Darling please, let's get out of here
On a train to who knows where
I've got a feeling that I can't explain
We had to leave this place, we won't go back again
Getting tired of landscapes, we're just floating
Rolling past the grey estates

What put the fire in your stomach out
What moved its hands all across your mouth
Out through the window let the neon sing
In place of telegraphs that don't mean a thing
And we crawled off to our destination
Rolling past the grey estates

Rushing through
A new world, a new world, a new world
It's just a minute away
Rushing through
A new world, a new world, a new world
It's just a minute away

So let the needle on the compass swing
Let the iron in your heart's blood ring
Strike up the band as the ship goes down
And if it's loud enough, they will raise the sound
Of one hundred thousand sad inventions
Let them rot inside the grey estate

Rushing through
A new world, a new world, a new world
It's just a minute away
Rushing through
A new world, a new world, a new world
It's just a minute away

I'm half awake and the world is ending
All across the border just a minute away
I'm half awake and the world is ending
Across the border just a minute, just a minute away


Lyrics submitted by omegadaxer

The Grey Estates song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

7 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    "And your world" = "A new world."

    Almost positive.

    rossyvictoron June 07, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    you know i remember reading somewhere that this album was full of Marxist references and while there are many references to anti-war, anti-god, and materialistic outlooks, i haven't seen anything distinctly communist, except maybeeeee this song??

    An estate is private property and all of one's property. it being colored grey probably adds a negetive connotation to it too. in this song, the protagonist and lover are attempting to get away from the grey estates because he references "rolling past them" as they attempt to get to this "new world." Also, "and if it's loud enough it will erase the sound of one hundred thousand sad inventions. let them rot inside the grey estates." So the protagonist is willing to give up most worldly assests , particularly private property and all the technical advancements of the modern world. This is a bit of a stretch but is possible...

    jjc886on June 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    jjc886 - I think you are right about this apart from the Marxist connotation. There's a common theme running through Wolf Parade and especially Dan's songs about a dissatisfaction with modernity, technology and city life. From what I can make out, its a plea to escape the city (The Grey Estates) and the one hundred thousand sad inventions (all our modern trinkets and gadgets we surround ourselves with and are marketed in a way that we feel we can't live without them) and get the hell out - 'a new world is just a minute away'. So pretty much in agreement with you, however I think a direct link to Marxism is a little tenuous.

    pigriseron June 12, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I always thought "Grey Estates" could also mean escaping the hell of suburban conformity. Perhaps too literal.

    jules818on July 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    @jjc886 - I know what you're talking about. The content wasn't Marxist, but the music was written in a communal fashion. I don't think Dan's songs are especially communist. The unrest with the modern life is an idea that stretches back to D.H. Lawrence.

    But I agree, this song seems to be about an escape from the modern world (another good Dan song).

    mountainfireon July 15, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    See e.e. cumming's "pity this busy monster, manunkind"

    fivefightsfineon December 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    full of impulse. so few comments. great song.

    peaceasyon April 24, 2010   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
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
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
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.