Waiting For My Real Life To Begin

I saw Colin last night and he played this song as an encore. He prefaced the song talking about how he was dropped form MCA records in 1991, and this song was representing his state of mind and what he was going to do with the rest of his life. He rhetorically asked the crowd, "Is it good enough for me to play by myself to crowds on monday nights in places like Ann Arbor, Michigan?" The crowd responded with an emphatic Yes!

Do not pass up the chance to see him live. It was one of the best live shows I've ever seen. He'll play all the songs you want to hear, and one thing people may not know about him is how incredibly funny he is. He could do stand up comedy. Go see him, you won't be sorry.

This song is about a man with a dream he won't let go of, even though Time is slipping away from him while he waits for the plan he already has to work out. He's wasting time he can't get back waiting for it, and the world is passing him by.

His lover tells him to open up his heart and let the light shine in, just be where he is and live in the moment he really is in. But he won't. The "real" life he's waiting to begin is all he wants, all he can or will accept.

What he doesn't see is that his life and any chance for happiness based in reality is passing him by while he waits for his ship to come in. In the end, he still holds on the foolish hope that any minute now, his ship will come in and he'll start living the life he wants, even though he can see a very long way and it isn't in sight.

It's not a happy or encouraging song in the least. It's a song about wasting what you could have, waiting for something that never happens.

Wow. This one is extremely poignant and resonated within me instantly, like he was talking about my direct experience, I know exactly how he feels. It speaks to the dogged determination to keep up a restless quest, this relentless pursuit of an ever-shifting mirage.

It is full of hope, in the worst sense of the word unfortunately - hope that things will be principally different one day and lasting happiness will finally become possible through "getting what I want". This vain hope shifting into despair at being stuck on the hamster wheel of samsara.

I gather that this song was written in the concrete context of Colin being dropped from a label? and his aspirations for a successful career in music, and apparently the persuasions of his partner to keep him in the moment and to open up to the possibilities of the present as opposed to chasing ever-elusive popularity and success.

And his responses to her are of course comically and tragically dogmatic and self-deprecating, he is definitely making dark fun of his own propensity to destroy any sense of peace by falling again and again into the fruitless chase of happiness through achieving success, including concretely hoping a promising voicemail about "the big break" awaits him.

The rolling changes from hope to despair happen within each verse - standing on the bow on the ship of success and yet oh here come the waves of life to beat me down again. Winning illusory victories in his dreams against perceived demons and then finding himself falling right back into the habitual patterns of mind and retracing his steps again, falling into the same pit over and over.

Finally the last two lines of the song are deliciously enigmatic. One way to interpret them is to say, when peering into the future of possibilities, straining to lean forward as far as he can, the goal seems almost within reach, in the intense urge of attainment.

But another way is to interpret those lines as saying the exact opposite - that on "clear days" when different parts of the psyche are not taking over, when the poet has nearly unobstructed access to his true Self, he can almost just touch that realization that there is and always has been and always will be only this moment and all that he may ever seek is already present. But this is left as a mere hint, a faint whisper of a possibility, an unspoken pointer at attaining the unattainable.

i agree...to me this song is talking about restlessness and looking for somthing better when maybe the best thing is right in front of you. the one that loves him is right in front of him telling him to see the great things in his life right at the moment.

i think this song is about a heroine addict. he thinks death is the only way to beat his addiction, he knows he will die from it. he is anticipating that in the near future he will use and it will kill him. then his real life can begin.

I dont know what this song means to the rest of you but to me this is about a new beginning. The person is obviously bored with his current situation and wants to move onto new pastures hense waiting for my real life to begin.

Like many here, this song is about a dreamer, stuck in the familiar, with big dreams of fame/fortune/adventure, etc. His lover is urging him to get real, live in the present, before life slips him by...

