A Lion's Heart

There's a palace a fallin' There's a smoke in the sky There's a boy running downhill to the lowlands tonight And he's catching the train to where he's heard you have been He's a fool now among us, a dreamer within Dreaming of you

To me this song is about some poor sap that falls hopelessly in love with the woman of his dreams. That also pretty much sums up the first verse; he drops everything and chases this girl.

And on that day there was snowfall in the street, yellow light And they cleared the bill and rails just by those dark shimmer eyes In that land there's a winter In that winter's a day In that day there's a moment when it all goes your way And you know it's a lion's heart That will tumble and tear apart When he's coming down the hills for you

This verse shows both the fervor and the persistence of this guy. He believes that in the whole dang winter, he must have his moment eventually. He's determined that at some point things are going to start going his way. He has a lion's heart that will tumble and tear apart, to me this shows his aggressive passion. He won't let anything get in his way.

But can you still now remember who's been hiding up there? Through his howling at twilight all his songs of despair? Do you remember the caller of a black and white crime? Well he lives by that memory and falls from his mind And you know it's a lion's heart That will tumble and tear apart When he's coming down the hills for you

The story jumps forwards a little. We get a taste of how things are going to turn out for the poor guy "Can you still now remember who’s been hiding up there, through his howling at twilight all his songs of despair". Bummer. Well, we now see that he's been unsuccessful thus far. However, he hasn’t given up yet, that lion’s heart is still driving him towards that girl.

Well he'll walk in the city forever Oh, walk in a time to be gone Well there's no real goodbye if you mean it So I guess I'm forever alone

Hope? Not really. He finally gives up and spends the rest of his days drifting aimlessly through life, without hope of every finding another person to love.

Now he's a stranger among us, he will die in the park Where he hides from the statues and the weather remarks In that land there's a winter In that winter's a day In that day there's a moment when it all goes away And you know it's a lion's heart That will tumble and tear apart When it's coming down the hills for you

The last verse utilizes some of the lines from earlier in the song, but they certainly don’t hold the same meaning. “In that day there’s a moment when it all goes away”, though it once represented the naïve belief that eventually things will turn up, the singer now uses it to show the mans helpless outlook, and trust that sometime soon it will all just go away. Does that mean he’s waiting for death to take him? I haven’t really decided. Second is “You know it’s a lion’s heart, that will tumble and tear apart”, which once symbolized his passionate and relentless drive to win the woman of his dreams. I envisioned him tackling and tearing apart any metaphorical obstacles that may have stood between him and the woman of his dreams; now I feel that his once righteous heart is now tumbling to the ground and slowly tearing itself apart.

Very melancholic song. If I could summarize it in one word it would have to be “bummer”. Of course all of this is just my opinion, let me know what you think.

For me this song just details the events of Narnia

Theres the fall of Aslan: "And you know it's a lion's heart That will tumble and tear apart When he's coming down the hills for you"

The Great Winter: "And on that day there was snowfall in the street, yellow light And they cleared the bill and rails just by those dark shimmer eyes In that land there's a winter In that winter's a day In that day there's a moment when it all goes your way"

Beating The White Witch is in that as well and theres a few more in there as well

How this song doesn't have any comments yet is beyond me, it's brilliant.

I can't detail an exact meaning but for me it conjures up memories of an ex-lover you still think about.

From "in that day there's a moment when it all goes your away" - the beginning of something beautiful To "in that day there's a moment when it all goes away" - the end

"Well he lives by that memory and falls from his mind"

I don't have much to say about this song's lyrics, but it's my favorite song on the album for its melody. That building, building melody into the chorus is so great.

I will say though that "Where he hides from the statues and the weather remarks" is a brilliant line. As one who repudiates talking about the weather as much as possible, I appreciate this line for its poignancy.

Excuse me, can someone show what the phrase "bill and rails" means? I don't see any relation between "bill" and " rails" in my dictionary. Thank for your helping!

Its melody is very attractive, especially guitar intro.

'But can you still now remember who's been hiding up there? Through his howling at twilight all his songs of despair?'

Can you even remember what you want anymore?

The Wild Hunt, think about it. What's more wild than a woman? These are songs of love, though not always happy. He's married, I believe, since he's wearing a ring and semi-joked about it at the show in Ft. Worth.

"There's not real goodbye if you mean it So I guess im forever alone"

I guess he is saying if you are really sincere about a goodbye, then you shouldn't be saying it at all, because you still love that person. As he was when he said goodbye to a previous lover maybe? he is still in love, but she has gone.

I think it should be "quitted building rails" and not "cleared the bills and rails".

I think it's overwhelmingly obvious: this song is about me.