Little flightless metal birds
High above in limbless tree
Ring out into the atmosphere
Creating beauty inadvertently

It was a technological feat

This little bird

Wading through the market's waste
We locked eyes felt our lonliness abate
True desire showed its face, but only momentarily

Grey cascades in foreign waves
Wash the day away

I bought you from the dying woods of Brazil
This little bird
While the kids burned down the greenhouse pushed the
Charred frame into the landfill
Put his beak to the world
We bought new bodies we bought diamond encrusted guns
So who the hell are you?
Making out so high in the backseat of a car-bomb under carcinogenic sun

Grey cascades in foreign waves
Wash the day away
Grey cascades in foreign waves

We did believe in magic we did believe
We let our souls act as canaries
Our hearts gilded cages be

Watched a million dimming lanterns float out to sea
Lay your malady at the mouth of the death machine

Aeroplane odabo
Ba mi ki won lo Odabo
Eko meji, o yo mi
O yo mi
O yo mi

Grey cascades in foreign waves
Wash the day away
Grey cascades in foreign waves


Lyrics submitted by prayingmantis84

Wash the Day Lyrics as written by David Sitek Babatunde O Adebimpe

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Wash the Day song meanings
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    General Comment

    This song is, to put it simply, about our species-wide loss of innocence.

    When Adebimpe sings that the "kids burned down the greenhouse" he is talking about our willingness to strip-mine not only "the dying woods of Brazil," but our whole identity as living, breathing creatures who depend upon this Earth for survival. We now care more about "new bodies" and "diamond encrusted guns" than we do about the well-being of our fellow man, and the myriad lifeforms that made all of this possible.

    One day we will realize that we've hit a wall, that we've taken more in our time than nature has been able to give. It is a troubling issue, and Wash the Day is a worthy attempt by a few concerned citizens to voice their opinions in the best way they know how.

    espanyson January 29, 2007   Link

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