I was making my way through the wasteland
The road into town passes through
I was changing the radio stations
With my mind on you
Oh your friends call you "Lily Paloma"
But that's not the way that you are
It's too much of a gentle misnomer
For a shooting star

But you and me baby
I saw you there
Straight away I knew
There's really no hiding
I'll tell you right now
What we're gonna do
We'll go collecting the days
Putting the moments away
You're on my mind like a
Song on the Radio

I remember the first time I saw you
Alone in the dark with a drink
With a candle flame burning before you
And your thoughts closed in
You were staring out into the distance
Not seeming to hear what I said
Why did you put up such resistance
Like all the lights are red

'Cause you and me baby
I saw you there
Straight away I knew
There's really no hiding
I'll tell you right now
What we're gonna do
We'll go collecting the days
Putting the moments away
You're on my mind like a
Song on the Radio

I don't know what it was that was painful
But sometimes it's there in your face
There are times when you just look disdainful
Of the human race
Ah, but then on the wings of emotion
We circle each other in flight
Till together we roll like the ocean
In its bed at night

'Cause you and me baby
I saw you there
Straight away I knew
There's really no hiding
I'll tell you right now
What we're gonna do
We'll go collecting the days
Putting the moments away
You're on my mind like a
Song on the Radio
You're on my mind like a
Song on the Radio


Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings

Song on the Radio Lyrics as written by Al Stewart

Lyrics © Spirit Music Group

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Song on the Radio song meanings
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  • +3
    General Comment

    This is a beautiful song; I suppose the lack of comments is because the lyrics are so clear in what they mean. The singer is in a longtime relationship with a woman and as he's driving somewhere, alone, he's thinking about her.

    They met in a random encounter at a bar or restaurant and for him it was love at first sight, although she was not so quick to reciprocate. Eventually, they did begin a relationship, which continues to the present.

    An interesting portion of the lyrics…

    your friends call you "Lily Paloma" But that's not the way that you are It's too much of a gentle misnomer For a shooting star

    He says that Lily Paloma isn't how she is – a bit of a strange statement because names don't have to describe a person. But a lily is a flower and "paloma" is Spanish for dove, a couple of living things that are beautiful but generally calm and placid. Apparently, Lily's personality is more vivid than that in some way: She's an active lover and sometimes disdainful of other people. Other than that, we don't know much about her.

    This song explicitly refers to someone hearing a song on the car radio and during its peak popularity, surely had a lot of fans who enjoyed that when they heard it on their own car radio, and maybe it made them think of someone they knew. For the song to get, pleasingly, into someone's head like that is good marketing – and good art.

    rikdad101@yahoo.comon September 10, 2016   Link

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