This snowman is shaping up to be an eight but not out of ten
The robots awake to find that they've been taped down
Wondering when they break though these chains
But little boys have action toys for brains

I'm living proof, it can last a long time, now the girls up
The street are innocent and sweet while their all in bed
They got their makeup and dreams of wonderland

Sprinkled inside their heads soon they will change
But tonight Hollywood hills never seem so strange
Their mothers pray it will last a long time

I wanna roll around like a kid in the snow
I wanna relearn what I already know
Just let me take flight dressed in red
Through the night on a great big sled
I wanna wish you merry Christmas
Ho, ho, ho

Now the boys are all grown up
And there working their fingers to the bone
They go around chasing them girls on the weekend
You know they still can't be alone

I've been raking my brain
With thoughts of peace and love
How on earth did we get so mixed up
I pray to God, it don't last a long time

I wanna roll around like a kid in the snow
I wanna relearn what I already know
Just let me take flight dressed in red
Through the night on a great big sled

I hear the sound of bells
There's something on the roof
I wonder what this night will bring

I wanna roll around like a kid in the snow
I wanna relearn what I already know
Just let me take flight dressed in red
Through the night on a great big sled

I wanna wish you merry Christmas
Can't do that
I wanna wish you merry Christmas
Can't do that


Lyrics submitted by ShotgunXXWedding

A Great Big Sled Lyrics as written by Dave Brent Keuning Brandon Flowers

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

A Great Big Sled song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

27 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    I reckon it's all about political correctness.

    The lines "Just let me take flight dressed in red through the night on a great big sled" "I want to wish you 'Merry Christmas' (Can't do that)" Make it pretty clear that all the narrator wants to do is express and celebrate a festival, but you can't any more, because it's not deemed 'correct', thus ruining the spirit of Christmas.

    "They've got their makeup and dreams of Wonderland...Soon they will change" This is going on about how children grow up so quickly, and don't realise that Christmas and life in general will only get worse. Their parents want them to be able to enjoy Christmas like they do right now forever, and not face the grim reality of life: "Their mothers pray it'll last a long time"

    Strangely dark, especially for a Christmas song.

    TheTrueMopon November 29, 2009   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song: Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.” That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.