Sugarcane

I think I agreed with most of the opinions above.

However I didn't really appreciate being called an idiot or a moron, drcynic, especially considering the hypocrisy behind most of your comments, and the incoherency of most of your explanation.

The idea of the site is to get everyone's opinions on what a song means, though, even if people are a little rude in getting them across.

Okay so this was originally posted by asullivan12, but it seems none of you have seen it, so here it is again it is a quote from Missy Higgins.

"I looked up at the wall and there was this photo of a Ballerina, it was a still from a very old black and white movie, I studied the photo the ballerina had a very somber look on her face, she was kind of looking down and there was something up in the corner of the photo, a kind of ghostly figure and it seemed to me as though it was haunting her and it immediately took me to somebody that I knew in my personal life. The sadness in that ballerina was portraying this woman that I know who is in the entertainment industry and was suffering at the time from being… she had gotten quite successful and then been completely cut down as seems to be the common way that the public like to cut people down to size when they get a little too arrogant or start believing the hype too much. I was looking at this and I was kind of afraid watching her. I was like,” I don’t want to be successful. If I’m successful then everyone will hate me and it was very confusing.” I also felt very sorry for her. I felt that she was a victim of some cruel aspects of today’s society. It’s funny how one little thing can grow into something much bigger and it turned out to be the inspiration for this song" - Missy Higgins

Thank you asullivan12 for finding this

Firstly, Spell check eh, drcynic? I think it might be broken. I would like to point out that it's "morbid," not "morbed." Hypocrite much? Secondly, I read something on another site that said at a concert before singing this song, Missy talked about the government's treatment of the aborigines, and how they needed to do more to take care of the natives.

one of my favorites on the new album.

"grow tall, sugarcane.."

ms higgins is amazing :)

I love this song too, but i really really can't figure out what it means - and i've really tried. has anyone got any ideas? I was hoping to go to missy's concert but unfortunately missed out. I don't suppose there are any auzzies here who have been already - perhaps she's talked a little about the song?

I can't really figure it out either. It will come to me later, but I was thinking something along the lines of this.

Maybe the little girl is abused and made fun of because of her screwing up in a recital? And so she's being told to be strong. And then the second verse talks about a stripper, and she's being empathetic, saying how the poor ballerina could be okay if she only had a "wall to hide" her. The always be afraid part, perhaps about how people can be so cruel?

Amazing song... and I think half of the greatness of this song and these lyrics is that they're so difficult to figure out. Seriously, I've been trying to figure it out since I first heard it and it remains a total enigma. I think you may be on the right track hopelessly_hopeful... but that explanation doesn't seem quite complete. Goodness, these lyrics make my head hurt. :-)

Amazing song... and I think half of the greatness of this song and these lyrics is that they're so difficult to figure out. Seriously, I've been trying to figure it out since I first heard it and it remains a total enigma. I think you may be on the right track hopelessly_hopeful... but that explanation doesn't seem quite complete. Goodness, these lyrics make my head hurt. :-)

I think this is one of those songs that means something different to everyone who hears it. I think it starts out about somebody so innocent (Baby Ballerina) who sees the cruel things the world does and wants to hide from it. Then it talks about someone not innocent at all (the girl at the peep show) but who also wishes she had a wall to hide from the world's cruel games.

Both are the "sugarcane" - they can grow tall as long as they run from the world's cruelty, but the world will be chasing them all the while.

I agree with alot of what you guys are saying..here's my thoughts..

The line 'baby ballerina' refers to this girl when she was young, she was abused or not taken care of at home and in the world, but she had no where to hide...then she gets older and she is working as the girl at the peep show, she's saying how she's got this wall to hide behind, she's got this mirror so she doesn't have to see the people, and a way to stop them from seeing her, but the line 'if only the ballerina had one too' refers to her when she was younger, that maybe if she had had a way to hide back then she wouldn't be where she is now, she's saying 'run fast sugarcane' as a sort of message, as in get away from that world she grew up in as fast as you can so that you don't end up in the same position as her....