In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
You walk out on the high wire
You're a dancer on thin ice
Pay no heed to the danger
And less to advice
Your footsteps are forbidden
But with a knowledge of your sin
You throw your love to all the strangers
And the caution to the wind
And you go dancing through doorways
Just to see what you will find
Leaving nothing to interfere
With the crazy balance of your mind
And when you finally reappear
At the place where you came in
You've thrown your love to all the strangers
And caution to the wind
It takes love over gold
And mind over matter
To do what you do that you must
When the things that you hold
Can fall and be shattered
Or run through your fingers like dust
You're a dancer on thin ice
Pay no heed to the danger
And less to advice
Your footsteps are forbidden
But with a knowledge of your sin
You throw your love to all the strangers
And the caution to the wind
And you go dancing through doorways
Just to see what you will find
Leaving nothing to interfere
With the crazy balance of your mind
And when you finally reappear
At the place where you came in
You've thrown your love to all the strangers
And caution to the wind
It takes love over gold
And mind over matter
To do what you do that you must
When the things that you hold
Can fall and be shattered
Or run through your fingers like dust
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Judging just from the lyrics, my guess is that the song is probably about performers/entertainers. They don’t risk their lives, but instead risk looking foolish. When he says “you’re a dancer on thin ice” I suspect he is speaking metaphorically and poetically. (In the live version he simply sings “you’re a dancer on ice.”)
Let’s face it, there is a fine line between someone doing something artistic and someone being foolish. It is one thing to go up on stage drunk and sing into a karaoke machine to be silly, but it is quite another to make it your profession.
When he talks about a person who goes “dancing through doorways” I think he’s talking about the kind of person who decides to become a performer. They are not the conservative kind of person who wouldn’t risk looking foolish. What kind of person throws their love to all the strangers? That’s what performers do.
I think the title of the song means that successful performers do it for the love of their craft and certainly not for the money. Because, even if you are successful for a time, it will “run through your fingers like dust” when your work falls out of favor.