19 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
Q&A

Underneath the Sycamore Lyrics

Lying in a field of glass
Underneath the overpass
Mangled in the shards of a mental frame
Woken from a dream by my own name
Well I was such a wretched man
Searching everywhere for a homeland
Now we are under the same sun
Feel it through the leaves, let it heal us

We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore
We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore

We were both broken in our own ways
Sifting through the rubble for the wrong things
I know you've got a vengeful heart
I cannot be stopped soon as I start
But you have seen your darkest rooms
And I have slept in makeshift tombs
This is where we find our peace
This is where we are released

We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore
We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore

We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore
We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore

We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore
We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore

We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore
We are the same
We are both sane
Underneath the sycamore
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

19 Meanings

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

I believe it's about two people finding themselves in another for the first time. I personally know exactly what this is like. The two verses are reflecting on how it was before connecting with someone so alike. Feeling lost, doing things you know are bad deep down, but still do because love is not with you.

The chorus is the mutual feeling of the two finding each other. The last two lines of each verse lead in to the chorus nicely. The worst is over now that we have found each other.

The kind of sad truth about it, is that there is so much more to say in the verses about the past than the chorus. And this held true in my personal experience. You get to that point and rejoice the exact lines of the chorus, and wait for the rest to unfold.

Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

Anybody ever think this is about the book Of Mice and Men? It just kindof seems like that to me. In the book it starts out with them sitting underneath a sycamore tree, and it ends the same way. And a lot of the lyrics, like, "well I was such a wretched man, searching everywhere for a homeland," really make sense like that. I don't know, just a thought.

Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

I also realized that I had forgotten one thing - which was that my first thought about them being "underneath the sycamore" and finally at peace, and saved - was them being buried in plots next to each other under a sycamore tree at a cemetary.

Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

To me, the narrator in this is a drunk who has found healing. The first stanza seems to me to be a car accident, probably drunk driving.

To me, the second stanza introduces another character, who also needs healing.

"Let it heal us." "This is where we find our peace, this is where we are released."

Underneath the Sycamore is a place that has brought the two to healing, together.

I actually think the line is 'this is where we are, at least', which has a wonderful lack of resolution to it.

Not Valid
Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

Not quite sure what this one means yet... But I do know that it's supposed to be "We are both saved"

Source = Album booklet

Lyric Correction
Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

Its a song that about two lovers(or even friends) and how they were both in alot of pain. They both find themselves in a desperate situation (both winding up under the overpass), but end up bonding because they realize they both have the same fears, hurts insecurities, etc. But then they both realize "we are the same, and both sane, underneath the sycamore". they both take refuge under the sycamore tree. Its interesting because it sorta reminds me of crooked teeth (it was one hundred degrees, as we sat beneath a willow tree"

Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

Any chance this song is actually connected with St. Peter's Cathedral and is describing the Afterlife of someone who died in a car accident?

That there he and his loved ones are the same, the sycamore on a beautiful field just being a metapher for inner piece?

Maybe the song is what Ben would like an "Afterlife" to be, and SPC explains that he really thinks there is none.

Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

The booklet that comes with the CD says the lyrics are "We are both SAVED," not "We are both sane."

Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

I think this song is about two people dying in a car crash and being buried underneath a sycamore tree. The fact that he mentions how he was a "wretched man" and how they were both "broken," etc. maybe shows that the two passengers were lovers who had a very difficult relationship but were still "soulmates" (for lack of a better description).

"Well I was such a wretched man Searching everywhere for a homeland Now we are under the same sun Feel it through the leaves, let it heal us"

There are clearly some regrets here, probably because of the difficult relationship. But now they are dead and buried underneath the same tree/sun, and now there are no difficulties. They can finally be at peace together.

"We are the same We are both saved Underneath the sycamore"

Same as above. They have died and are finally together without the obstacles faced in life. Despite their differences, they are the same, and they are buried ("saved") beneath the same tree.

"We were both broken in our own ways Sifting through the rubble for the wrong things"

This kind of invokes images of both the crash and the relationship, comparing them. Broken relationship, broken in the crash; sifting through the "rubble" just as the rescue teams sift through the car's rubble for them; etc.

"I know you've got a vengeful heart But I cannot be stopped soon as I start"

Again, comparing the relationship to the post-crash scene. The narrator knows the other person is "vengeful"/stubborn due to the fact that they have been in such a hard relationship, and now the other person's literal heart is doing the same as their personality. It is being stubborn, refusing to just die, just as the narrator can not stop bleeding. Narrator is saying that it is okay to just let go.

"But you have seen your darkest rooms I have slept in makeshift tombs This is where we find our peace This is where we are released"

Self-explanatory. They are finally at peace together despite what they went through in life.

I hope that makes sense!

Cover art for Underneath the Sycamore lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

The song is about 2 people recognizing themselves within each other and their differences.

And for once in life everything is simple..."we are the same. we are both saved"

And I agree with the last comment.

As for the "lying in a field of glass, underneath the overpass"

somehow I find this to be metaphoric. But very vivid...you could imagine so many different scenarios here.