Say it's alright Joe,
I need another drink
To blow on the glass so I know I'm alive
Play me a song Joe
To fill the hours till morning
Then never again will I bother you
Ooh, Build myself a tower
No way in no way out.
Then my friends can visit me
Once in a while.
Say it's alright Joe,
I need some reassurance
You never know what you might find in the night.
Ooh I'm just a busy bee, still alive in my hive,
I'm looking for some other world
To dream out my dreams.
There were Kings who were laughing in the rain
And they told me I'd come here to lead the parade
All the colours were changing, The sky was in ruins
The lights are all shining on me and on you
Oh, Shine on........
Say it's alright Joe
The night will soon be over
And nothing and no one will ever know.
Open my eyes Joe
I'd like to see the daylight
The clock on the wall says it's time to leave.
Never seen the same face twice
Never walked the same way
The little love that I have known
I keep to myself.
If there's a fire it's asleep in my bed
I must leave it to burn till it burns itself out
Catch as you can I'm not staying here long
I'll be coming back early or never at all
Shine on...
I need another drink
To blow on the glass so I know I'm alive
Play me a song Joe
To fill the hours till morning
Then never again will I bother you
Ooh, Build myself a tower
No way in no way out.
Then my friends can visit me
Once in a while.
Say it's alright Joe,
I need some reassurance
You never know what you might find in the night.
Ooh I'm just a busy bee, still alive in my hive,
I'm looking for some other world
To dream out my dreams.
There were Kings who were laughing in the rain
And they told me I'd come here to lead the parade
All the colours were changing, The sky was in ruins
The lights are all shining on me and on you
Oh, Shine on........
Say it's alright Joe
The night will soon be over
And nothing and no one will ever know.
Open my eyes Joe
I'd like to see the daylight
The clock on the wall says it's time to leave.
Never seen the same face twice
Never walked the same way
The little love that I have known
I keep to myself.
If there's a fire it's asleep in my bed
I must leave it to burn till it burns itself out
Catch as you can I'm not staying here long
I'll be coming back early or never at all
Shine on...
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Say It's Alright Joe Lyrics as written by Mike Rutherford (gb)
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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!
"There were Kings who were laughing in the rain
And they told me I'd come here to lead the parade
All the colours were changing, The sky was in ruins
The lights are all shining on me and on you
Oh, Shine on........"
I'd always thought this section, the first introduction of the part in the song, was almost psychedelic in its imagery and the juxtaposition of tone. The slower parts of the song are obvious intimate moments of vulnerability–a troubled man alone in a bar well after everyone else is gone, confiding in the piano player. But this "kings" section is like a hallucination–perhaps it's a brief flash of hope for him, his mind and dreams getting away from him. But to me it really sounds as if it's a reference to drug abuse to get away from problems–preceded by the lines "I'm looking for some other world / to dream out my dreams," and then by imagery like swirling color and "the sky was in ruins."
The next part like this...
"If there's a fire it's asleep in my bed
I must leave it to burn till it burns itself out
Catch as you can I'm not staying here long
I'll be coming back early or never at all
Shine on........"
I think the "fire" that's "asleep in [his] bed" is indicative the troubles he has at home. The next line communicates his understanding that he has to let things even out on their own, so, as he then says, he's not staying long–he's leaving his troubles behind. "I'll be coming back early or never at all"–he's either got to go face his troubles right now, or just leave them forever and start again.
The first time I listened to this I had no idea it was such a deep and complex song, but now it always sends shivers through me. It's become one of my favorite Genesis songs.
In answer to Melizzie's comment, try lyrics written by Neil Finn (Crowded House) for deep, meaningful and open to interpretation in a way that adds a lot of interest to his songs.
There is the struggle and hope theme running through this album
Not sure if Collins and his wife of then, were breaking up at this point or a little after, but Rutherford wrote this and it could be an imaginative take of his observations of his bandmate??? Perhaps he and Collins had confided and agreed the writing of this?
Duke album 2 years later, was widely believed to be all about Collins marriage break up, so it sort of fits the timeline of my thoughts around this.
Musically a brilliant song, absolutely love the chorus cutting in with his nightmares of being pushed in the deep end. Banks gave many songs real atmospherics with his magic fingers, tops for me was the airy synth sound in the verse section of Blood on the rooftops....just amazing with headphones...like your'e up floating with the stars!
And he liked to have a drink or two or ten. And every lunch time & evening, Sydney would go down to the bar & sit at a stool at the bar. He would listen to Joe who played the piano there.
So this is about Sydney - the pathetic drunk - who listens to Joe playing the piano at some seedy, dark bar somewhere in downtown London....
And he likes to have a drink or two or ten. And every lunch time & evening, Sydney would go down to the bar & sit at a stool at the bar. He would listen to Joe who played the piano there.
So this is about Sydney - the pathetic drunk - who listens to Joe playing the piano at some seedy, dark bar somewhere in downtown London....
I bought this album in college for Follow You, a shallow pop song. Repeated listenings and I saw what great storytellers these guys were.
The song reminds me of a sad movie Requiem for a Dream, where opiates fool them into thinking everything will be all right when the drug is sealing their doom.