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Marching Band Lyrics
One dark day the trees began
A trumpet sound, trumpet sound
We sat listening patiently
The sky was near
And I felt a trembling motion
We ran out to see the future
From the ground, from the ground
From the ground, from the ground
People died and people risen everywhere
We held hands and made a circle
Quietly from the ground
Quietly from the ground
We returned and set the table by the door
A trumpet sound, trumpet sound
We sat listening patiently
The sky was near
And I felt a trembling motion
We ran out to see the future
From the ground, from the ground
From the ground, from the ground
We held hands and made a circle
Quietly from the ground
Quietly from the ground
We returned and set the table by the door
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I'm guessing the second coming. The trumpets sounding is taken from Revelation. The people dying and the dead rising has to do with the general ressurection. Setting the table by the door has to do with the great banquet that is promised in the messianic age.
im not sure but this kind of matches his seven swans story too ... when he was a kid his father started a forest fire by accident that had started from a small fire on the ground (it was a windy day .. and dark i think ? ) and they ran out and saw smoke rising from the trees and seven swans flying, and heard trumpets .. (or maybe it was horns.) so maybe this is like another song about the seven swans?? seeing the future relates to how he said he heard a voice in his head in the acutal song "seven swans" ?? i have no idea but this just made me think of that. just thought i would put that out there =)
Not sure if this makes any difference, but on the "official" lyrics in the LP jacket, this appears right after the main lyrics:
(Try it to make it for holidays. Hang onto corduroy jeans and the late magazines that sit side by side. What did it mean? White yellow curtains and boxing uncertainty. If it sounds silly or markedly simple. Or what did you say?)
Archived from Sufjan's old site (via the internet archive): "This song evokes the same visionary environment of a song I had previously written, Seven Swans, the title track of a record that will be released by Sounds Familyre in the near future."