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.
Oh I was sent to find the lonesome place
Where I was lost but left to trace
By carving riddles on the lonesome vine.
Oh but rumor has it that I wasn't born,
I just walked in one frosty morn.
Into the vision of some vacant mind.
Oh once I held a pony by its flying mane,
And once I called the shadow in the turning game
But I will fight this stranger that you should fear
So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear
Aw Xavier's on the border of the sun
Swings on the chambers of your guns.
And tries to shoot the chord and light the path.
Aw but hell I'm just a blind man on the plains,
I drink my water when it rains,
And live by chance among the lightning strikes.
Oh once I held a glacier to an open flame
And once I felt like wildcat in the fallen game.
But I will fight this stranger that you should fear
So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear.
Oh the singers on the edge to feed the canyons mouth
They will go on forever til they sing you out of time.
But I will fight this stranger that you should fear
So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear.
Where I was lost but left to trace
By carving riddles on the lonesome vine.
Oh but rumor has it that I wasn't born,
I just walked in one frosty morn.
Into the vision of some vacant mind.
Oh once I held a pony by its flying mane,
And once I called the shadow in the turning game
But I will fight this stranger that you should fear
So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear
Aw Xavier's on the border of the sun
Swings on the chambers of your guns.
And tries to shoot the chord and light the path.
Aw but hell I'm just a blind man on the plains,
I drink my water when it rains,
And live by chance among the lightning strikes.
Oh once I held a glacier to an open flame
And once I felt like wildcat in the fallen game.
But I will fight this stranger that you should fear
So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear.
Oh the singers on the edge to feed the canyons mouth
They will go on forever til they sing you out of time.
But I will fight this stranger that you should fear
So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear.
Lyrics submitted by steelpulse, edited by quarrelina, stmarys
Burden of Tomorrow Lyrics as written by Kristian Matsson
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Personally I feel this song is about Mother Earth.
"Oh I was sent to find the lonesome place" is our galaxy and in terms of life the only one with any for billions of miles away (or even at all).
"Oh but rumor has it that I wasn't born I just walked in one frosty morn" Specifically Christians believe that God created the earth and all life that resides on it.
"But I will fight this stranger that you should fear So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear" For me, this is my favorite part of the entire song. I'm not entirely sure who/what will fight the stranger but I feel the stranger is us and we are the burden of tomorrow. We have literally changed the face of the earth. Some of this to me even is a stretch, but for me this is what this song has come to mean for me.
<br /> I feel like this song is just a really awesome riddle. I've been trying to figure it out for a while. I'm not completely sure of the answer, but I can definitely make a guess... Light... or Life?. idk maybe my ideas will help someone figure this out though.<br /> <br /> "Oh I was sent to find the lonesome place" <br /> Light was sent by... [God? the Sun? Stars? take your pick] to find the lonesome place (Earth). Earth is lonesome because before there was light... there was no life.<br /> "Where I was lost but left to trace"<br /> This line is kind of... vague. I feel like it doesn't really deserve much looking into because it could be interpreted in many ways. I just want to point out that tracing is visual.<br /> "By carving riddles on the lonesome vine"<br /> This line makes me think photosynthesis. The vine obviously uses light in the process of photosynthesis, and he's lonely because logically flora came before fauna (though I have to say that plants certainly weren't the first organisms around... possibly the first things on land?). Carving riddles reminds me of the green color of plants. I mean... why do they not use the green light rays in energy production? <br /> <br /> "Oh but rumor has it that I wasn't born/ I just walked in one frosty morn/ Into the vision of some vacant mind"<br /> I feel that if you were to figure out what exactly "he" is, this is one of the biggest and easiest clues to figure out. So from what I can tell mdm9260 was onto something. This most likely has something to do with differing origin stories, e.g., Creationism and The Big Bang Theory. Now I have no idea which one he might even be referring to... it could go either way depending on his reasoning.<br /> <br /> "Oh once I held a pony by its flagging mane/ And once I called the shadow in the turning game/ But I will fight this stranger that you should fear/ So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear"<br /> This verse reminds me of Earth's daily rotation. The first line confused me at first, but then after I tried thinking out of the box a bit(... and really stretched), the pony's flagging mane could be referring to the Greek god Helios who rode a chariot of fire through the sky to bring about the dawn. The second line was much easier to decipher. Light creates the shadow that signifies night in Earth's daily rotation. So... by this logic, light is protecting you from the dark. The last line, I feel, supports this logic as well, but I feel like it's kind of self-explanatory.<br /> <br /> "Aww Xavier's on the border of the sun/ Swings on the chambers of her guns/And tries to shoot the chord and light the path"<br /> I don't know who Xavier is... but this verse just seems to support my theory.<br /> <br /> "Aww but hell I'm just a blind man on the plains/ I drink my water when it rains/ And live by chance among the lightning strikes"<br /> This verse definitely points to the narrator being light. He's a blind man because it's dark when the storm comes, but when the lightning flashes he lives because with the flashes comes light.<br /> <br /> "Oh once I held a glacier to an open flame/ And once I felt like wildcat in the fallen game/ But I will fight this stranger that you should fear/ So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear"<br /> This verse just doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it's just five in the morning, and I can't think of it at the moment though. My only weak attempt at the first line is that the heat from the light of the sun melts glaciers.<br /> <br /> "Oh the singer's on the edge to feed the canyon's mouth<br /> They will go on forever til they sing you out of time<br /> But I will fight this stranger that you should fear<br /> So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear"<br /> I actually can't find anything in this verse to support myself... The singer's voice is echoing forever in the canyon... until time stops... sooooo actually this verse makes me think that this song is about Life. and the stranger is death.<br /> <br /> <br />