Tightrope

I have always loved ELO and this song in particular. The song is fundamentally about depression and, ultimately, self help.

The first verse of the song is a kind of 'call/answer', I imagine with the singers own conscience rather than an actual person. Negative self talk, if you like.

They say some days you're gonna win They say some days you're gonna lose I tell you I got news for you You're losin' all the time you never win If you believe that's how it's gonna be I'd better Put you down

The chorus part is an answer back to the positive part of the self conscience (or well meaning people). I guess you'd call it the chorus as it contains the title but this song doesn't really follow a conventional format.

Get off your tightrope up there come down on The ground you gotta save me now You better turn around.

The metaphor Jeff Lynne uses is a good one... 'normal' people day to day are walking a tightrope. One false step or something unexpected and you'll plummet from 'normal' to 'depressed'. Clever.

So... here the singer is saying instead of just giving me platitudes (like 'snap out of it' etc), get off your high horse (cf. high wire) and come down to the depths with me and do something about it.

When I looked around, I was heading down, Won't somebody throw me down a line.

In these two lines a sense of helplessness is conveyed. I know somethings wrong and but it's only getting worse. I'm turning to other people for the answer/solution but no one seems to be helping.

They say some days you gotta give They say some days you gotta take If that's the way it's gotta be Roll it over and you will see

Verse two is a play on the saying 'it give and take'. Here I take 'rolling it over' as figuratively turning the expression over. Presumably, from the tone of the song, it's all take and no give... :)

The city streets are full of people going Nowhere making time

These two lines caught my attention when I first heard them as a child many years ago. The image I had then was of walking zombies.. people who are filling their day with lots of activity but not much meaning (or perhaps deliberately superficial and avoiding looking for that deeper meaning). This also conveys how disassociated the singer is from the rest of the hoi-polloi.

The change from night to day is really only hours It's just along the line can't you see the sign

The next two lines are probably the simplest but the darkest lines in the song. Maybe touching on suicidal thoughts... hang in there and wait it out, the difference between feeling awful and wanting to kill yourself is only a matter of hours. Hang in there, there are signs that things will improve.

I want to look you straight in the eye I want to tell you how I really feel I can feel the wheels turnin' round Won't somebody throw me down a line

Here again is a sense of helplessness. They have to keep up an emotional facade and can't really tell someone how they're feeling. I know things are happening (wheels turning) but there's no change. Crucially, he again turns to other people for the answer/solution.

When I closed my eyes, I was so surprised Somebody had thrown me down the line Stopped me drownin'

Ooh and here's the payoff (after some great music and lyrics!). In the end, the answer was within the person them self, 'the answer lies within' as it were. A case of 'musician heal thyself' :D

I think this song is about a depressed person who was really pessimistic about life and people until someone actually helped him at a time when he wasn't expecting any.

Thanks, Chris. You made me believe in people again.