3 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Alaskan Pipeline Lyrics
You might as well surrender now
You'll never hold that stance
With all my words
I can't find one
To help you understand
It's not too late
Take up the cup
Put down your weapons and choose
But you say life's so unfair
Oh you say life's so unfair
You can ill afford to hold to these views
You need something to blame
But it's you
Yes, it's you
It's your truth
Someone made you
I don't know if you're sick
I comfort
You run away
My sympathy
You twist it
Your reflex gets in the way
You mother me
I son you
You act up
I can't get through
These footsteps
So ancient
In your eyes
I'm your infant
You're ancient
Full circle
In my eyes
You're my infant
Dead ball in our court
There's a dead ball in our court
We just say life's so unfair
Yes you say life's so unfair
You need something to blame
But it's you
Yes it's you
It's your truth
You'll never hold that stance
With all my words
I can't find one
To help you understand
It's not too late
Take up the cup
Put down your weapons and choose
Oh you say life's so unfair
You can ill afford to hold to these views
You need something to blame
Yes, it's you
It's your truth
I don't know if you're sick
I comfort
You run away
My sympathy
You twist it
Your reflex gets in the way
I son you
You act up
I can't get through
So ancient
In your eyes
I'm your infant
Full circle
In my eyes
You're my infant
There's a dead ball in our court
We just say life's so unfair
Yes you say life's so unfair
You need something to blame
But it's you
Yes it's you
It's your truth
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Can't believe no one has commented! This is an awesome song!
I have absoulotely no idea what this song is about but I'm guessing that it's about some guy liking a girl more than he should but the girl thinks otherwise and the guy tries to comfort her and stuff but she takes it the wrong way and rejects him. :)
Agreed, great song.
I think it's about a relationship with trust issues. The girl doesn't feel like the guy really loves her and so misinterprets the things he says ("with all my words I can't find one..."). He doesn't know why she acts that way, but thinks maybe someone mistreated her in the past ("someone made you...")
He wants her to let go of the defensiveness and choose to believe in him ("put down the weapons and choose"), but that's not happening. Instead, they keep going through the same patterns over and over again ("these footsteps, so ancient...").
The mother/son/infant/ancient stuff is about the different roles they play in the relationship at different times, and about how they over-rely on each other for emotional support (like children), and feel responsible for the others feelings (like parents).
Then, in the end, he doesn't know what to do -- they each think the other has to change ("dead ball in our court")
Tim Booth is on record as saying the song is about his fractured relationship with his mother. She was not abusive to him as he was growing up, but she was emotionally cold and distant, and showed Tim little affection. When he wanted to describe her coldness, he came up with Alaskan Pipeline as a euphemism for cold. The other interpretations here are far off base.