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The Easter Parade Lyrics
Is all that we've become,
Just nothing but hats and bags
We're waiting for taxi cabs
So you light cigarettes
And i'm taking drags
In the air, a sea of words,
That didn't come soon enough
In my mind a railway station
And a ticket stub
And it is easter in the town
I can hear as they strike off the bell
We're listening to some old man
Say he came back to life with a hole in his head
And now the sunday school is gathered Together in pink and in blue
They're heralding angels for you
But not for me
They're singing
Gloria in excelsis
Deo deo
Gloria in excelsis
But there's no,
There's no hope
And i am grateful for the things
That you've tried to show to me dear
But there no arcadia
No Albion and theres no jerusalem here
And underneath your pastures green
There's earth and there ash
And theres bone
And there are things that dissapear
Into it and then they are gone
And there is light that hits the sky
And then it is midnight again
And there is my mother, my father,
And you and we are all impermanent
And on the green they tell their tales About how even the dead can come back
I just dont believe in that
So you can keep on singing
Gloria in exclelsis
Deo deo
Gloria in excelsis
But there's no,
There's no hope
There's no such thing (x7)
There's no such thing as ghosts
Just nothing but hats and bags
We're waiting for taxi cabs
So you light cigarettes
And i'm taking drags
That didn't come soon enough
In my mind a railway station
And a ticket stub
I can hear as they strike off the bell
We're listening to some old man
Say he came back to life with a hole in his head
They're heralding angels for you
But not for me
Gloria in excelsis
Deo deo
But there's no,
There's no hope
That you've tried to show to me dear
But there no arcadia
No Albion and theres no jerusalem here
There's earth and there ash
And theres bone
And there are things that dissapear
Into it and then they are gone
And then it is midnight again
And there is my mother, my father,
And you and we are all impermanent
I just dont believe in that
Deo deo
But there's no,
There's no hope
There's no such thing as ghosts
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none on this song either! I'm surprised. someone ought to have commented this.
This is a cynical view that the world is just the material that we can see...and that we're all impermanent (like in History of Britain) When she talks about easter and there's an old man, that's like Jesus returning from the dead, which she thinks isn't possible (I used to think it said hole in the hand, which would make sense if it is Jesus she's talking about). The Libertines had a dream about reaching Albion (not alby) and Arcadia (which is like Utopia) but Emmy's saying there's no such thing as that. It's like there's someone trying to convert her, but she's saying though you might sing "Glory to God in the highest," there's no hope and we'll all die and end, and there's no afterlife i.e. being a ghost or the dead coming back, like Jesus.
This is the song that first got me into Emmy The Great. It's pure genius from start to finish.
I think that "We're listening to some old man/Say he came back to life with a hole in his head" may be mistranscribed, to my ear it sounds like "a hole in his hand" which would rhyme better and fit the Easter imagery better.
The "Gloria in excelsis Deo" ( translates from the latin as "Glory To God In The Highest" ) is what the angels sang when Christ was born in the new testament and has been incorporated into many hymns going back at least as far as the third century.
Subtle and brilliant this is one of the finest lyrics I have ever read/heard.
i absolutely love this song.
the meaning should be pretty easy to figure out..
I'm with Breakfast on this one.
"We're listening to some old man say He came back to life with a hole in His hand" makes more sense as it's obviously a reference to Jesus. The old man makes me think that it could be a pastor.
I also think the line "There's no Arcadia, no Alby and there's no Jerusalem here" could actually be "There's no Arcadia, no Albion, there's no Jerusalem here".
The Easter Parade is a novel by Richard Yates. The main character is called Emmy.