5D (Fifth Dimension)

The Byrds

Oh, how is it that I could come out to you
And be still floatin'
And never hit bottom and keep falling through
Just relaxed and paying attention?

All my two-dimensional boundaries were gone
I had lost to them badly
I saw that world crumble and thought I was dead
But I found my senses still working

And as I continued to drop through the hole
I found all surrounding
To show me that joy innocently is
Just be quiet and feel it around you

And I opened my heart to the whole universe
And I found it was loving
And I saw the great blunder my teachers had made
Scientific delirium madness

Oh, I will keep falling as long as I live
Ah, without ending
And I will remember the place that is now
That has ended before the beginning

Oh, how is it that I could come out to you
And be still floatin'
And never hit bottom and keep falling through
Just relaxed and paying attention?


Lyrics submitted by AngelDust20

5D (Fifth Dimension) Lyrics as written by Roger Mcguinn

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC

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5D (Fifth Dimension) song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • +2
    General CommentMcGuinn's fascination with things spacey and sci-fi.
    rosiekzon March 16, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General CommentTo me, this song describes perfectly that wonderful, peaceful feeling you get when you're high on pot. When i'm high, and I play this song, it fills me with an indescribably beautiful peaceful wonderful emotion. You know? When everything is alright, when you can feel love and beauty in everything, when you're in such a beautiful, peacecul mindset, and the sheer beauty of the music just makes you wanna cry?
    That's what this song means to me. It's a beautiful song, and it's totally under-rated.
    wilkes85on July 23, 2008   Link
  • +1
    My InterpretationAlthough the LSD interpretation could be likely a meaning (could be meant to be ambiguous), I think that the song has to do with something about growing, and to do it with the conscience of being part of a new generation with a complete different mindset from the previous one (like parents, or as this song says, like "teachers"), and with the feeling of freedom and change that was iconic from that generation during the 60's.

    In any case, is my favourite Byrds song. Maybe also their most "english" song (thee baroque style organ sounds a bit like The Kinks).
    scldebruton August 11, 2014   Link
  • +1
    My InterpretationTo me, it's about dying and going to the afterlife, and the afterlife being a 5-dimension space rather than the 4-dimensional space we currently live in (three spatial dimensions + Time).

    "I saw that world crumble and thought I was dead
    But I found my senses still working"

    He's still conscious after death, as his previously "two-dimensional" world crumbled around him.

    "And I will remember the place that is now
    That has ended before the beginning"

    This is the Fifth dimension. It transcends time itself. Thus, it "has ended before the beginning."
    Counterclockwerkon November 22, 2017   Link
  • 0
    General Commentokay i guess i'll pop the comment cherry of one of the greatest and most underrated songs by one of the most underrated bands of the 60's. the byrds are amazing! btw the song is about lsd.
    voteformnmontrlon July 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI adore every second of this song.
    DCBA25on May 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General CommentIt isn't about LSD...check this link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

    I can see why people might think it was, but so many of those songs in the 60s were written to mean something OTHER than drugs but they were ambiguous enough that people could apply their own 'meanings'.
    SchreibStangon February 29, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General CommentOkay people.....after being experienced I can confirm that this song is about LSD for the most part.. if not the whole song this part is: All my two-dimensional boundaries were gone
    I had lost to them badly
    I saw that world crumble and thought I was dead
    But I found my senses still working

    And as I continued to drop through the hole
    I found all surrounding
    To show me that joy innocently is
    Just be quiet and feel it around you

    And I opened my heart to the whole universe
    kylewilliamon December 11, 2014   Link
  • 0
    General CommentTo me it is about the altered state that one enters into during transcendental meditation...the lyrics "just relaxed & paying attention" is tm in a nutshell. It is my belief that various dimensions are often traveled through (or just made more aware of their existence) when one enters an altered consciousness via drugs or through meditation... (my opinion)
    Regardless.... I absolutely LOVE this song !!!
    dufusbugon June 10, 2020   Link
  • 0
    General CommentBecoming aware of all the falsehoods and truths that surround us.
    Loraqson May 30, 2021   Link

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