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Marathon Runner Lyrics
When I was a boy of seventeen, I know it’s mean, but I
I told my friend to give up on her dreams, she hated me, but I
I knew that dreams were for the best of us, not for the rest of us,
and I
I didn’t want to share with anyone
I need a way to sing the greatest dance, and make
them laugh,
I could win the wars, or lose the battles too, whichever’s true
I can live in other people’s lives -
I CAN’T STOP PUTTING ON OTHER PEOPLE’S CLOTHES
I love them ‘til I leave
I am a marathon runner
and my legs are sore
and I’m anxious to see
what I’m running for
I am a hot air balloon
on a sailboat
I would make this my home
if I’d learned to float
So take my treasures, take my earthly life, I’ll try to cry,
I will live without the things I love the best
So hold them to your chest
I will lose my faces, lose my stolen wigs, the heads of kings
I will run until I know what to believe
I am a marathon runner
and my legs are sore
and I’m anxious to see
what I’m running for
I am a hot air balloon
on a sailboat
I would make this my home
if I’d learned to float
I told my friend to give up on her dreams, she hated me, but I
I knew that dreams were for the best of us, not for the rest of us,
and I
I didn’t want to share with anyone
them laugh,
I could win the wars, or lose the battles too, whichever’s true
I can live in other people’s lives -
I CAN’T STOP PUTTING ON OTHER PEOPLE’S CLOTHES
I love them ‘til I leave
and my legs are sore
and I’m anxious to see
what I’m running for
I am a hot air balloon
on a sailboat
I would make this my home
if I’d learned to float
I will live without the things I love the best
So hold them to your chest
I will lose my faces, lose my stolen wigs, the heads of kings
I will run until I know what to believe
and my legs are sore
and I’m anxious to see
what I’m running for
I am a hot air balloon
on a sailboat
I would make this my home
if I’d learned to float
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I believe this song is about a guy that is trying to fit in and be like everyone else, yet he doesn't know who he himself is as an individual.
"I am a marathon runner and my legs are sore and I’m anxious to see what I’m running for" He's been looking for some way to fit in and trying to find it, but he doesn't know what he's looking for.
"I am a hot air balloon on a sailboat I would make this my home if I’d learned to float" He's trying to fit in but he's out of place. He's not like everyone else. He would feel comfortable if only he could find what he was "running" for.
"I will lose my faces, lose my stolen wigs, the heads of kings I will run until I know what to believe" It almost speaks to me like he's been wearing masks and faking his personality to fit in, but he doesn't know what to believe in so he goes along with the crowd.
"I can't stop putting on other people's clothes" He is trying to conform and be like everyone else, but then he says he "loves them" until he "leaves". Maybe this part means he acts differently around other people so that he fits in, but he really has other thoughts and personalities that aren't like everybody else's.
I don't know what the first verse means exactly. I think it could mean that he didn't want his friend to be different from everyone else. He wanted her to conform to everybody else's beliefs.
That's all I could take away from this song. Great tune, though.
It seems like this guy knows exactly what he is. He says that telling his friend to give up on her dreams is mean but he never apologizes for it, or really shows remorse for that matter.
It seems like this guy knows exactly what he is. He says that telling his friend to give up on her dreams is mean but he never apologizes for it, or really shows remorse for that matter.
He seems to be looking for an answer. He knows he's got this stamina to run the world and be the person who everyone needs to be be, but he's still not sure why so he'll keep on running until it's clear.
He seems to be looking for an answer. He knows he's got this stamina to run the world and be the person who everyone needs to be be, but he's still not sure why so he'll keep on running until it's clear.
He's ok with losing everything he has and everything he wants, just to keep running, just to see what he's running...
He's ok with losing everything he has and everything he wants, just to keep running, just to see what he's running for.
I feel like this is a song about someone compulsively motivated for success in the entertainment industry but loses sight of his goals and can't find meaning in the pursuit:
"When I was a boy of seventeen, I know it’s mean, but I I told my friend to give up on her dreams, she hated me, but I I knew that dreams were for the best of us, not for the rest of us, And I I didn’t want to share with anyone"
/Here he tells us of a scene where as a child he was so protective of his dreams he shot down the dreams of a friend. He viewed success as a "zero-sum" game where if she "won" he would lose and he didn't want to share. Dreams are for those of us who are good enough and even though he knew it was mean he wanted to thin out the competition/
"I need a way to sing the greatest dance, and make them laugh, I could win the wars, or lose the battles too, whichever’s true I can live in other people’s lives I can’t stop putting on other people’s clothes I love them ‘til I leave"
//In this verse he explores his desire to be a successful entertainer. He wants to dance and make people laugh, there are victories and failures in his journey, but they are unimportant as long as he keeps going. He can "live in other people's lives and put on other people's clothes" either by pretending to be someone else while on stage, changing clothes/personas in his personal life, and "loving them till he leaves" his relationships with his audience and peers are superficial and shallow. He could also "live in other people's lives" as a famous person who is well known and influential and has a great impact on his fans.//
I am a marathon runner And my legs are sore And I'm anxious to see What I'm running for I am a hot air balloon On a sailboat I would make this my home If I'd learned to float
//In the chorus he declares that the work is really hard and the payoff is hard to determine and he's burning out. What IS he running for? A "hot air balloon on a sailboat" sounds to me like a "gasbag blowhard" full of "hot air" running his mouth and being pretentious on a big boat. He could get used to this lifestyle if he could just rise above the shallow relationships of celebrity.//
So take my treasures, take my earthly life, I'll try to cry, I will live without the things I love the best So hold them to your chest I will lose my faces, lose my stolen wigs, the heads of kings I will run until I know what to believe
//but now harsh reality comes crashing in, fame is fickle and all the things he holds dear are being taken away from him. But he's so numb and tired and disenfranchised by his struggles to succeed that he can't even cry. But he'll keep going until he finds meaning in it.//
I am a marathon runner And my legs are sore And I'm anxious to see What I'm running for I am a hot air balloon On a sailboat I would make this my home If I'd learned to float