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Gates to the Garden Lyrics
Past the ivy-covered windows of
The Angel
Down Athenaeum Lane to the cathedral
Through the churchyard I wandered
Sat for a spell there and I pondered
My back to the gates
My back to the gates
My back to the gates.... of the garden
Fugitive fathers, sickly infants, decent mothers
Runaways and suicidal lovers
Assorted boxes of ordinary bones
Of aborted plans and sudden shattered hopes
In unlucky rows
In unhappy rows
In unlucky rows, up to the gates of the garden
Won't you meet me at the gates
Won't you meet me at the gates
Won't you meet me at the gates
To the garden
Beneath the creeping shadow of the tower
The bell from St. Edmunds informs me of the hour
I turn to find you waiting there for me
In sunlight and I see the way that you breathe
All alive and leaning
Alive and leaning
All alive and leaning on the gates of the garden
Leave these ancient places to the angels
Let the saints attend to their keeping of the cathedrals
And leave the dead beneath the ground so cold
For God is in this hand that I hold
As we open up the gates
As we open up the gates
As we open up the gates of the garden
Won't you meet me at the gates
Won't you meet me at the gates
Won't you meet me at the gates
To the garden
The Angel
Down Athenaeum Lane to the cathedral
Through the churchyard I wandered
Sat for a spell there and I pondered
My back to the gates
My back to the gates
My back to the gates.... of the garden
Runaways and suicidal lovers
Assorted boxes of ordinary bones
Of aborted plans and sudden shattered hopes
In unlucky rows
In unhappy rows
In unlucky rows, up to the gates of the garden
Won't you meet me at the gates
Won't you meet me at the gates
To the garden
The bell from St. Edmunds informs me of the hour
I turn to find you waiting there for me
In sunlight and I see the way that you breathe
All alive and leaning
Alive and leaning
All alive and leaning on the gates of the garden
Let the saints attend to their keeping of the cathedrals
And leave the dead beneath the ground so cold
For God is in this hand that I hold
As we open up the gates
As we open up the gates
As we open up the gates of the garden
Won't you meet me at the gates
Won't you meet me at the gates
To the garden
Song Info
Submitted by
pumkinhed On Jan 26, 2005
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It's about a rendez-vous with a girl in the town of Bury St Edmunds, county of Suffolk, England. He crosses Athenaeum Lane street that runs between Angel Hill and Churchgate Street: "Past the ivy-covered windows of The Angel Down Athenaeum Lane to the cathedral"
and reaches Bury St Edmunds Cathedral...there he waits his date to come up and he's contemplating the graves: "Fugitive fathers, sickly infants, decent mothers Runaways and suicidal lovers Assorted boxes of ordinary bones"
at the right time( "The bell from St. Edmunds informs me of the hour") his girl appears and all his sad thoughts dissapear: "Leave these ancient places to the angels Let the saints attend to their keeping of the cathedrals And leave the dead beneath the ground so cold"
nothing else matters for him but his girlfriend, she's the only thing alive: "For God is in this hand that I hold".
It's very nice the contrast between the dead ones, the cold world, people dead and buried and the light, warm world represented by this woman.
@baudolino spot on.
@baudolino spot on.
I think it is about a cemetery ( Garden as a euphemism )
"Fugitive fathers, sickly infants, decent mothers Runaways and suicidal lovers Assorted boxes of ordinary bones Of aborted plans and sudden shattered hopes In unlucky rows, up to the gates of the garden In unhappy rows, up to the gates of the garden In unlucky rows, up to the gates of the garden "
Sounds pretty clear here .. either that or I am creepily depressed :P
Athenaeum Lane is in Bury St. Edmunds, adjacent to the Cathedral Church of St. James. From the end of the lane, there is a view of a gate.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Athenaeum+Ln,+Bury+St+Edmunds,+Suffolk+IP33+1LY,+United+Kingdom&ie=UTF8&hl=en&geocode=FTwuHQMd5uwKAA&split=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=23.875,57.630033&hq=&hnear=Athenaeum+Ln,+Bury+St+Edmunds,+Suffolk+IP33+1LY,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.244324,0.715914&spn=0.003692,0.009602&z=17&layer=c&cbll=52.243557,0.716171&panoid=WWlPxN1z4oDcxsmHryZ6yQ&cbp=12,82.88,,0,-7.1
"And leave the dead beneath the ground so cold for God is in this hand that I hold" - I love this song, and these are the most beautiful lines to me.
[Edit: formatting]
God I haven't got much of an idea what this song is about 'cause i'm too stupid but i bloody well love it
I'd say this was about the Gates to a Garden (duh) ..And about the things that have happened, in this place.. And now, he is meeting his fancy-woman or whatever theres.. Not sure about the "God is in this hand that I hold", if it's refering to a girl, maybe he's comparing her to an Angel? I dunno..
The "garden" in this song is no more less then heaven; I think He's visiting the grave of a deceased lover and contemplates over what has happened and hopes to meet her at heavens gate. She's not reaaly dead for him.
The bell from St. Edmunds brings him back to the real & cruel world.....
I think it is a very good interpertation by budolino. Thanks!
His lover is dead and he imagines being with her as he visits her grave. Interesting twist at the end: "Let the saints attend to the keeping of the cathedrals", which suggests that he is no longer so crippled by grief. The song is about moving on from losing the ones you love, but without forgetting them.
I think @AlexanderDumbass nailed it. The garden is obviously a cemetery and he visits her there, then he sees her breathing so he knows she is alive, in the next world.
I think the "garden" reference changes in the last verse, to mean the garden of Eden, a metaphor for heaven, where he knows that they will one day meet again.