Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
both butterflies and dragonflies have wings like when you sing i swear you hit two different notes but they don't harmonize as clean as when you speak there is a rhythm in the scraping of your tongue along your teeth that comes across as well as hell inside of heaven in a feast of flies and anything with wings that tries to sing but where you ripped two different holes, see, they don't cauterize as cleanly as you think and if you listen to the rhythm in your sleep you can hear me, speaking, "you are a wolf to me."
don't believe your ears nor trust your mouth
i think that every feeble doubt-soaked promise of trust
had a mind to leave you out in the rain
with your hands to the train tracks,
pulling the ropes with your teeth but you're too weak
and you're too tired, child,
lay down--i will tear every ghost from your dream
(oh king, you've stepped on the wrong crack)
rejoice! it is beating still
still strong. still thundering onward.
it turns it's palm up, lifts it's voice up, speaks, says,
"i don't know."
he speaks with the speed in the clench of a bear trap,
softly rebuilding the castles he'd kept. says,
"there is grace in a steeple collapsing."
straightens the sheets on the bed where they'd slept
thinking his love was as passive as flowers
planted in a garden of lies in her chest
says, "there is grace in a steeple collapsing"
pointing the calm in his eyes to the west.
to valinor! where love was sent on airplane wings
to shake and be shaken.
still, the flowers open as she passes, and the birds they sing to greet her
though she heaves blood.
though she heaves blood.
though she heaves blood.
though she -
though she -
though she heaves blood!
there is grace in a steeple collapsing!
there is grace in a steeple collapsing!
oh, there is grace in a steeple collapsing!
there is grace in a steeple collapsed.
collapsing!
collapsing!
there is grace in a steeple collapsing.
there is grace in a steeple collapsing.
and he said "boy get your things together,
make them wood and make them stone,
and we'll build you a house.
there isn't ever any shelter anymore."
don't believe your ears nor trust your mouth
i think that every feeble doubt-soaked promise of trust
had a mind to leave you out in the rain
with your hands to the train tracks,
pulling the ropes with your teeth but you're too weak
and you're too tired, child,
lay down--i will tear every ghost from your dream
(oh king, you've stepped on the wrong crack)
rejoice! it is beating still
still strong. still thundering onward.
it turns it's palm up, lifts it's voice up, speaks, says,
"i don't know."
he speaks with the speed in the clench of a bear trap,
softly rebuilding the castles he'd kept. says,
"there is grace in a steeple collapsing."
straightens the sheets on the bed where they'd slept
thinking his love was as passive as flowers
planted in a garden of lies in her chest
says, "there is grace in a steeple collapsing"
pointing the calm in his eyes to the west.
to valinor! where love was sent on airplane wings
to shake and be shaken.
still, the flowers open as she passes, and the birds they sing to greet her
though she heaves blood.
though she heaves blood.
though she heaves blood.
though she -
though she -
though she heaves blood!
there is grace in a steeple collapsing!
there is grace in a steeple collapsing!
oh, there is grace in a steeple collapsing!
there is grace in a steeple collapsed.
collapsing!
collapsing!
there is grace in a steeple collapsing.
there is grace in a steeple collapsing.
and he said "boy get your things together,
make them wood and make them stone,
and we'll build you a house.
there isn't ever any shelter anymore."
Lyrics submitted by NotesAndPhotographs
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Valinor, to put it in a simple way, is more or less like a sort of "paradise" to which the Elves are admitted after abandoning the Middle Earth in Tolkien's literature, and it is situated to the west of the Middle Earth.
The line "Still, the flowers open as she passes, and the birds they sing to greet her" is a quotation from the Valaquenta, which is the 2nd chapter of Tolkien's Silmarillion, and there he is writing about Vána, one of the Valar, which are some kind of "angels".