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Building Skyscrapers In The Basement Lyrics
Is there a place to go where a little girl might never have to know
And is there time of night when she’ll ever feel it’s safe to dim the light
I know some things I’d rather not
Like the time ahead is all the time you’ve got
And one other thing I know
Out from under layer, after dark layer
As the years go by a little girl can know
And is there time of night when she’ll ever feel it’s safe to dim the light
I know some things I’d rather not
Like the time ahead is all the time you’ve got
And one other thing I know
Out from under layer, after dark layer
As the years go by a little girl can know
Song Info
Submitted by
ruben On Jun 23, 2003
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I think this is a simple song about a father worrying about his daughter. More specifically, he worries about the world his daughter lives in. I think the title, 'Building Skyscrapers in the Basement' is about how he would like his daughter to be able to grow up and live right in his basement, where he could protect her from harm.
These are all guesses, by the way.
Uh, you're wrong about the whole basement thing.
what does the basement thing mean then?
the basement thing sounds pretty good to me actually
I think the song is just about Ted being worried for the youth. They have so much potential, but the environment today is not conducive to their growth. In that sense, they will be the 'skyscrapers in the basement'; greatness that is never seen.
Can you build a skyscrapper in a basement? The song is about growing up with limitations (any kind of) and slowly finding out.
I thought this song was about a girl whose father died in 9/11. She's too young to really understand what happened, maybe one-year-old or so. She has to grow up with this now. "As the years go by a little girl can know"
This song gives me chills whenever I listen to it. An AMAZING title track that I've ordered my best mate to play at my funeral, because, well, it's such a moving song. So because of that it always reminds me of death, but I think all of you are sort of right. I like the idea that this little girl is traumatized and so Ted's character is trying to protect her by hiding her from the world in a basement (basement being a metaphor of course) where she won't be exposed to all the garbage my generation has to live with--particularly the media and their ideals for women. Ted does, however, indicate that there's no way for the girl to achieve her full potential being hidden from the world her entire life, thus the Building Skyscrapers in the Basement... she won't develop properly if hidden away, so it's really a song about lose-lose situations as much as it is an assault on the media's portrayal of what we "have to be."