We are jigsaw pieces aligned on the perimeter
edge
Interlocked through a missing piece
We are renaissance children becalmed beneath the Bridge of Sighs
Forever throwing firebrands at the stonework
We are Siamese children related by the heart
Bleeding from the surgery of initial confrontation
Holding the word scalpels on trembling lips
Stand straight, look me in the eye and say goodbye
Stand straight, we've drifted past the point of reasons why
Yesterday starts tomorrow, tomorrow starts today
And the problem always seems to be we're picking up the pieces on the ricochet
Drowning tequila sunsets, stowaways on midnight ships
Refugees of romance plead asylum from the real
Scrambling distress signals on random frequencies
Forever repatriated on guilt laden morning planes
We are pilots of passion sweating the flight on course
To another summit conference, another breakfast time divorce
Screaming out a ceasefire, snow-blind in an avalanche zone
Stand straight, look me in the eye and say goodbye
Stand straight, we've drifted past the point of reasons why
Yesterday starts tomorrow, tomorrow starts today
And the problem always seems to be we're picking up the pieces on the ricochet
Are we trigger happy?
Russian roulette in the waiting room
Empty chambers embracing the end
Puzzled visions haunt the ripples of a trevi moon
Dream coins for the fountain or to cover your eyes
We reached ignition point from the sparks of pleasantries
We sensed the smoke advancing from horizons
You must have known that I was concealing an escape
Stand straight, look me in the eye and say goodbye, say goodbye
Stand straight, we've drifted past the point of reasons why
Yesterday starts tomorrow, tomorrow starts today, starts today
And the problem always seems to be we're picking up the pieces
On the ricochet, this is the ricochet.
edge
Interlocked through a missing piece
We are renaissance children becalmed beneath the Bridge of Sighs
Forever throwing firebrands at the stonework
We are Siamese children related by the heart
Bleeding from the surgery of initial confrontation
Holding the word scalpels on trembling lips
Stand straight, look me in the eye and say goodbye
Stand straight, we've drifted past the point of reasons why
Yesterday starts tomorrow, tomorrow starts today
And the problem always seems to be we're picking up the pieces on the ricochet
Refugees of romance plead asylum from the real
Scrambling distress signals on random frequencies
Forever repatriated on guilt laden morning planes
We are pilots of passion sweating the flight on course
To another summit conference, another breakfast time divorce
Screaming out a ceasefire, snow-blind in an avalanche zone
Stand straight, we've drifted past the point of reasons why
Yesterday starts tomorrow, tomorrow starts today
And the problem always seems to be we're picking up the pieces on the ricochet
Russian roulette in the waiting room
Empty chambers embracing the end
Puzzled visions haunt the ripples of a trevi moon
Dream coins for the fountain or to cover your eyes
We reached ignition point from the sparks of pleasantries
We sensed the smoke advancing from horizons
You must have known that I was concealing an escape
Stand straight, we've drifted past the point of reasons why
Yesterday starts tomorrow, tomorrow starts today, starts today
And the problem always seems to be we're picking up the pieces
On the ricochet, this is the ricochet.
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Great song. Powerful vocals and a blistering Guitar Solo from Steve Rothery.
Just read on https://marillionations.blogspot.com/1984/03/jigsaw.html
Fish said: "When you watch kids doing jigsaws, they'll always take the eye of the koala bear or whatever and sit on it, just for the dominating factor of putting the last bit in. You get to the point where you lie about the last piece, you deny that you've got it. The other person is aware that you're lying and they hold back four or five pieces so that you can't put in the last piece. Eventually you tear up the jigsaw and say ' We'll do it another day'. That can grow into relationships - where no matter how important that piece is to the other person or the relationship. In general, the song is about the relationship that splits up and forever comes together again. It gets worse because each time it comes back together, more pieces of the jigsaw have got lost, and you can't get them back."
'Bridge of Sighs' Brewer’s: "Over the bridge, which connects the Doge's palace with the state prisons of Venice, prisoners were conveyed from the judgement hall to the place of execution. The passageway which used to connect the Tombs prison in New York with the criminal court was so dubbed for similar reasons. The bridge over the Cam at St John's College, Cambridge, which resembles the Venetian original is know by the same name. Waterloo Bridge, London was also called the Bridge of Sighs when suicides were frequent there."
'Trevi Moon...Cover your eyes'
Throwing a coin over the left shoulder into Rome's Trevi fountain is supposed to ensure that you return one day. Coins were placed over the eyes of the dead. This is related to the idea of giving the deceased the means of paying Charon the boatman to punt you across the river Styx to Elysium.
There's a strong Pink Floyd influence both to Marillion music and to Fish lyrics, just like "Siamese children related by the heart", e.g. "We sensed the smoke advancing from horizons" seems to reference Comfortably Numb's "A distant ship smoke on the horizon".
I always like the juxposition of battle metaphors with a relationship falling apart