Clouds Crash

Shawn has become such an amazing lyricist since their first few albums, the imagery in this song is so poignant, I feel like I am there in that meadow watching the cloud crash upon the hillside every time I listen to it! And the strings make me feel like shedding a tear :)

I don't think the song is necessarily about a relationship between a boy and girl, I think it is more about just how life seems to speed up as we get older. I'm definitely feeling that acceleration where I'm at in my life, being 20 and not a teenager anymore, it makes you think about how if you don't accomplish something with your life in the next 10 years you are a failure. Quite horrifying.

But I think the song definitely has nostalgia for the past, when we were children, the summers used to seem like forever. Now we don't even have any free time in the summer because of our jobs. And I think the "come with me and be free" bit is just Shawn suggesting we join him in living our lives without letting it all speed by.

PS: the version I have doesn't say that btw, it sounds like it says "you're not linen, you are skin again." weird.

Shawn Harris, who comes from a Catholic family and who attended Bishop O'Dowd High School, is certainly referring to a church fresco with many of these lines.

Most obviously

"What a ceiling All the angels cracked and peeling Revealing constellations"

And possibly even the first and titular line "clouds crash in the meadow".

Historically there has been an interest in astronomy within the Roman Catholic church, in particular among Popes Pius IV and Gregory XIII. Thus, along with angels, constellations and star charts are not uncommon in Catholic murals.

Terrestrial maps can also be seen in many catholic frescoes, especially of Italy, which is depicted as a peninsula of rolling hills among a wavy blue sea laden with ships, easily calling to mind the words crashing and sailing. Google image search "Galleria delle Carte Geografica", an enormous fresco in one of the Vatican's halls, to get an idea.

The word "soul" shows further religious influence as does the meadow and shadow metaphor (23rd Psalm).

The person this song is sung to is obviously a girlfriend, the line "in my linen, you are skin again" would seem to indicate that they've had sexual relations, and the fact that both are familiar with the same church fresco points to them growing up together and attending the same institutions.

This unidentified female had a huge crush on a boy in her younger years, but was afraid to give him any of the love notes she wrote. She kept the love notes, at some point the song writer found out about the notes' existence, either on his own or through her telling him about them. Perhaps this is what caused him to write the song, expressing to her "forget about all your past relationships, look forward to the future with me."

The song also speaks of how time speeds up as we get older. Overall the song is somewhat stream-of-consciousness and slightly melancholy. It is a personal song with the feelings and imagery describing specific things from the writers life and his past, as such we can never gain a true and complete understanding of the meaning without consulting the writer, we can only surmise the generalities.

Well, who really knows? But it seems like, "leave the past behind and come with me to be free (skin again)."

Actually, the song's meaning is fairly easily discovered by simply reading the chorus.

"Revealing constellations One day you will name one After a boy you knew when You were back in middle school And ingrained his name in love notes Every one retained, though In a box behind your raincoats"

seems to me as if its about a boy & girl who get together, but she wont let go of an ex, plus when he says "leave the past behind come with me to be free"

beautiful song

actually it doesnt say leave the past behind come with me to be free.. not on this version anyhow.

does anyone recognize the melody? I'm thinking... maybe beatles can't put my finger on it. Or... something 90s alt rock.

across the universe by the beatles (: this song sounds similar to it....its amazing!

Whenever I hear this song I'm immediately reminded of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. The first line totally sounds like it.

This song has such pretty imagery.