I want to tell you a story
About a little man
If I can
A gnome named Grimble Crumble
And little gnomes stay in their homes
Eating, sleeping, drinking their wine
He wore a scarlet tunic
A blue green hood
It looked quite good
He had a big adventure
Amidst the grass
Fresh air at last
Wining, dining, biding his time
And then one day, hooray!
Another way for gnomes to say
Ooomray
Look at the sky, look at the river
Isn't it good?
Look at the sky, look at the river
Isn't it good?
Winding, finding places to go
And then one day, hooray!
Another way for gnomes to say
Ooomray
Ooomray
About a little man
If I can
A gnome named Grimble Crumble
And little gnomes stay in their homes
Eating, sleeping, drinking their wine
He wore a scarlet tunic
A blue green hood
It looked quite good
He had a big adventure
Amidst the grass
Fresh air at last
Wining, dining, biding his time
And then one day, hooray!
Another way for gnomes to say
Ooomray
Look at the sky, look at the river
Isn't it good?
Look at the sky, look at the river
Isn't it good?
Winding, finding places to go
And then one day, hooray!
Another way for gnomes to say
Ooomray
Ooomray
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by ajlholt
The Gnome Lyrics as written by Syd Barrett
Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"Look as the sky. Look at the river. Isn't it gooooood?"
it gives me shivers. The good kind of shivers.
It's easy to see when you acknowledge that it is a story that progresses through the seperate verses.
The Gnome is absolute and without limits, so he is discontent in the world because the world doesn't belong to him, to be outside would mean compromising which is limitation & surrender - not good. So in the first verse he stays in doors keeping himself content with wine etc and he ignores the world by shutting it out. He lives in his world that he controls.
In the second verse he discovers Pot and he can finally go outside (a bit) and be easy going and ignore stuff close up. But then, one day... he discovers LSD (King of Dopamine) and he's more than outside, he's free. He doesn't have to ignore stuff because it all exists in his world that he has created - his trip.
The sky is generally God or death, and the river is his life, going down by the route of least resistance, see through and formless in itself it still cuts a deep groove that it owns and it is still a beautiful & powerful force of nature. The Gnome is about taking control & escaping the limitation of reality & other people - liberation through self destruction. And as well, it's a song about a Gnome.
Anyone thinking it has some connection to Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit, there is no doubt that this very closely resembles the Hobbit, but I think, if anything, it is a loose reference to it.
Anyway, it's a great song.