Flying so high, trying to remember
How many cigarettes did I bring along?

When I get down, I'll jump in a taxi cab
Driving through London town
To cry you a song

It's been a long time
I'm still shaking my wings
Well, I'm a glad bird
I got changes to ring

Closing my dream inside this paper bag
Thought I saw angels
But I could've been wrong

Searching my case
Can't find what they're looking for
Waving me through
To cry you a song

It's been a long time
Still shaking my wings
Well I'm a glad bird
I got changes to ring

Lights in the street
Peeping through curtains drawn
Rattling the safety chain taking too long

The smile in your eyes was never so sweet before
Came down from the skies
To cry you a song


Lyrics submitted by knate15

To Cry You a Song Lyrics as written by Ian Anderson

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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To Cry You A Song song meanings
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12 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    Definitely a song about traveling.
    "Flying so high....when I get down I jump in a taxi..." and he is on his way to cry us a song. It sounds like a song about touring, but then in the last verse we find out that he's just going home. "Rattling of safety chain" before his honey opens the door and smiles sweetly at him. Not a touring song....a going home song.

    dan0311on January 06, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    A simple song about a typical 60's or early 70's rocker who is also a bit of a "contrabandista."

    I agree with Dan 0311, in that he has been touring and is coming home to his "sweeiie", in London. He is glad to be hiome. He will serenade her with a song he wrote on his travels; he has missed her and wishes to tell her many things that have passed since they last saw each other.

    There is another theme inside this, however. He has smuggled some marijuana from wherever it is that he was travelling ....some foreign country, perhaps.

    He obviously has also partaken of the marijuana himself, either during the flight or at some time just prior to the flight, and is paranoid at Heathrow when the customs officers are searching his suitcase (or guitar case, perhaps). Luckily they do not find anything because instead of putting the weed in his luggage, he carries it on his person in the clothing he is wearing. (this was back in the days before customs employed "dope-sniffing canines" at the airports, of course - wasn't it great back then!)

    Anyway, he is very glad to be home where he will soon get to smoke some dope, relax, and sing to her - but he is still experiencing some residual paranoia from having evaded police, security personnel, and customs agents, etc. along the way.

    His "sweetie" is expecting him when he finally gets home. He sees her "peeping out the window". (She must know that he is bringing home a stash of weed that they will soon be able to enjoy together....but she watching the street cautiously).

    As he waits at the at the front door, for her to open the door, he is impatient and wants to get inside and off the street ASAP!

    And from the look on her face at the end of the song, it is evident that soon after he has safely arrived, indeed they have enjoyed a smoke or two...LOL!

    -sirdon

    sirdonon December 21, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I had the fortunate of interviewing Ian Anderson for more than an hour (about two years ago). He brought up this song and said that he was naive in using the line "Flying so high". He didn't mean for it to have a drug reference. He stated (quite seriously, without any sense of irony) that he has never smoked dope or used illegal drugs.

    offhandon June 25, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Jack White sould cover this song it would be insane live.

    Ryanb5on October 04, 2008   Link
  • +1
    Lyric Correction

    It's not "Closing my dream inside it's paper-bag".

    It's:

    "Closing my dream inside this paperback"

    The narrative of the song is about a person flying back home. Starts off on a plane, then going through customs, then taking a taxi home and being happy to see his S/O. People used to read paperbacks on planes before we had laptops/iPods/Kindles (:

    jethro1138on August 03, 2010   Link
  • +1
    Lyric Correction

    "Closing my dream inside its paper-bag. "

    should read

    "Closing my dreams inside this paper-back. "

    "Search in my case, "

    should read

    "Searching my case, "

    jethro1138on August 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Like the song, love the album. A real lost classic in the tull catalog.

    I was thinking the song was about drugs more than traveling. .."flying to high" etc. I know Ian Anderson was more of a boozer back then and I believe he was not involved with drugs at all. But that wouldn't necessarily stop him from writing about the subject that most of his listeners were knee deep in.

    "Closing my dreams, inside this paper bag" was always about sniffing glue. A truly degenerate way to get high. The guy in the song almost soinds like Aqualung a few years before he totally crashes out.

    rembutokon May 10, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i interprete these lyrics as a criminal story. safety chain.. search in case. the author was killed.. but in the case there should be something related to one to whom the song was cried..

    pupsik_son January 20, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The songs from Teacher and Stand Up were so brilliant I can't get over them. Just poetry in a memorable song. His intelligence simply SHINES.

    sam1175095on August 22, 2021   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Remembering an old interview, Ian was quite literal in the lyrics. At that time there was a limit on the number of cigarettes you could take on the flight, so he had to make sure he had the correct number. When he travelled, his carry-on was a paper bag and security always scrutinized his stuff because of his appearance i.e. long hair, long beard etc… But of course, Ian never indulged in the things they were profiling him for, so the joke was on them. Ah the rock-n-roll life. No clever metaphors here, just a straight up reflection of a day in the life of Tull!

    Gemlinkon May 17, 2023   Link

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