The brown and orange sky holds its breath
As the sun retreats to the distant horizon,
And our hearts palpitate anxiously as we soon will lay supine,
And wait for sleep to overcome us

And from somewhere in our black,
Subconscious minds when we're asleep,
Comes a haunting swelling mass of voices,
Resonating, its screams of forgotten victims and the cries of innocence,
And the desperate plea for recognition and recompense

Tiny voices, echoes of our heritage,
Our long and sallow faces turn the other way,
Tiny voices, harbored deep within
As we outwardly deny that they have something to say,
And if we don't confront them they will never go away

The billions of tiny pinhole embers fade into a morning sky
Filled with poignant morose wonder,
Waking a bear a cosmetic peace that verifies the turmoil
Which we carry deep inside


Lyrics submitted by punk_in_drublic99

Tiny Voices Lyrics as written by Greg Graffin

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Tiny Voices song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

9 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think this is one of the best crafted songs ever. the way he sings it, the great use of vocabulary. its just incredible. The song is about dreams. Most people (myself included) just wake up in the morning and brush them off. "man what a fucked up dream", stuff like that. This song though brings up the belief that dreams will tell us things about ourself that we may not even know. Its suggesting that great subconscious relief and inner peace could be achievede by confronting our dreams and most inner thoughts. again, very good song, i wish i could write half as good as this.

    eigthon August 02, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I see the song as being more about the thousands of people that perished in the past, in hunger, trenches, disease or other misery.

    "it screams of forgotten victims and their cries of innocence, and their desperate plea for recognition and recompense "

    The ghosts of the past which we shouldnt forget in this day

    weaselfierceon August 05, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I don't know what it means, it is a great song though....both ideas make sense.

    Madcappunkon March 29, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Excellent song. Greg did a great job showing that his prose is just as powerful as his poetry. I believe the main idea of "dreams" is supposed to be taken both literally and as a symbol for "the past" and how we tend to ignore it.

    by the way, it's "Waking, we bear a cosmetic peace that..."

    hooloovooon May 31, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    There is no words that can describe how good this song is. This song is about ghosts, the tiny voices in graveyards, the echoes of our heritage

    Krilleon January 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I don't see this so much referring to the people of the past as to our own pasts. The little things you won't admit to in waking hours. Not paying heed to what your mother told you etc.

    jrrainbowon February 25, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    you all are right exept for the guy before me.

    yea this song implicitly portrays our deep deep subconsiousness... like... the deepest

    you can possibly go into subconsciousness.

    it made me think of it like this. imagine time. whatever ;your doing at this moment; reading this emailing whatever; just think about all the past people who have lived and died. Jesus; napoleaon, Hitler, Ben Franklin;

    its a portrayal of connection. empathy... becuase all those greats, the insignificant, the famous, the poor the wealthy... everyone ... has all seen their outside world through two eyes just as you are now... yes.. right now... ben franklin was your age at one time.. sitting somewhere thinking about things externally through two eyes just as you are now..

    and whoever said Ghost's ; that was very well put

    "the billions of tiny pinhole embers fade into a morning sky" that might be my favorite metaphor ever. although its pretentious and relatively overlooked..

    all of our lives and doings in our own windows(vision) -unless yur blind literally- its all just as if burning embers that will all burn out and synthesize together and fade away... into the morning sky

    the morning sky that the newborn person see's...until he dies... that part also could be about waking up, but still same concept... this song doesnt get enough credit simply because people are straight up 'not willing to attempt to think that deep

    now thats thinking deep! : - )

    pinkfadeon April 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I've always imagined it being about dreams. I've always had dream issues. I've had really fucked up dreams and nightmares and hallucinations that confuse the hell out of me and I think you need to understand why you get them in order to make them stop. Curse that damn subconscious...

    DJgifon June 10, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I've heard that Greg said that this song was inspired by War in Bosnia...

    This makes sense to me. In this song, all the forgotten victims of wars, ethnic purges, concentration camps etc. return to communicate the message about their death. And then won't go away until we "confront them" - that is, acknowledge them and take a lesson from the history.

    Nazgul02on June 21, 2010   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
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
Mountain Song
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."
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.