In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
When the ebbing tide retreats
Along the rocky shoreline
It leaves a trail of tidal pools
In a short-lived galaxy
Each microcosmic planet
A complete society
A simple kind mirror
To reflect upon our own
All the busy little creatures
Chasing out their destinies
Living in their pools
They soon forget about the sea
Wheels within wheels
In a spiral array
A pattern so grand and complex
Time after time
We lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see their effects
A quantum leap forward
In time and space
The universe learned to expand
The mess and the magic
Triumphant and tragic
A mechanized world, out of hand
Computerized clinic
For superior cynics
Who dance to a synthetic band
In their own image
Their world is fashioned
No wonder they don't understand
Wheels within wheels
In a spiral array
A pattern so grand and complex
Time after time
We lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see their effects
Science, like nature
Must also be tamed
With a view towards its preservation
Given the same
State of integrity
It will surely serve us well
Art as expression,
Not as market campaigns
Will still capture our imaginations
Given the same
State of integrity
It will surely help us along
The most endangered species
The honest man
Will still survive annihilation
Forming a world
State of integrity
Sensitive, open and strong
Wave after wave
Will flow with the tide
And bury the world as it does
Tide after tide
Will flow and recede
Leaving life to go on
As it was
Along the rocky shoreline
It leaves a trail of tidal pools
In a short-lived galaxy
Each microcosmic planet
A complete society
A simple kind mirror
To reflect upon our own
All the busy little creatures
Chasing out their destinies
Living in their pools
They soon forget about the sea
Wheels within wheels
In a spiral array
A pattern so grand and complex
Time after time
We lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see their effects
A quantum leap forward
In time and space
The universe learned to expand
The mess and the magic
Triumphant and tragic
A mechanized world, out of hand
Computerized clinic
For superior cynics
Who dance to a synthetic band
In their own image
Their world is fashioned
No wonder they don't understand
Wheels within wheels
In a spiral array
A pattern so grand and complex
Time after time
We lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see their effects
Science, like nature
Must also be tamed
With a view towards its preservation
Given the same
State of integrity
It will surely serve us well
Art as expression,
Not as market campaigns
Will still capture our imaginations
Given the same
State of integrity
It will surely help us along
The most endangered species
The honest man
Will still survive annihilation
Forming a world
State of integrity
Sensitive, open and strong
Wave after wave
Will flow with the tide
And bury the world as it does
Tide after tide
Will flow and recede
Leaving life to go on
As it was
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You all have done a great job interpreting the lyrics.... I am still trying to figure out the time changes!!! Lol
Yes, quite the undertaking to play yourself! The way Rush does it is so seamless, me on the other hand, that's another story.
@Seanyc A little late but for those who come back to this, the first part with the suspended 2nd chords is 8 time with a shuffle 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2 or with shuffle (1-and-a-2-and-a-3, etc.). The next part is 8 time without a shuffle 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2 then after the oberheim space sweep it's 7 time 1-2-3-4-1-2-3 1-2-3-4-1-2-3. Then after that Neil actually plays in 4/4 for a little bit (mind blown) then back to 7 time. Then back to 4/4 and the solo in the 2nd movement is in that time. Then 8 time for the bridge into the 3rd movement (1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2). Then in the 3rd movement it's 4/4 time again. Then 3/4 and it alternates back and forth.<br /> <br /> It's actually not as complicated as you might think. In order to be able to hear the meter and patterns, you have to practice in a lot of different time signatures with a metronome. You also have to practice different things like in 8 time what does it sound like if I think about it as 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4 or 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2 or 1-2-1-2-3-1-2-3 or 1-and-a-2-and-a-3. You have to experiment with a lot of different things. After awhile, you just start hearing it and you can improvise in any of those time signatures. It took me awhile to get there but once you get there it all feels very natural for some reason. idk. :) I analyzed this by listening to the song once with my trained ear. Cheers!<br /> <br />