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.
This part's for my love of old
How the rose in your heart you hold
Still all the water in your wells won't make it grow
Oh, the call of the nightingale
How I love beneath the ghostly sails
We move like gypsies 'neath the mist and beneath the gloom
Oh, how the river flows
Under the ice and snow
The keeper of the flame
The rose captain knows my name
This perfume breath I breathed
For you my dear, my love will never leave
This part's for my love of new
How the bulbs in my heart are true
They send the shoots through my fingers into your bones
Oh, the call of the collared dove
How I long to be your one true love
We'll move like gypsies 'neath the stars and beneath the moon
Oh, how the river flows
Under the ice and snow
The keeper of the flame
The rose captain knows our names
This perfume breath we breathed
For you my dear, my love,
Will never leave
Oh, the rose captain knows, knows our names
Oh, the rose captain knows, he knows our names
How the rose in your heart you hold
Still all the water in your wells won't make it grow
Oh, the call of the nightingale
How I love beneath the ghostly sails
We move like gypsies 'neath the mist and beneath the gloom
Oh, how the river flows
Under the ice and snow
The keeper of the flame
The rose captain knows my name
This perfume breath I breathed
For you my dear, my love will never leave
This part's for my love of new
How the bulbs in my heart are true
They send the shoots through my fingers into your bones
Oh, the call of the collared dove
How I long to be your one true love
We'll move like gypsies 'neath the stars and beneath the moon
Oh, how the river flows
Under the ice and snow
The keeper of the flame
The rose captain knows our names
This perfume breath we breathed
For you my dear, my love,
Will never leave
Oh, the rose captain knows, knows our names
Oh, the rose captain knows, he knows our names
Lyrics submitted by chickenflicker
The Rose Captain Lyrics as written by Alex Brown Church
Lyrics © REACH MUSIC PUBLISHING
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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To me this song is about a past relationship and its about realizing that the person they loved wont love them back but that love will always be there. Its also about a new relationship and the hope for a new true love. But the loves are different and unique.
I think the actual ship is their relationship. The rose is their love. The river that flows under the ice and snow is his love even though she doesnt love him. She is the keeper of the flame and the rose captain is the cupid that knows who loves eachother. Together they deal with the mist and gloom of their relationship.
For the new love, the true bulbs in his heart are the beginnings of new love that give people butterflies. Infatuation, if you will. He hopes this love will be clear and they will "see the stars and moon" and all the beauty of their relationship.
However, he still acknowlegdes his old love. And that love wont ever leave him. Again the rose captain "Cupid" knows of all the people who fall in love and remembers them.
My interpretation.