The Decemberists – Like a Lion

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How it delighted
Born so black and cold
And tired
Like yours
Like yours

How it delighted us
Hands over hand
Like a lion
Like a lion

Still watching the world go down
Still watching it all go around
And the time stands still
Until now

And it all stands still
Somehow you thought it never would


Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher

Like a Lion song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • 0
    General Commentthis songs so weird.

    and awesome.
    WriterOfFictionson March 26, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Commentyeah what is this song's bag? anyone care to enlighten?
    xsylviaoon June 02, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentCompilation song. You can get it free online.

    Not sure about the meaning, though.
    Cynothoglyson August 08, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentWhere can you get this song free online? Or do you just mean off a P2P program?
    Cherub Rockon August 21, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment"in like a lion... out like a lamb."

    everything draws to a close, methinks. this is a nice way to put it.
    boxed.cloveron September 06, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI have an inkling about this song... that can't quite be put into words. It's odd. I think I love it. Where can we get it??
    Bryia_026on October 30, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentIt should be 'tired' rather than 'admired'.
    Proximoon January 29, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThis song is overwhelmingly bittersweet and beautiful.

    My immediate thought upon reading the title was Machiavelli's belief, "Like a lion, like a fox." But the lyrics don't seem to fit that so well. The only direct correlation is the "hands over hands" line.

    The lyrics make me think of a baby being born and the way time stops as one realizes that new life has just been brought into the world. Although I'm not sure why the baby would be "black and cold," unless there were complications and the baby died.

    Which would make sense, seeing as the beeping towards the end reminds me of a heart rate machine after someone has died, due to the time in between beeps.
    madificationon March 30, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General CommentHaving just watched There Will Be Blood last night, I can't help but think that this song is about the oil boom and subsequent ravaging of the earth and loss of traditional values. I've always thought this song sounded a bit like a song losing its mind. As it descends into the electronic clamor toward the end it sounds like innocence giving way to mechanization and madness.
    goodnewsbayon April 18, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My InterpretationThe only Youtube video that has a full version of this song in it, mentions in the description, that "like a Lion" was written about Colin Meloy's son. I couldn't find where the poster found that tidbit, but the more I think about it the better an interpretation that is. Written in 2006, right after his son henry was born, this song seems to have all the shock and incredulity and beauty that comes from becoming a father. Meloy's son, Henry, has high functioning autism, which is where "like a lion" comes in.

    I think the song has two parts. The first being the birth, you hear the machine noises and hospital beeps and boops. then comes the triumph and the lines "How it delighted us"/"And it all stands still/ Somehow you thought it never would."

    The second part is the realizing the gravity of his son's condition, where he is compared to a lion. Who sits and watches the world go round. He was born black and cold, which is a comment on the way someone with autism might seem emotionally cold. In this way his unresponsiveness and dis-intrest makes him stoic, "like a lion."
    peter72395on January 21, 2015   Link

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