He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
I've watched the stars fall silent
From your eyes
All the sights that I have seen
I can't believe that
I believed I wished
That you could see
There's a new planet
In the solar system
There is nothing up my sleeve
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
I'm tossing out punchlines
That were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground
In all this talk of time
Talk is fine
But I don't want to stay around
Why can't we pantomime
Just close our eyes
And sleep sweet dreams
Me and you with wings on our feet
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
I'm tossing out punchlines
That were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers in full bloom
I'm looking for answers
From the great beyond
I want the hummingbirds
The dancing bears
Sweetest dreams of you
I look into the stars
I look into the moon
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
I'm tossing out punchlines
That were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for answers
From the great beyond
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for
Answers from the great
Answers from the great, answers
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for answers
From the great beyond
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for
Answers from the great
Answers from the great, answers
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for
Answers from the great beyond
From your eyes
All the sights that I have seen
I can't believe that
I believed I wished
That you could see
There's a new planet
In the solar system
There is nothing up my sleeve
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
I'm tossing out punchlines
That were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground
In all this talk of time
Talk is fine
But I don't want to stay around
Why can't we pantomime
Just close our eyes
And sleep sweet dreams
Me and you with wings on our feet
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
I'm tossing out punchlines
That were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers in full bloom
I'm looking for answers
From the great beyond
I want the hummingbirds
The dancing bears
Sweetest dreams of you
I look into the stars
I look into the moon
I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs
I'm tossing out punchlines
That were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for answers
From the great beyond
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for
Answers from the great
Answers from the great, answers
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for answers
From the great beyond
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for
Answers from the great
Answers from the great, answers
I'm breaking through
I'm bending spoons
I'm keeping flowers
In full bloom
I'm looking for
Answers from the great beyond
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Great Beyond Lyrics as written by Mike Mills Peter Buck
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
when rules change
Life in Your Way
Life in Your Way
High life
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.