This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
When I stand, my back to the sea
A big white cloud, looking right down on me
Sound of sun, missing my eyes
Everything's clear, everything's bright
Big white cloud, big white cloud
Big white cloud on me
Big white cloud, big white cloud
Big white cloud on me.
Time to kill on the hill
Looking at bees, licking the trees
Looking for signs ....................
Oh how I love you,
Yes how I love you
Oh how I love you so.
Oh how I love you,
Yes how I love you
Oh how I love you so.
After all is said and done
Everything, is just like it began
Days that came, years again
Came in here once again
Oh how I love you,
Yes how I love you
Oh how I love you so.
Oh how I love you,
Yes how I love you
Oh how I love you so.
A big white cloud, looking right down on me
Sound of sun, missing my eyes
Everything's clear, everything's bright
Big white cloud, big white cloud
Big white cloud on me
Big white cloud, big white cloud
Big white cloud on me.
Time to kill on the hill
Looking at bees, licking the trees
Looking for signs ....................
Oh how I love you,
Yes how I love you
Oh how I love you so.
Oh how I love you,
Yes how I love you
Oh how I love you so.
After all is said and done
Everything, is just like it began
Days that came, years again
Came in here once again
Oh how I love you,
Yes how I love you
Oh how I love you so.
Oh how I love you,
Yes how I love you
Oh how I love you so.
Lyrics submitted by Santo Arma Re-dux, edited by sgs
Big White Cloud Lyrics as written by John Davies Cale
Lyrics © GARNANT MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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Great version of a great song,
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Love how they used it in the movie Smokin' Aces (2007) during Piven's drug out
It's "Oh I love IT" not "YOU."
And yeah this song made Smokin' Aces really really cool.
It's "Oh I love it" not "Oh how I love you."
And yeah this song made Smokin' Aces really really cool.
i misinterpreted this song when i first heard it (on smokin aces, 'course). i thought it was a song of depression, instead i think he's a God fearing man, going through a season in his life.. he's got a cloud blocking his direct light, but he's still aware of the light surrounding him. "time to kill on the hill" is him saying he knows it's time for sacrifice.
finally i made an account here :)
first i gotta say: true @bkat004!
i think this song might be about some kind of drug, as john cale is in no way a religious man.
my favourite lines are "Time to kill on the hill Looking at bees, licking the trees Looking for signs .."
first i thought it meant "time to kill [somebody/something]", but it just came to my mind: he has some time to kill on the hill, and looks at the bees, well, and maybe he did lick the trees :) sounds like a nice drug, doesn't it?
if i happen to come across it in the john cale autobiography i'll post it.
My thoughts on this song..
His back to the sea.. Turning his back on the featureless. Sound of the sun... possible LSD reference as LSD directly rearranges your senses. Clear and Bright.. things are getting clear, different/higher understanding
time to Kill on the hill He's high on a hill with nothing in particular to do but enjoy himself.
Looking at bees licking the trees... other LSD users,people he's high with around him.
Everything is just like it began...coming down
Days that came years again ... he misses his free time has responsibilities
When he revisits aka gets high again he feels and remembers it like the first time.
Anyway..I feel like this song is about an LSD trip or times he spent tripping. It's a nice song lyrically but when coupled with the music there is a muted feeling to it in my opinion. That makes me feel like there is/was something lost when he took on his responsibilities that he wishes he could have back.