7 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
Mystery Lyrics
(handed down and made by hand)
Each time you pulled down the driveway, I wasn't sure when I would see you again
Yours was a twisted blind-sided highway, no matter which road you took then
Oh you set up your place in my thoughts, moved in and made my thinking crowded
Now we're out in the back with the barking dogs, my heart the red sun, your heart the moon clouded
I could go crazy on a night like tonight, when summer's beginning to give up her fight
and every thought's a possibility and the voices are heard, but nothing is seen
why do you spend this time with me, maybe an equal mystery.
So what is love then, is it dictated or chosen?
(handed down and made by hand)
Does it sing like the hymns of a thousand years, or is it just pop emotion?
(handed down and made by hand)
And if it ever was there and it left, does it mean it was never true? And to exist it must elude, is that why I think these things of you?
I could go crazy on a night like tonight, when summer's beginning to give up her fight
and every thought's a possibility and the voices are heard, but nothing is seen
why do you spend this time with me, maybe an equal mystery
But you like the taste of danger, it shines like sugar on your lips
You like to stand in the line of fire, just to show you can shoot straight from your hip
There must be a thousand things you would die for, I can hardly think of two
But not everything is better spoken aloud, not when I'm talking to you.
Oh the pirate gets the ship and the girl tonight, breaks a bottle to christen her, and basking in the exploits of her thief, she's a very good listener
Maybe that's all that we need is to meet in the middle of impossibility, standing at opposite poles, equal partners in a mystery
(handed down and made by hand)
Standing at opposite poles, equal partners in a mystery.
how could no one have commented on this song? this is by far my favorite indigo girls song. to me, it's about second guessing your love for somebody because you are just so different. it's such a strange dichotomy because it's the differences that keep you together, and also the differences that drive you apart. the singer seems to decide she'll let her lover stick around for a while "to meet in the middle of impossibility" unfortunately, in my own life, it didn't end that way
what yeahyouknowme said!!!!
God, I love this song... Why do you spend this time with me... Great stuff
This song reminds me of my best friend and me, because we started at opposite poles and ended up with an impossible bond. The line about love being "dictated or chosen" is the kind of thing he and I could work up into an utterly tasteless private joke...arrrgh, I miss him now that we live a continent apart. :-(
Ah, the whole part after "So what is love then", favorite lines of theirs, ever. Ever ever ever everrrrr
i think that handed down or made by hand means either taking how you were raised to heart or growing into your own thing. or not even youthful, maybe its like, having a relationship dictate your life...
First off, the lyrics printed above are INcorrect! Instead of "(handed down and made by hand)" it should be "handed down OR made by hand" Someone needs to correct this since it changes the meaning of the song.
In any case, here is my take on "Mystery" No doubt this is my favorite song by the Indigo Girls. The crux of the song poses the million dollar question about love: is love predestined or is it determined by our own doings?
So what is love then is it dictated or chosen (Handed down or made by hand) Does it sing like the hymns of 1000 years Or is it just pop emotion (Handed down or made by hand)
I read on the internet back in the 90's a different interpretation that was just as insightful. In their interpretation, it was about whether or not homosexuality was inherited or determined after birth.
The song ends with the most bittersweet yet profound insight of all. For anyone who has been in a marriage or relationship, we often wonder how things work:
"We're standing at opposite poles Equal partners in a mystery"