10 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Fitzcarraldo Lyrics
Here, back, down a long
And straight, track
I have chosen the long road
That leads me out to god knows
So I can stop right now
Even the good stars can fall from grace and faulter, lose their faith, and slide
But I can't get an ocean that's deep enough
For my day is the first of the ascension
It's a sad way we've flown after the stars
And her last words were 'I was only thinking of you'
In my golden, olden days I was a slave
Well now it's time for to sound your voice
And capture what your after
My ship was sold right up the river
But I'm not going down here
This journey isn't over
It's a long way to the house of Fitzcarraldo
And her last words were 'I'm always thinking of you'
In my golden, olden days I was a saint
Even the good stars can fall from grace and faulter
Like lapdogs that stride that mystery
And her last words were 'I'll see you down in history
It's the long lonely way that we can grow
I shall eclipse you.
It's a long way to Fitzcarraldo
And I don't want to pray for you
In the name of something true
And straight, track
I have chosen the long road
That leads me out to god knows
So I can stop right now
But I can't get an ocean that's deep enough
It's a sad way we've flown after the stars
And her last words were 'I was only thinking of you'
In my golden, olden days I was a slave
And capture what your after
My ship was sold right up the river
But I'm not going down here
This journey isn't over
It's a long way to the house of Fitzcarraldo
And her last words were 'I'm always thinking of you'
In my golden, olden days I was a saint
Like lapdogs that stride that mystery
And her last words were 'I'll see you down in history
It's the long lonely way that we can grow
And I don't want to pray for you
In the name of something true
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
On a deeper level, this song is partially about the conflict between art, history. passion and desires - and money. And in many ways the film from which it takes it's title is the perfect example of just that. It describes the burden of our dreams in whatever form that takes.
In the superb film, Fitzgerald doesn't want to get rich by selling rubber, as jxnarcoticz suggests above. Instead he wants to use the profit from his proposed rubber sale to build an opera house in the town of Iquitos.
So he needs the money to create his art and his dreams. Rather like most bands, including The Frames when this song was written of course.
And he needs to pull his ship over the mountain to get from one river to the other in order to harvest the only part of rubber crop still unowned and unclaimed.
So, to achieve his dream and his passion he literally has to pull a ship over a mountain. The money he'll make from the sales of the rubber if he succeeds is merely a facilitator of his dream.
Glen, lately, has been introducing this song with various speeches and notes about his country, and how it's being "sold up the river" by the greedy and myriad cubs of the Celtic Tiger.
For example, at the moment the Irish government are proposing to build a huge motorway through one of Ireland's most historic and symbolic sites - the Hill of Tara. Glen's been an ardent supporter of the groups rightly opposing this scheme (for example tarawatch.org).
So this song is about not turning your back on what's important to you, and not betraying your dreams, or your ideals and beliefs just because they're difficult to achieve, or hard to pull over the mountain that modern life can feel like sometimes. But at the same time, it's about recognising that some evils are necessary if you're to make those dreams reality - like money. But only sometimes.
You can imagine a young Glen, interested only in getting his music heard by as many people as possible, realising that to achieve his dream, he must also sacrifice pretty much his whole life (pull his ship over the mountain) and make the money required by any band or artist to create and distribute their work (just like Fitzgerald's rubber profits).
The Frames have never been interested in making money for themselves. It's always been about the music. And it always will be.
As an aside, Glen usually dedicates this song to great Irish folk through history, usually Michael Collins, James Joyce and Oscar Wilde.
eh...how come no1 has said anything about this?! this is one of the greatest songs ever! the frames have got to be one the of best bands ever not to get worldwide recognition...
All about that violin solo.....
It's hard to say what this song is about, but it seems to be about this guy who's in a relationship with this girl, and he sees that it's falling apart, and she won't let it go, but he doesn't want to let it go either. The lines 'I'm not going down here, this journey isn't over, it's a long way to the house of Fitzcarraldo' I think means that he's refusing to give up until they reach happiness, or at least some sort of conclusion they can both live with. In the last verse, it seems that they've finally fallen apart, she'll 'see him down in history' but it's the 'only way that we can grow'. The last lines at the climax of the song could be interpreted as their acceptance that they can't hold together anymore because 'it's a long way to Fitzcarraldo, and I don't want to pray for you in the name of something true...'
actually, in a live version of this song, it was said that this song is about a story of a man pulling a boat up a mountain.
yeah fitzcarraldo's a song written about the german movie Fitzcarraldo about a man pulling a ship over a mountain.
bleedin rapid!!!! ha ha ha
Yes- this is based on the movie "Fitzcarraldo" by the German director Werner Herzog. It's the story of a madman "Fitzgerald" who wants to get rich by South American rubber trees, but he also wants to build an opera house in the middle of the jungle. So he drags a steamboat type ship thing over a mountain. It's crazy.
The live version= so much better
the live version of this song kicks ass.
Gotta agree with itsmeallan and jxnarcoticz on the live version kicking ass. I NEED THE NEW ALBUM!!!!
Shouldn't it be "so I CAN'T stop right now"?
God, Glen's voice.... <3