You gonna look fine
Be primed for dancing
You're gonna trip and glide
All on the trembling plane
Your diamond hands
Will be stacked with roses
And wind and cars
And people of the past

I'll call you thing
Just when the moon sings
And place your face in stone
Upon the hill of stars
And gripped in the arms
Of the changeless madman
We'll dance our lives away
In the ballrooms of Mars

You talk about day
I'm talking 'bout night time
When the monsters call out
The names of men
Bob Dylan knows
And I bet Alan Freed did
There are things in night
That are better not to behold

You dance
With your lizard leather boots on
And pull the strings
That change the faces of men
You diamond browed hag
You're a glitter-gaunt gangster
John Lennon knows your name
And I've seen his

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Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by thedjb

Ballrooms of Mars Lyrics as written by Marc Bolan

Lyrics © Spirit Music Group

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Ballrooms Of Mars song meanings

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18 Comments

+4
General Comment
If you think this song is meaningless you are very shallow. It's easy to find out from any ammount of research that Marc Bolan was obsessed with fantasy and he used fantasy terms to illustrate meanings in songs. When you take all of the space references out it's a song about someone that he either has or had a strong emotional attachment to. That one sour cord he plays every other verse and the dark imagery leads me to believe something bad happened to this person, or his relationship with this person. Thus they are no longer "on earth" or in his reality, This is why he would have to meet them on mars. The beginning of the song is set up to show that it is something that he is dreaming about. "You're gonna look fine." phrases like this show that it hasn't happened yet. It's something that he is dreaming up or that he wishes would happen. The fact that he says "John Lennon knows your name" leads me to believe she might be some groupie he liked who has some type of standing in the music industry. This could just be a bias of mine since Marc Bolan dated syd barret's ex girlfriend. Hope you guys enjoy my interpretation. :)

If you think this song is meaningless you are very shallow. It's easy to find out from any ammount of research that Marc Bolan was obsessed with fantasy and he used fantasy terms to illustrate meanings in songs. When you take all of the space references out it's a song about someone that he either has or had a strong emotional attachment to. That one sour cord he plays every other verse and the dark imagery leads me to believe something bad happened to this person, or his relationship with this person. Thus they are no longer "on earth" or in his reality, This is why he would have to meet them on mars. The beginning of the song is set up to show that it is something that he is dreaming about. "You're gonna look fine." phrases like this show that it hasn't happened yet. It's something that he is dreaming up or that he wishes would happen. The fact that he says "John Lennon knows your name" leads me to believe she might be some groupie he liked who has some type of standing in the music industry. This could just be a bias of mine since Marc Bolan dated syd barret's ex girlfriend. Hope you guys enjoy my interpretation. :)

Reason:

spojmonkeyon January 22, 2009 Link
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@spojmonkey
+2
General Comment
One of my faves, too, Child Star. T Rex was brilliant not in spite of, but because of, such enigmatic lyrics. One of the best bands ever!! Wonder why someone would even bother to post about lyrics he hates? Eeyore may not be quite retarded, but he probably has an IQ of, oh maybe 90.

One of my faves, too, Child Star. T Rex was brilliant not in spite of, but because of, such enigmatic lyrics. One of the best bands ever!! Wonder why someone would even bother to post about lyrics he hates? Eeyore may not be quite retarded, but he probably has an IQ of, oh maybe 90.

Reason:

Thor the Almightyon January 11, 2006 Link
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@Thor the Almighty
+2
General Comment
Uhm,, eeyore. If this song is so simple to write, why don't you write one yourself and earn millions of dollars? Yeah, I thought so. So shut up. I think these lyrics don't really mean anything, just describing a dream or something. It's pure poetry.

Uhm,, eeyore. If this song is so simple to write, why don't you write one yourself and earn millions of dollars? Yeah, I thought so. So shut up. I think these lyrics don't really mean anything, just describing a dream or something. It's pure poetry.

Reason:

Lady Starduston April 08, 2007 Link
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@Lady Stardust
+2
General Comment
spot on, Lady Stardust. People go on and on about how Marc Bolan's lyrics make no sense BUT THEY ARE POETRY. A lot of the time it's just about the sound the words make together with the music. I suppose some people just have no soul....

spot on, Lady Stardust. People go on and on about how Marc Bolan's lyrics make no sense BUT THEY ARE POETRY. A lot of the time it's just about the sound the words make together with the music. I suppose some people just have no soul....

Reason:

RabbitFighteron November 06, 2007 Link
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@RabbitFighter
+1
General Comment
and you're a loser. great song, actually.

and you're a loser. great song, actually.

Reason:

knate15on June 21, 2004 Link
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@knate15
+1
General Comment
Thanks spojmonkey. Nice interpretation. Beautiful mysterious song. Like the best of Bolans songs it works just below the conscious. I think it's about the influence of his musical heroes. He works in haunting images of cars and escaping into the night. His songs foretell his own tragic end.

Thanks spojmonkey. Nice interpretation. Beautiful mysterious song. Like the best of Bolans songs it works just below the conscious. I think it's about the influence of his musical heroes. He works in haunting images of cars and escaping into the night. His songs foretell his own tragic end.

Reason:

honeycombon January 26, 2010 Link
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@honeycomb
+1
General Comment
One of the best ever, Would like this at my funeral ( in many years time) Bolan classic

One of the best ever, Would like this at my funeral ( in many years time) Bolan classic

Reason:

leigh11629on June 06, 2020 Link
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@leigh11629
0
General Comment
yeah eeyore this song is actually a amazing song its one of my personal favorites by t. rex. they are my favorite band of all time.

yeah eeyore this song is actually a amazing song its one of my personal favorites by t. rex. they are my favorite band of all time.

Reason:

Child-Staron August 25, 2005 Link
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@Child-Star
0
General Comment
I will admit that I have never heard of T. Rex before in my life, but I heard this song on the School of Rock soundtrack and loved it for some reason. I intend to look at their other stuff. I like the music and the singer's voice and although I don't really know what they're about, I like the lyrics. But isn't the one line: Your diamond brown hair instead of whatever the hell it says above? I guess what I think doesn't make much sense, but neither does the line in the lyrics above.

I will admit that I have never heard of T. Rex before in my life, but I heard this song on the School of Rock soundtrack and loved it for some reason. I intend to look at their other stuff. I like the music and the singer's voice and although I don't really know what they're about, I like the lyrics. But isn't the one line: Your diamond brown hair instead of whatever the hell it says above? I guess what I think doesn't make much sense, but neither does the line in the lyrics above.

Reason:

devilslittlesisteron August 16, 2006 Link
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@devilslittlesister
0
General Comment
My favourite t-rex song. Not sure what it is about but absolutely adore it

My favourite t-rex song. Not sure what it is about but absolutely adore it

Reason:

ziggy77on August 18, 2007 Link
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@ziggy77