39 and you need some leeway
Soon you're eyeing the overseas page
The trains are running late
As you close the garden gate
Stepping through your steel front-door frame,
Dinner's in the microwave, sweetie

Leipzig is calling you, Henry (from the mouth of the megaphone)
Leipzig is calling you, James
Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (and other cartoon characters)
Leipzig is calling your names


Cars were burning on yellow lines
Wheels turning, traffic light (beep beep beep)
Change!


Another misty bus-queue morning
Faces smile down from a boarding
You stoop to the bin, and drop something in
Well, you'll soon feel yourself again,
And everyplace is just the same, isn't it?

Leipzig is calling you, Henry (and the clouds run parallel)
Leipzig is calling you, James
Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (all ze vay from Germany!)
Leipzig is calling your names, hear it calling

Leipzig is calling you, Henry (from the mouth of the megaphone)
Leipzig is calling you, James
Leipzig is calling you, Leonard (and other cartoon characters)
Leipzig is calling your names


Lyrics submitted by ProfessorKnowItAll

Leipzig song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

1 Comment

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    This seems to be a song about idolizing some faraway place as the solution to the ennui of everyday life: getting older, waiting for the train, sitting there stuck in traffic--although dreaming of a midsize German city as some sort of exotic Shangri-La seems odd to me.

    "Henry" and "James" pop up here the same way they did in...well, "Henry and James," with the addition of a Leonard. I wasn't aware of Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin creating the same sort of inter-song mythos the way (Daevid Allen-era) Gong did. Was there some sort of old story or TV show (or possibly cartoon, given Leonard's line in the chorus) featuring a Henry, James, and occasionally Leonard?

    ProfessorKnowItAllon June 11, 2019   Link

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

Album art
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song: Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.” That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.