"Golden Hours" as written by and Brian Eno....
The passage of time
Is flicking dimly up on the screen
I can't see the lines
I used to think i could read between
Perhaps my brains have turned to san
Oh me oh my
I think it's been an eternity
You'd be surprised
At my degree of uncertainty
How can moments go so slow.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Perhaps my brains are old and scrambled.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Changing water into wine.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Putting the grapes back on the vine.
(simultaneously with the last two verses, another voice sings another melody with different words, as follows:)
Who would believe what a poor set of eyes can show you
Who would believe what an innocent voice could do
Never a silence always a face at the door.
Who would believe what a poor set of ears can tell you
Who would believe what a weak pair of hands can do
Never a silence always a foot in the door.
Is flicking dimly up on the screen
I can't see the lines
I used to think i could read between
Perhaps my brains have turned to san
Oh me oh my
I think it's been an eternity
You'd be surprised
At my degree of uncertainty
How can moments go so slow.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Perhaps my brains are old and scrambled.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Changing water into wine.
Several times
I've seen the evening slide away
Watching the signs
Taking over from the fading day
Putting the grapes back on the vine.
(simultaneously with the last two verses, another voice sings another melody with different words, as follows:)
Who would believe what a poor set of eyes can show you
Who would believe what an innocent voice could do
Never a silence always a face at the door.
Who would believe what a poor set of ears can tell you
Who would believe what a weak pair of hands can do
Never a silence always a foot in the door.
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!
To me, this song always seemed to be about someone sitting in front of a TV, growing old and decaying, while useless miracles are performed on screen (Water to wine, saving grapes from being plucked) which are of no help at all. I'm sure it wasn't the intention of the song at all, but that's what I picture.
Several lines make me think this. For instance, "Turning water into wine". Watching water, a clear substance take on a golden hue, much like the air does during "the golden hour" before sunset.
"Watching the signs taking over from the fading day" or watching illuminated signs illuminate during the fading day, and as the sun goes down, those signs illuminate more of their surroundings than the sun does.
Someone can be outside, watching the sun begin to set during this time, watching the hues change to a warmer color, then colder into dark, it can make you think of the slow decline of life from adulthood, to middle age, old age, and death.
the "spasmodic percussion" on this one sounds possibly a bit typewriteresque, so maybe the song is about writing?
but Golden Hours is a reference to Golden Showers, a strange sexual thing involving urination. Which Eno seems to have quite a thing about (eg. Here Come The Warm Jets)
so really I'm not very sure, but it seems to be about time spent doing something good.
or something
it's maybe my favourite song
It's hard to put into words, like so many of Eno's lyrics are. Interestingly, he said of writing the lyrics for Another Day On Earth (much later of course, but it seems to be present in many of his songs): "What I think lyrics have to do is engage a certain part of your brain in a sort of search activity so your brain wants to say, 'Here are some provocative clues as to what this song might be about'."
I don't have the effort in me to find the links, but they are all over Eno's Wikipedia entry.
instead I offer this little factlet on the title of this song: I've heard "golden hours" used in photography, to refer to the hour just after dawn and just before sunrise, referring to the beautiful colour that light takes on at those times. Seems like a candidate for where Eno got the phrase from, even if it doesn't mean anything special.
While I'm here, I might as well also recommend Ida's beautiful cover of this song.
The song is also about how time can appear to slow down, and strangely contrasting our inability to control time's passing.
Eno did attend some sort of catholic school (check wikipedia), why wouldn't he write some beautiful abstract landscape for Jesus?
In any case, I find this to be one of his most delicate, both emotional and meditative songs.
any thoughts?