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Sail Away Lyrics

I climbed the hill, lay in the grass
A little dark-eyed girl drifted past
She said all the best is come, it could not last
And the worst, it has come true


Her hands are small and fluttered up
I lay amongst the buttercups
I pulled on my coat and buttoned it up
For the worst, it had come true


Sail away, sail away
To a place where your troubles can't follow
Sail away, sail away
Save all your tears for tomorrow


Orphans of the city moved toward us
and the swallows swooped and the starlings warned us
And the peril in everything
It assured us that the worst had come true


And all my sorrows made their bed beside me
The shame, the disgrace and the brutality
And she whispered then "Let laughter flee."
For the worst, it has come true


Dry your tears, forget while we're here
Leave all your sorrows behind you

Never lose heart, all things will pass
To a place where your troubles can't find you


She came beside me amongst my coat
Her breath was warm against my throat
We clung to each other so very close
For the worst, it had come true


Sail away, sail away
To a place where your heart will not shame you
Take my hand through this night without end
For the worst, it has come to claim you


Sail away, sail away
To a place where no one can betray you
Take my hand through this night without end
For the worst, it has come to claim you
2 Meanings

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Cover art for Sail Away lyrics by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

a song to get lost in someone's shoulder as you are slowly dancing together the last time

Cover art for Sail Away lyrics by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Well, first association moves to a dying man. Perhaps a soldier, but all that reveals him is a coat, not necessarily a strictly army gear. And dying, assuming a wounded man gets cold, buttons his coat, before the worst (death?) comes true. The brutality, the peril, city orphans - all this sketches a war image, and the pile of sorrows goes neatly (maybe too much) with it. And the girl is certainly a metaphor, an angel, divine representation, his Ovidius to heaven... It always thrills me over and over again how this artist manages to masquerade, transform, flip, combine.. very opposite things together! In this case, to sing a traumatic theme of war casualty into a simply beautiful celebration of hope...

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