Sleepytime Gorilla Museum

Powerless

1 Meaning

Add Yours

Q&A

Powerless Lyrics

Let me give it all to the very small thing
that leaves me... powerless.
I see my face from another time, from a day
gone by (good-bye).
Arrogant and fast, a smile that leaks onto
the saddest things.
I know I know then what I don't know
now, what I'll never know again.
Smaller now. Powerless

Finding some shoes. Losing your feet.
Finding some food. Losing your teeth.
There was a time when the world was
mine. Now it's yours and I'm... powerless.
I hear your voice from another time from
a day yet to come (here it comes).
Beautiful and slow, a tear that washes
through the gladdest things.
Now I've forgotten how not to give it all
to the very small joy that leaves me in tears
and... closer now.
Powerless...

Submitted by

twilight31 On Apr 26, 2007

A Hymn to the Morning Star

Sleep Is Wrong

Helpless Corpses Enactment

The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens The Discussion

The Creature

Lyrics saved successfully! Thanks!

These lyrics are currently locked and can only be edited by moderators and administrators.

You must be logged in to edit lyrics.

Unable to save lyrics. Please try again.

Lyrics cannot contain links.

Lyric edit submitted successfully and is pending approval. Approvals usually take 24 hours.

Keep it true to the song

Fix what’s wrong, but don’t rewrite what the artist wrote. Stick to the official released version — album booklet, label site, verified lyric video, etc. If you’re guessing, pause and double-check.

Respect the structure

Songs have rhythm. Pages do too. Leave line breaks where they belong. Don’t smash things together or add extra empty space just for looks.

Punctuation counts (but vibe-editing doesn’t)

Correct typos? Yes. Re-punctuating a whole verse because it ‘looks better’? Probably not. Keep capitalization and punctuation close to the official source.

Don’t mix versions

If you’re editing the explicit version, keep it explicit. If it’s the clean version, keep it clean. No mashups.

Let the lyrics be lyrics

This isn’t the place for interpretations, memories, stories, or trivia — that’s what comments are for. Keep metadata, translations, and bracketed stage directions out unless they’re officially part of the song.

Edit lightly

If two lines are wrong… fix the two lines. No need to bulldoze the whole page. Think ‘surgical,’ not ‘remix.’

When in doubt, ask the crowd

Not sure what they’re singing in that fuzzy bridge? Drop a question in the comments and let the music nerds swarm. Someone always knows.

Twilight31

Submitter

2007-04-26 10:48:18

1 Meaning

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Sort by

by liquorton gooksberg

18y ago

this song is the most explicit declaration of a theme SGM explores throughout its albums: powerlessness.

mankind's utter powerlessness against many things: against its own urges and obsessions (Sleep Is Wrong, FC: The Freedom Club); against its own institutions (The Creature, Formicary); against its own physical frailty (Baby Doctor, The Cockroach); and against the very order of nature and time (The Donkey Headed Adversary, The Salt Crown).

it's all kind of a downer -- but it's real, it's thought-provoking and it's delivered with a voice that's all SGM's own.

and that's exactly what great art is meant to be and do, in my opinion.

Users:

Reply · 0 Share

Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.