The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
We didn't sleep too late.
There was a fire in the yard.
All of the tress were in light.
They had no faces to show.
I saw a sign in the sky:
Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans.
I heard a voice in my mind:
"I will try, I will try, I will try.
I will try, I will try, I will try."
We saw the dragon move down.
My father burned into coal.
My mother saw it from far.
She took her purse to the bed.
I saw a sign in the sky:
Seven horns, seven horns, seven horns.
I heard a voice in my mind:
"I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord."
He said: "I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord."
He said: "I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord."
He will take you. If you run,
He will chase you.
He will take you. If you run,
He will chase you.
Cause he is the Lord.
There was a fire in the yard.
All of the tress were in light.
They had no faces to show.
I saw a sign in the sky:
Seven swans, seven swans, seven swans.
I heard a voice in my mind:
"I will try, I will try, I will try.
I will try, I will try, I will try."
We saw the dragon move down.
My father burned into coal.
My mother saw it from far.
She took her purse to the bed.
I saw a sign in the sky:
Seven horns, seven horns, seven horns.
I heard a voice in my mind:
"I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord."
He said: "I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord."
He said: "I am Lord, I am Lord, I am Lord."
He will take you. If you run,
He will chase you.
He will take you. If you run,
He will chase you.
Cause he is the Lord.
Lyrics submitted by EvilPopkin
Seven Swans Lyrics as written by Sufjan Stevens
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Wow. These are all great comments, thanks.
I'm sure this has no direct meaning to the song, but the work of poet W.B.Yeats had a lot of swan symbolism. One inparticular - The Wild Swans at Coole - mentioned "nine and fifty swans". The poignant part here is that swans mate for life, so the fact that Yeats was seeing an odd number of swans was actually a reflection on his own underlying fear of being alone as he ages and the yearning for his one love. Whenever I hear this song - my favourite on this album - I wonder whether Sufjan has read Yeats' work or whether he is aware of the "significance" of also seeing an odd number of swans....