The VALUE I get from this song, and why I think it resonates with so many, is that we all have hopes/dreams from when we are younger that go unrealized, and it's fun to think about them from time to time, but that we must not allow ourselves to become complacent. I'm not saying that life is pushing hard 100% of the time - to me the song says do not become complacent, or you end up like this guy: slaying dragons, waiting for the phone to ring, and waking up everyday with the realization that suddenly nothing happens. Unless of course you make something happen instead.

This song could be interpreted so many ways. I see it as a man that is going through a hard time in his life, waiting for something better to happen. Or he is simply living a life he does not enjoy. However is he not actively doing anything to change his circumstances, all he is doing is waiting for a different life to start for him.

Any minute now, my ship is coming in I'll keep checking the horizon I'll stand on the bow, feel the waves come crashing Come crashing down, down, down, on me --- I think this speaks to his desperation for his life to change. He thinks it is possible that it could happen soon and keeps waiting for it. He is not actively doing anything to change his cercumstances, he is just waiting "for his ship to come in"( as the saying goes). When it happens he's convinced he'll stand at the forefront and be able to handle all the hardships that will come his way. Makes it seem as if perhaps this current life is filled with hardships that he has trouble handling. Much like people that think their troubles will change so long as certain life situations change, such as having more money, changing jobs, moving, etc., but for the most part money doesn't solve deep rooted problems, a new job doesn't always change a dissatisfaction with a career path, etc

And you say, be still my love Open up your heart Let the light shine in But don't you understand I already have a plan I'm waiting for my real life to begin --- I believe this is a wife, could be any person that cares about him though. They are telling him to look at what is good, that is what will help him. He is resistant and basically shrugs the advice off by saying he is not meant to live his current life and he just needs to wait for his real life to start.

When I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened But in my dreams, I slew the dragon --- He is not actively attempting to change his life, he is just waiting for something to miraculously change for him. When he wakes up, everything is still the same as it was, yet he seems a bit surprised that nothing happened. In his dreams he is amazing and can do anything and is the hero slaying dragons.

And down this beaten path, and up this cobbled lane I'm walking in my old footsteps, once again And you say, just be here now Forget about the past, your mask is wearing thin --- I think he could be walking in the footsteps of his younger days, when he was young and a different life seemed possible. Perhaps he is thinking through all the things he could have done. His wife tells him to stop living in the past and exist in the present. He could also be walking in the not so distant past where everything was less difficult. Maybe he had a great job and lost it and is now waiting for a great new job to come along. He is wearing a "mask", pretending everything is fine and will turn out great when this new life starts. His wife recognizes that the mask is wearing thin and he is not as able to hide his real feelings.

Let me throw one more dice I know that I can win I'm waiting for my real life to begin ---- his response to his wife is reminiscent of a desperate gambler. He wants just one more chance before he quits. He cannot imagine that the odds are against him, he is certain that he can win. However, like a compulsive gambler, one more roll is not going to be enough.

Any minute now, my ship is coming in I'll keep checking the horizon And I'll check my machine, there's sure to be that call It's gonna happen soon, soon, soon It's just that times are lean ----- he is still waiting, but even more desperate now. He is making excuses as to why it's not occurring and depreately attempting to convince himself that it will happen soon. If he is waiting for that new job, he is sure that there will be a call on the answering machine. If there is not a message on the machine he can just tell himself that times are tough and that's why it didn't happen yet.

This song is very depressing. One can picture a man desperately attempting to change his life cercumstances almost in vain. His wife recognizes that he is sinking into depression waiting for this "real life" to start. She wants him to come back to the present and see what is good about life, but he just stares into the future, waiting for some miracle to happen and change his current circumstances.

This song is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, I cant believe no one has posted anything about it before. Taken at face value I think its about a man who's restless about what will become of his life and he has this person ( a girl probably) who's telling him to be patient "and you say, be still my love" but he doesn't hear her. She loves him but he's just waiting for something to happen to him instead of the monotony of his life. It could be taken lots of ways, but its really beautiful all the same.

Amazing song. Nuff said.