Comes a time when you get turned around and
Life itself just wears you out but
You keep getting ready for the big parade

Ah, you shine your shoes and you fake a smile
Salute the players with that famous style
'Cause keeping up has kept you in chains

I was thinking that if you know a way out
Then I'd like to go with you
And we can burn out like candles
Under that paper moon

They just don't know anything at all
They just don't know anything at all

You'll fight traffic jams and big TVs and
Hipsters trapped in their own irony but
You'll finally think about settling down

Oh, you quit your job and you sell your car
You'll burn your clothes and pray to the stars 'cause
You swore to God that you'd never end up this way

I was thinking that if you know a way out
Then I'd like to go with you
And we can burn out like candles
Under that paper moon

They just don't know anything at all
They just don't know anything at all
At all, at all, at all, at all

Comes a time when you get turned around
Life itself just wears you out
You keep getting ready for that big parade


Lyrics submitted by Zurby

Paper Moon Lyrics as written by Raine Maida Duncan Coutts

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Paper Moon song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

8 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love this song, yet haven't quite nailed down the meaning. Perhaps it's something along the lines of wanting to lose yourself...?

    Anyways.

    Kudos to this song, and the phenomenal lyrics:

    Youll fight traffic jams and big TVs, and Hipsters trapped in their own irony, but Youll finally think about settling down Oh you quit your job and you sell your car Youll burn your clothes and pray to the stars, cause You swore to God that you'd never end up this way

    Fallen Leaveson June 25, 2009   Link

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

Album art
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
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.
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
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”
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.