4 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Struck Down Lyrics
Struck down by a vision of beauty
Said I was struck down by a long legg'd archer
Oh the city was hot, but my blood ran cold
Oh, the city went dark, keep calm and carry on.
I was a young man, only 19 years old.
I was a young man so very far away from home.
Ah she got me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
Ah she shot me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
Keep calm and carry on, reefer madness quiets the falling bomb.
I want to be an old man, damn you, von Braun.
I've been laid low by a blinding light.
I've been torn asunder by the banshee's wail.
Ah she got me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
Ah she shot me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
Keep calm and carry on, reefer madness quiets the falling bomb.
I was a young man, only 19 years old.
I was a very young man so very far away from home.
I was imprisoned by a vision of beauty.
I was struck down by the long legg'd archer.
Keep calm and carry on, reefer madness quiets the falling bomb.
Said I was struck down by a long legg'd archer
Oh the city was hot, but my blood ran cold
Oh, the city went dark, keep calm and carry on.
I was a young man so very far away from home.
Ah she got me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
Ah she shot me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
I've been laid low by a blinding light.
I've been torn asunder by the banshee's wail.
Ah she got me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
Ah she shot me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
I was a very young man so very far away from home.
I was imprisoned by a vision of beauty.
I was struck down by the long legg'd archer.
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I'm pretty sure London in WW2 is the main idea of the song, between the "Keep Calm and Carry On" and "damn you, Von Braun" bits. "Keep Calm and Carry On" was a poster to be used to help inspire the populace's stiff upper lip if the Nazis actually took the country, and Wernher von Braun is the man that gave us the V-2 rocket. "Long legg'd archer" could be the rockets' delivery systems, and you've got the "blinding light" and the "banshee's wail" to help hammer home the "things going boom around me" idea.
I mean, and the "falling bomb" bit. That's kinda selfexplanatory. Shallow reading, I won't lie, but going any further'd be extrapolating bizarre and unsupported metaphor from a pretty straight forwards series of statements.
"Reefer madness quiets the falling bomb" could be talking about drug use as a way to distract oneself from devastating events. The exploitation film "Reefer Madness" was released only three years prior to the beginning of WWII.
"Reefer madness quiets the falling bomb" could be talking about drug use as a way to distract oneself from devastating events. The exploitation film "Reefer Madness" was released only three years prior to the beginning of WWII.
I didn't know it was only three years prior, huh. I got the reference, but I figured it kinda spoke for itself--but, again, people that get the reference are probably the type to think stuff like that. Not to, uh, incriminate myself in any way.
I didn't know it was only three years prior, huh. I got the reference, but I figured it kinda spoke for itself--but, again, people that get the reference are probably the type to think stuff like that. Not to, uh, incriminate myself in any way.
Neil said in an interview that his sister gave him a poster for Xmas with the phrase "Keep calm and carry on". I think it was his dad who made the statement, try and write a song about that. Neil took up the challenge and Struck Down is his answer. Other than that fascinating tidbit I agree with the other posters dissection of the lyrics...
I always just took this song as being about a girl; I never even picked the parts about von Braun, and falling bombs.
"I've been torn asunder by the banshee's wail." I think this is the phrase that ties the heartbreak and the war scene together. The sound of a falling bomb could be described as sounding like a banshee's wail, and a crazy ex-girlfriend could certainly be described as a banshee (although I prefer "succubus").
I think the war imagery is not the focal point of the story, but rather, it is a metaphor for a bad breakup (or other experience) with a girl.
He was a soldier in London in WW2. Saw a beautiful woman and perhaps tried to save her during a bombing raid, but he was hit by shrapnel.
"Struck down by a vision of beauty Said I was struck down by a long legg'd archer" Sees a beautiful woman
"Oh the city was hot, but my blood ran cold Oh, the city went dark, keep calm and carry on." It was a hot night, but an impending sense of doom overcame him. The bombing started and the city went dark. He was scared, but remembered to 'keep calm and carry on.'
I was a young man, only 19 years old. I was a young man so very far away from home. "Enlisted in the Army. Perhaps American, since he was so very far away from home"
Ah she got me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down. Ah she shot me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down.
"Keep calm and carry on, reefer madness quiets the falling bomb." London's slogan, but perhaps, it helped to keep calm if you were also stoned.
"I want to be an old man, damn you, von Braun." He didn't want to die at 19.
"I've been laid low by a blinding light. I've been torn asunder by the banshee's wail." The blinding light of a bomb explosion
"Ah she got me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down. Ah she shot me, struck down, right through the heart, struck down." Maybe he risked his life to save a beautiful woman in the raid and was hit in the chest with shrapnel.
Just a guess. Could be that there was no woman, or no bombing raid in London, or a little of both.