I buckle in my seat belt, and plug my headset in a chair
And to the music, I watch flight attendants move
They are pointing out the exits, but it looks more like a prayer
Or an ancient dance their bloodline reaches through

These planes are good for sifting through the warriors from the men
I get time to sit and watch them for a while
You can see everywhere they're going, and everywhere they've been
And how they look out at the clouds each time they smile

And I think, maybe he's in town for someone's birthday
Or maybe he makes trouble everywhere
But as much as he resists the conversation between the rivers and the freeways
He knows it's always there

As the northwest passage sits somewhere below me as I sleep
I dream of captains and explorers eating boots
When I ask if I can join them and they offer one to me
I wake up as my home comes into view

So I reach down for my notebook to see what impressions could be spun
But it's just buildings and a million swimming pools
So I leaf back through the pages to see where I am from
Or for some crumbling map of what it's leading to

And I find that the hero in the song that I am writing
Doesn't know he's just an image of myself
But as much as he resists the conversation between the rivers and the freeways
He's somehow always asking them for help

I want to make out all of the signs I've been ignoring
How the trees reach for the sky or in the length of someone's hair
'Cause when you don't know where you are going
Any road will take you there

So maybe I'm in town for someone's birthday
Or maybe I make trouble everywhere
But as much I resist the conversation between the rivers and the freeways
I know it's always there
I know it's always there
I know it's always there


Lyrics submitted by llscience

From a Window Seat (Rivers and Freeways) Lyrics as written by Taylor Goldsmith

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

From A Window Seat song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

5 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think the song is full of images of the passing of time. Everywhere they're going and everywhere they've been. Sleeping and waking. Dreaming of exploration, but finding it's all been settled. Looking back for your beginnings, looking for the map ahead. Trees growing up, hair growing long. Do you know where you are going? The conversation between the rivers and the freeways is the flow, the relationship, from the past to the present and onward. "He" might not want to think about it, but he knows it's there, time passing, turning us into other images of ourselves.

    laviniacon April 17, 2013   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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.