See-Saw

Don't listen to the douchebags who call this song boring. This is a beautiful little atmospheric piece of English psychedelia, and it's perfect just like it is. I always thought the song was a reflection on the relationship of an older brother and little sister, and how they used to play as children. Eventually the sister grows up and marries, and in a sense the brother is replaced. It's a beautiful gem.

Those lyrics are terribly inaccurate, they are:

Marigolds are very much in love, but he doesn't mind Picking up his sister, he makes his way into the sea saw land All the way she smiles She goes up while he goes down, down Sits on a stick in the river Laughter in his sleep Sister's throwing stones, hoping for a hit He doesn't know so then She goes up while he goes down, down Another time, another day A brother's way to leave Another time, another day She'll be selling plastic flowers on a Sunday afternoon Picking up weeds, she hasn't got the time to care All can see he's not there She grows up for another man, and he's down Another time, another day A brother's way to leave Another time, another day Another time, another day A brother's way to leave

Hopefully it's a bit more obvious what it's about. A girl and her brother are very close until her brother dies, most likely in a war (selling plastic flowers, those poppies that are sold for veterans) and she marries a man who replaces her brother, she goes up, or stays alive, and he is down, or dead.

It's a very depressing song, despite how it sounds at first glance.

How can you not love the keyboards and synth's in this song? My favourite off of the album. And what a beautiful chorus.

i actually like this song.. i love the dreamy atmospheric feel it has and how the melody kind of drifts up and down like a see saw.

how can you say this song is boring??? you arent listening hard enough!!! i just cant see what it means

I'm not sure if I like this song or not, but saying it's dull seems a little harsh. It has an interesting melody and nice lyrics, at least. In fact, lyric-wise, this is one of Rick's better songs (a lot of the time his lyrics just don't seem to flow, but these do). ...But I'm very biased towards Rick Wright, so maybe that's clouding my vision- er, hearing.

I think I am the only one who likes this song more than Remember A Day.

I think this song is about a relationship between a man and a woman that are not brother and sister, but the Speaker refers to her as "sister" because it's how he sees her now the relationship is over.

The title is "See-Saw", what means the song describes ups and downs, but the song just portrays the "brother's" side. In the beginning the song talks about marigolds, which are flowers very much related to the sun and calendar, what could mean he doesn't cares about other girls, even being on top - his Up.

While he is up, his girlfriend is down, so, her mood makes her do unpleasant thing to him so she can get better. It drives the relationship to an end, and it is a "brother's way to leave" - the most noticeable sentence in the lyrics.

Then, the song goes to the "weeds" and "plastic flowers", what could means she was in bad mood and, therefore, selling her falsity - in the speakers vision - to others in a Sunday, a word, once again, related to the sun, or happiness.

She attracts another man and do to him the same thing she did before to the protagonist, she goes up and he goes down, like a see-saw.

In the end, the speaker repeats the feeling of indifference to love provoked by the see-saw of the relationships, "a brother's way to leave". But he keeps saying "another time, another day", what could mean, at the same time: another person to love him and be loved, or another day that his mood would be warmed by the sun, he would be Up for the price of his beloved one Down.

Yes, this song is quite lovely.

I love this song, also, as well.