2 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
King Of Rome Lyrics
Small man, big world
Lost beyond the pale
I know you inside out
I can tell the tale
Across the sky a change of time
Last night I lost all day
I'm here and there or anywhere
Away from Manderley
And if I were the King of Rome
I couldn't be more tragic
My fate to roam so far from home
In search of my lost magic
Oh, baby come back
Oh, baby come back to me
The desert moon, a new lagoon
We glide upon the surface
Night falls fast, no shadows cast
Arriving without purpose
Oh, baby call me
Oh, baby call me today
And if I were the King of Rome
I couldn't be more lonely
With so much scope to dream and hope
Someday you'll deign to phone me
Oh, baby call me
Oh, baby call me today
I long for your inscrutable pale face
I hunger for your beautiful embrace
Lost beyond the pale
I know you inside out
I can tell the tale
Last night I lost all day
I'm here and there or anywhere
Away from Manderley
I couldn't be more tragic
My fate to roam so far from home
In search of my lost magic
Oh, baby come back to me
We glide upon the surface
Night falls fast, no shadows cast
Arriving without purpose
Oh, baby call me today
I couldn't be more lonely
With so much scope to dream and hope
Someday you'll deign to phone me
Oh, baby call me today
I hunger for your beautiful embrace
Song Info
Submitted by
young_jables On Apr 06, 2009
More Pet Shop Boys
West End Girls
Rent
Being Boring
Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)
It's A Sin
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
This is without question one of the most beautiful and haunting songs ever written by the PSB. The sadness and loneliness of the singer is palpable as he cries out in despair "Oh baby, come back to me..." The singer is crying out for the love of a lost lover (male or female) without whose love and companionship all the riches of the world are as nothing...
The "King of Rome" is a reference to the son of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was crowned with this title as an infant. He grew up amidst stunning material riches, yet died at the age of 21. Neil describes him as "an emblem of loneliness in the midst of wealth"...
Neil sounds utterly emotionally prostrated in this song. All the beauties of the world are hollow and empty as he wanders across the world, searching for "his lost magic" (the man or woman with whom the singer cannot live without). The line "Last night I lost a day" probably refer to his crossing the International Date Line, literally losing a day in his travels around the world in his lonely search for the love that he lost...
The reference to "Away from Manderley" is less clear. What did he mean by this? Manderley is the fictional estate of the character named Maxim de Winter (from Daphne du Maurier's novel "Rebecca"). The novel (and the film made in 1940) describes a mansion in Cornwall that is burned to the ground and remains only as a ruin... Is this an indirect reference to the death of the relationship which the singer mourns? Was their home named Manderley (this became the most popular name given to houses in the UK)...
The grief and pain in the singer's heart is expressed poignantly in the closing lines "I long for your inscrutable face / I hunger for your beautiful embrace..."
The singer wants his lover to return...
What more can one possibly add to such a raw, emotional cry for mercy?
I've come across an audio track by track commentary of "Yes" by Neil and Chris, Neil mentions that there is "a slight influence" of the novel Rebecca, and that's why he includes that line "away from Manderley", doesn't explain more about that influence except that he was going to recite some lines but decided against it. The rest, pretty much what philipcfromnyc had already interpreted so accurately.
I've come across an audio track by track commentary of "Yes" by Neil and Chris, Neil mentions that there is "a slight influence" of the novel Rebecca, and that's why he includes that line "away from Manderley", doesn't explain more about that influence except that he was going to recite some lines but decided against it. The rest, pretty much what philipcfromnyc had already interpreted so accurately.
philipfromnyc you just nailed it! I had a general meaning of the song but your in depth interpretation is so eye opening and succinct at the same time!