I left on a whim
Clean up the kitchen
Please, remind the kids
and need my permission

Picture me
Glistening, overseas
nnnh, nnnhhh, nhhh

I missed weekend shule
third time this summer
my truest amor
left for Yeshiva

picture me
glistening, overseas
nnnhhh, nnh, nhh

*KAZOO SOLO*


Lyrics submitted by nataliegrace, edited by Blue7

sailing by night song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

8 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    i haven't had time to analyze this song, but it's oh so lovely

    the8eson January 08, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think the predominant idea explored in Sailing By Night is that of the physical presence (or its lack, rather) of a lover in proximity to the speaker: the lyrics seem to serve as a lament, indicating a longing for another who is gone. The 'picture me', 'remind the kids', and the 'my truest amor' all point to an almost elegiac tone, expressing a sorrow (nor for having 'left on a whim', but for the necessity of the separation).

    And while the speaker seems entirely entrenched in a sort of despair for his faraway lover, he is also unable to describe the immensity of his happiness 'glistening overseas': thus the wordless and inarticulate 'nnn', 'nnn', 'nnn's mirroring the kazoo/synth keyboard solo (a quasi-trumpet salute).

    wheresthedamnCAPO?on March 08, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i freaking love the kazoo part

    tacokisseson July 28, 2008   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion

    I'm pretty sure that the lyric isn't "left for your shiva" but "left for Yeshiva," as in the Jewish school.

    Stervensonon February 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i'm pretty sures it's

    "i missed weekend shule Third time this summer"

    lakremadudeon April 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Tha 'kazoo solo' (Doesn't sound anything like a kazoo.) is actually a sample from a song called Rydeen from a Japanese electronic band called Yellow Magic Orchestra.

    ladyweenuson January 08, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    So radiohead.

    subrosa777on January 08, 2014   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    So radiohead.

    subrosa777on January 08, 2014   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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.