I won't settle for this
with open arms and unclenched fists
cause someday they'll pass my stone
to throw a flower, drop a kiss
and i won't walk all over you
and heaven knows you asked me too
but even if you're by my side
heaven just won't do

and i want this world at my fingertips
its people at my feet
to give me all the things that i desire
but i could never need
and its for this desperation
i pull the stars right out of space
load them in my pistol
make the world a better place

and the fences can not keep me out
of a world they hadn't told me about
someday i'll split that skyline
oh this machine is built to climb
and i will not say i lied to you
even when its close to true
cause baby when you're close to me
i can never feel you

and i want this world at my fingertips
it's people at my feet
to give me all the things that i desire
but i could never need
and it's for this desperation
i pull the stars from outterspace
load them in my pistol
make the world better

tearing down is building
oh baby can't you see
that losing you is finding all that i could never be
and if hurting you were murder
there's no other thought i'd bleed
then to curse the bloody fingertips
that did this all to me

and i want this world at my fingertips
its people at my feet
to give me all the things that i desire
and nothing that i need
and laws of time and vision
put the stars back in the space
throw away the pistol
make the world a better place


Lyrics submitted by paperplains

Fingertips song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

9 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    thank you so much for posting this as there were 9 songs of the 20 or so he had that no lyrics were online and this was one of them..if you have any of these, please post the words..

    my favorite is dream vision and I have it all but several words I can't decipher. on this one that line "that did this all to me" sounds like that did this SONG to me (or maybe give this song)

    haven't the meaning for this one yet

    calendar girlon March 06, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    calendar girl you're welcome, i listened to this song many times over in the past few days and it could be 'that did this all to me' or 'that did this song to me'. though i hear 'all', it could be either. i'm still iffy on the meaning of this one as well, it could mean a few different things. i want to ask him though, i think perhaps i will

    paperplainson March 06, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hi paperplains..again..thanks for putting it and replying. I do have some songs figured out but a few have missing parts I can't understand. Can they be posted with a few question marks..maybe someone else can figure out the missing pieces. Are they hard to post..I am new here.

    relistening to this song..I think this verse is as follows:

    tearing down IS building oh baby can't you see that losing you is finding all that i could never be and if hurting you were murder there's no other thought I'd bleed then to curse the bloody fingertips that did this song? to me

    I will put a few ideas for parts of the song's meaning in next post

    calendar girlon March 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think the first half of the first verse he is saying he will not settle for the mundane with any form of peace because someday he will be dead and refuses to be untrue to what he wants

    that he needs people at his feet and the world he wants totally and completely available to give his his heart's desires and he will do anything to have that even if it hurts people he loves. That he can give so much to so many and thus help make the world better with his music.

    He may be saying that he was meant to soar and strive and climb to reach his destiny and that nothing can keep him out even though he was not taught or told the kind of life that could be out there for him if if he pursues his dream and goal. The desperation within is too great.

    the song is song to someone who wants to keep him by her side whether a lover or his mother and he says that though he tears down the relationship by "being selfish" and leaving to seek his fortune he is actually creating not destroying for only if he hurts the person and leaves can he find all that awaits him out there, but that he is sad it hurts the person and if his leaving hurts her and is murder to her soul/being that his thoughts would be consumed with the pain of this and he would curse himself or whatever force gave these songs and this mission to him to rise and be a star.

    I think maybe the ending is saying once he achieves that which he envisions and longs for that things can then get better for them since he will have what he was so desperate for and if it is to his mom show her he was right in the long run.

    This is a hard one and maybe this interpretation is wrong but through many of his songs we see this passion and intense need to be what he sees he could be..

    He is saying that despite the person (be it a lover or a mother) begging him to pretend is to walk over them to lie and he will not do that cause the truth is even if there are near and close, he can't feel it if he gives up himself and his dream and he feels he must be honest and that he must be who he was destined to be,.

    for all his years of emotional turmoil, it is nice that this few days after his first concert in LA, Josiah is seeing his long awaited dreams come true..so happy for him

    Will he need some kind of problem/conflict etc to reach the heihgts this turmoil has caused him to pour out the verses withj the same intensity and passion..time will tell

    calendar girlon March 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I completely agree Calendar girl, about the song. and you know that one line may be 'tearing down IS building' i'll edit that in. and to answer your question yes you can post the lyrics to other songs and just put a ? where you don't understand something, i think maybe only you can edit it once you've submitted it but others can comment to the song and if they know that part/thing something is different they can comment with that.

    paperplainson March 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    oh in my first post, I meant to say dream reality not dream vision..sorry

    calendar girlon April 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hey, thank you paperplains for that..I did post a couple songs that the words were right on. I will later be posting my guesses for the lyrics there and here too I guess and also having a discussion on the meanings of his 20 plus songs over at josiahlemingfans (It is found by goggle- ing it that no spaces an is the one that says index next to it..in that has the word forumlands in the link.)

    the present and stuff for it is found in the chatter thread..look at the first few threads in the chatter (announcements and stickys) one has word car in where the stuff is and the other the word plan in it and see about our belated birthday surprise for Josiah.

    Some girl I spoke with- a pathologist --who does autopsies said many of his songs involve death. do they?

    She said he talked about death and suicide a lot in his songs and that this and 31 pages he does that ...is he talking about suicide and death in this song???

    I guess she is referring to his loading his pistol but I didn't really take it that way although that part is a little confusing. What do you think?

    and thanks for the validation..what do you think of me guess at plaines overhead?

    calendar girlon April 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Calender girl- The lines
    "I'll pull the stars right out of space load them in my pistol make the world a better place" could refer to suicide. He could be saying that he has no place in this world, and that it would be better without out him. That interpretation would make sense, but I think that he is saying "someday i'll split that skyline." That he needs to break free from the rules set by society and make some drastic changes on the world.

    But make sense, but I think the second fits into the theme of the song better.

    josiahcrazy5on May 31, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think someone who has this song needs to put it on YouTube, please. I can't find it to listen to anywhere. I know you can buy it on his MySpace, but I know someone out there must have the song.

    Any of those people have a YouTube account and want to make a video, please? Maybe?

    This is the only one that's here on SM but not on YouTube. There are like 5 other ones that aren't on either, but you can buy from the MySpace. Oh hey could somebody put those up on YouTube, too? Like "31 pages"... which you've supposedly heard, calendar girl coughcough...

    Thanks, lol. I really want to join you, I do, I'm just finding it a little hard since I haven't heard the song! lol And it sounds like a pretty awesome one, too, judging by the lyrics.

    So yeah. Peace. And sorry for being annoying, idk what's with me right now. ;)

    foundthevelvetsun7on May 29, 2008   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
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.