In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
How long before I get in?
Before it starts, before I begin?
How long before you decide?
Before I know what it feels like?
Where to, where do I go?
If you never try, then you'll never know
How long do I have to climb
Up on the side of this mountain of mine?
Look up, I look up at night
Planets are moving at the speed of light
Climb up, up in the trees
Every chance that you get
Is a chance you seize
How long am I gonna stand
With my head stuck under the sand?
I'll start before I can stop
Before I see things the right way up
All that noise, and all that sound
All those places I got found
And birds go flying at the speed of sound
To show you how it all began
Birds came flying from the underground
If you could see it then you'd understand
Ideas that you'll never find
All the inventors could never design
The buildings that you put up
Japan and China all lit up
The sign that I couldn't read
Or a light that I couldn't see
Some things you have to believe
But others are puzzles, puzzling me
All that noise, and all that sound
All those places I got found
And birds go flying at the speed of sound
To show you how it all began
Birds came flying from the underground
If you could see it then you'd understand
Ah, when you see it then you'll understand
All those signs, I knew what they meant
Some things you can invent
And some get made, and some get sent
Ooh
Birds go flying at the speed of sound
To show you how it all began
Birds came flying from the underground
If you could see it then you'd understand
Ah, when you see it then you'll understand
Before it starts, before I begin?
How long before you decide?
Before I know what it feels like?
Where to, where do I go?
If you never try, then you'll never know
How long do I have to climb
Up on the side of this mountain of mine?
Look up, I look up at night
Planets are moving at the speed of light
Climb up, up in the trees
Every chance that you get
Is a chance you seize
How long am I gonna stand
With my head stuck under the sand?
I'll start before I can stop
Before I see things the right way up
All that noise, and all that sound
All those places I got found
And birds go flying at the speed of sound
To show you how it all began
Birds came flying from the underground
If you could see it then you'd understand
Ideas that you'll never find
All the inventors could never design
The buildings that you put up
Japan and China all lit up
The sign that I couldn't read
Or a light that I couldn't see
Some things you have to believe
But others are puzzles, puzzling me
All that noise, and all that sound
All those places I got found
And birds go flying at the speed of sound
To show you how it all began
Birds came flying from the underground
If you could see it then you'd understand
Ah, when you see it then you'll understand
All those signs, I knew what they meant
Some things you can invent
And some get made, and some get sent
Ooh
Birds go flying at the speed of sound
To show you how it all began
Birds came flying from the underground
If you could see it then you'd understand
Ah, when you see it then you'll understand
Lyrics submitted by jommaz, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Speed of Sound Lyrics as written by William Champion Guy Rupert Berryman
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Anthem Entertainment, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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First of all, hell yeah the piano line sounds about 99.9% exactly like "Clocks." So what? They took a good line, reworked it, and made 2 good songs out of it. At least they didn't plagiarize.
To me, this sounds like a mystical dream, where images both concrete and abstract come flying at you, and the meaning is somewhere underrunning all of them. I think it's the dream of a person trying to work out where they fit in the world, with the flying birds being the key--they fly fast, from the origin, out of the traps of human culture (the "underground"), into the future, cutting through all the layers of static we build around ourselves ("all that noise and all that sound") to insulate ourselves. The meaning of the dream makes sense to the dreamer, but such dreams are hard to explain to others ("If you could see it then you'd understand"), because we cannot upload the images and the emotional tenor into other people's brains. But musically and lyrically, this is a brilliant representation of a dreaming brain firing on all cylinders, getting to the heart of meanings the conscious mind can barely begin to untangle.