it seals the beauty of the song. Less is more. The light touch is exquisite.
Oh yea, meaning. Lots of sea analogies complexly interwoven.
Best line: "pierced right through the thick of me".
I like how the 3rd version of the chorus is completely different. Refreshing change from each rendition of the chorus always being a carbon copy of all the others. Jackson Browne used to do that a lot. This makes it seem as if the writer has much more to say and much more skill saying it.
I think I read on her site that " herds of the sea rushing by" is about whales, and a phrase from Herman Melville's Moby Dick.
Good call, Technophobia, the time running backwards theme is about loss and recovery.
I think it's about the thought of dying at any given moment and living life in the meantime. I think dying is more of a thing to look forward to, as she states by saying "Til time is gone and wrong is right." I think the sea references are referring to drifting offshore and being helpless and ultimately dying in the middle of the ocean.
I like what you're saying about "dying at any given moment and living life in the meantime." but I think what you've said about the sea is maybe taken in too literal of a sense. That's just my opinion, though. Personally, I think everything about the sea symbolizes death cleansing pain.
"And at night a fractured star fell And pierced right through the thick of me I cried out in pain and joy, yes I'm not dead, not numb, not withering"
To me, this line is like death. It has its pain and, of course, it can be terrifying but what happens afterward is a release, a catharsis. There is no longer pain.
It's clearly about death. Maybe the struggle of life, and the beauty of it. But it forebodes death all through the song. "Till time is gone and wrong is right"... "I'll be gone.."..."Otherwise I'll wither and die here"... etc.
It's a really good song on so many levels.
Ok. Wow. I just wrote my idea of what it was about but I listened to the song again while reading the lyrics and I got something even more. I take back my statement about how it's not about dying in the sea. I guess I was trying to be all deep and take a symbolic meaning. Who knows! But here are my thoughts...
"Tattered sails on a ramshakle ship, I'll go pale Staring straight in the face looming tempest waves Otherwise I'll wither and die here On this reach of rubble rambling With two years filled up with sand, dear In a broken daze I'll be scrambling"
This is about how the person isn't going to go out without a fight. They'll stare death (by sea or otherwise) in the face with no fear. And just when they think they're about to die... "in a broken daze" they'll be scrambling because they overcame death. Or something.
Just thoughts...