In Metal

it's about a mother not wanting her infant to grow or change. the song has a beautiful combination of both sadness and joy. i love when it picks up near the end.

no, the "in metal" reference is to the old tradition of taking the shoes a child took their first step in and bronzing them for posterity.

ive always thought it was about alan and mimi's daughter. it was written just after her birth i believe.

definitely about the birth of their child, and the ultra-sound image projected onto the screen because fo the metal machine and TV sceen.

hence the filling of holes wit hsounds and the picture where it began (womb), etc...

Noonday, it's both what you're saying and what kookycat is saying. Both of those references are very clear and equally prominent. There's nothing difficult about this song. It's about love for an infant and also in a more subtle manner, about fear of aging.

Nothing vague about it. When it came out (when I was single), I thought it was just a beautiful song. Now that I have three kids, including a baby, I get weepy every time I hear "wish I could keep your little body in metal". It goes by so fast.

I remember on Closer two tracks prior to this, the words "Things we Lost in the Fire" comes up. The album title of course, but I think that this song is placed at the end as something that wouldn't be desired to be lost in the fire. The reason the narrator of this song wishes she could keep her baby in metal so the child doesn't lose their innocence, their childhood in the Fire like all the things narrator has lost. Metal doesn't burn in fire (unless it is very hot), which is why preserving the child in metal would keep all the joy that the child gives the narrator from being lost in the Fire.

Just discovered this album a few days ago, and while it is very soft, it is very beautiful. Still trying to figure out what the Fire is though.

i think its about a birth? maybe?