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There are many different opinions and views on this song. Some people think it’s about two paths, one to heaven and one to hell. Others think it is a bout a “perfect drug” which I don’t believe. Some even think that it is about life, and the mysteries surrounding it. I personally believe it is about a dieing woman dreaming of heaven. She is looking back on her life and realizing the consequences of the choices and decisions she has made for herself. “There’s a lady who’s sure, all that glitters is gold” The woman is sure everything is perfect in heaven. “And she’s buying a stairway to heaven” She wants to go to heaven when she dies, “When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed” But, if the door to heaven (the stores) is closed, she knows she has chosen the wrong path on life. “With a word she can get what she came for” She knows that with a word (the bible, Christianity) she can get the door open. “There’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure, ‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings” The sign on the wall says Heaven, but she wants to be sure she’s making the right choice because it might mean something different. “In a tree, by the brook, there’s a songbird who sings” The songbird represents peace and happiness, “Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven” The songbird could mean something other than when she wants it to, or thinks it means. “There’s a feeling I get, when I look to the west” The two roads lead east and west, and she gets a certain feeling when he looks west, “And my spirit is crying for leaving” The feeling is for her to leave it, go the other way. “In my thoughts I have seen, rings of smoke through the trees” In her thoughts, she has seen obstacles in the path she has chosen, the east, rings of smoke being the obstacles. “And the voices of those who stand looking” The people who have chosen the path before her. “And it’s whispered that soon, if we all call the tune, Then the piper will lead us to reason” The people looking are whispering to her, if you call the tune (the word of God) The piper (God) will lead her to reason (heaven). “And a new day will dawn, for those who stand long” For those who have chosen that same path as the woman, they will be accepted into heaven after they have stood in the forests along the path long enough. “And the forests will echo with laughter” The forests, the place with all those standing, will be celebrating because they made it into heaven. “Yes there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on” No matter what path she has chosen, there is still time to accept God and get on the right path. “Your head is humming and it won’t go, incase you don’t know” Something is playing in her head, and it won’t go away, “The pipers calling you to join him” God is calling her to heaven. “Dear lady can you hear the wind blow, and did you know” The wind is heaven, “Your stairway lies on the whispering wind” If she follows the whispers of the wind (Christianity), she will ultimately get into heaven. “And as we wind on down the road” The song now is referring to you, as you walk down the road, “Our shadows taller then our souls” The sun is setting behind you, because you have been walking for so long. “There walks a lady we all know” The lady in the beginning of the song, “Who shines white light and wants to show” She is shinning, symbolizing the glory of heaven, and she is trying to show us something. “How everything still turns to gold” She is trying to show us how everything is still perfect in heaven. “And if you listen very hard, the tune will come to you at last” If you have chosen the right path in life, and you try very hard to keep on that path, the tune of the piper (God) will come to you, and you will be accepted into heaven as well. “When all are one and one is all” When everything comes down to one choice, “To be a rock and not roll” It’s impossible to be a human and not choose a path, it all depends on what path you choose. “And she’s buying a stairway, to heaven” She has made it into heaven. This song is a big metaphor, it’s the writers view of what happens when you die, the choices you are presented with in life, and how you are going to go about living it. |
