Room a Thousand Years Wide

Soundgarden

Listen, hear he is inside
One who lives while others lie
I close my eyes and walk a thousand years
A thousand years that aren't mine, hey
It seems he's near me when I walk
One who loved what love denied
He lives these years that I walk blind
All these years can not be mine

Tomorrow begat tomorrow
Tomorrow begat tomorrow
Tomorrow begat tomorrow

A thousand doors a thousand lies
Rooms a thousand years wide
I walks in the cold sun and wind
All these years can not begin

Tomorrow begat tomorrow
Tomorrow begat tomorrow
Tomorrow begat tomorrow
Tomorrow

Tomorrow begat tomorrow

Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow


Lyrics submitted by jt, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Room A Thousand Years Wide Lyrics as written by Matthew D. Cameron Kim A. Thayil

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC

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Room a Thousand Years Wide song meanings
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25 Comments

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  • +7
    General Commentbest song off their best album

    all these years cannot be mine - who cant relate to that?
    buriedtaxidriveron June 28, 2010   Link
  • +4
    My InterpretationI think the title of the song refers to the unlimited possibilities life offers us hence life is a "room a thousand years wide". In this case, though, the songwriter deals with having been denied certain paths his life could have taken (because he did a mistake, something wrong or because something bad and unexpected happened).

    1) "Listen, hear, he is inside
    One who lives while others lie
    I close my eyes and walk a thousand years
    A thousand years that aren't mine"

    He still thinks about the time when he had certain expectations
    And his past self is still alive inside his mind
    He relies on his immagination to picture a future he could have lived
    but now he is unable to reach it

    2) "It seems he's near me as I walk
    One who loved what love denied
    He lives these years that I walk blind
    All these years cannot be mine"

    Same as above. Furthermore it seems love denied him other things he already loved so we can assume that the consequences of the love for something/someone is the cause of his dissatisfaction

    3) "A thousand doors a thousand lies
    Rooms a thousand years wide
    He walks in the cold sun and wind
    All these years will not begin"

    His past self is being finally taken away because he realizes that
    the years that he wished will not begin, because he will not live them
    and there is nothing he can do.

    This song is quite close to me if my interpretation is correct: a disease I had
    some time ago prevented me from achieving certain life goals. I overcame that but sometimes is not so easy to quit thinking like "what if everything just didn't happen?". Great songwriting by Chris Cornell.
    walter91on November 18, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General CommentRoom A Thousand Years Wide = Best Soundgarden Song Ever
    KillViacomon November 17, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General Commentall these years cannot be mine

    its abotu living a life full of regrets and not living to your potential and reflecting back on your life thinking... man i should have done this .. i should have done that...
    cornellvsliddellon June 21, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Commentha ha ha ha ha. Good one, sommy. This song seems to play with the concepts of onotogical, or our inner experince of time, and 'clock' time. To me this song means a lot. I was bottoming out from a drug addiction and the whole thing about, having something inside you that lives/sees while you are in denial or are dead in some metahporical way really helped me. It was like having a religious experience, listening to those lyrics, cause they really verbalised my 'reality'. It speaks to me of time lost to the addiction "all these years will not begin" and of a tomorrow that never arrives "tomorrow begat! tomorow!". The lies, the false opportunites "a thousand doors, a thousand lies". The grind of addiction, it was a period that seemed to be "a thousand years wide". With no recess! It was like being traped in a big room. And the sense of disbelief as encapsulated by the lines "all these years can not be mine". That's exactly what I used to think while I was in my addiction: this can't be my life. I walked " in the cold sun and rain", that is to say, no matter what my life looked like externally, I was cold, always, because of the addiction. And towards the end of my using, I thought that all my hopes "(would) not begin". Thats what I read into it at the time. Like I said, in the convalesence of withdrawl, a lot of things seem like religious experiences, what I'm saying now, is that this was one of mine, and it was so awesome that I just had to share it with you. Thanks for reading my rave!
    Oh Peaon July 02, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General CommentWell my personal meaning of this song is completely off compared to all of yours; although, isn't the beauty of music how the individual sees it? Anyway I thought of this song as someone whom has another side to him/herself like another personality or a dark side.

    Listen, hear, he is inside: I thought of this as if this thing is inside of him, but the thing itself can make noise as if it were speaking.

    One who lives while others lie: The protagonist or the singer lies to him/herself saying that he is just imagining this all. Also as in a way that he is in denial.

    I close my eyes and walk a thousand years: I thought this as of when he/she closes his eyes, as if he were sleeping, the other being is then dominant. Also he might think that he is just sleep walking.

    One who loved what love denied: I considered this as if this other being is the protagonist's polar opposite, and his love is what he likes...as of where the other being likes the other.

    He lives these years that I walk blind: This is just like what I spoke of earlier, and to me it seem to fit. When the protagonist is asleep, blind to what is occuring, that is when this being is active. [Or when he is unaware of it.]

    Also one more thing when he is talking about thousands of doors I had this mental image like a labrynth of some sort, and if you think about it the mind is something very complex like a maze.

    Then again this is just what I thought the song was about, and I am certain most of you won't agree with me.
    Vinu91on August 10, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Commenti think that the opening 2 lines are about accepting satan as real in him and god a fake
    "Listen, hear, he is inside
    One who lives while others lie"

    the 2nd paragraph tottaly on satan
    one who loved death and cruelity which love denies

    "It seems he's near me as I walk
    One who loved what love denied
    He lives these years that I walk blind
    All these years cannot be mine"

    no clue about thousand years wide room

    just like let me drown has some dark satanic lyrics

    so here is my throw
    grungeboyon September 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Commentwill somebody please tell me the meaning of this song?
    saalon June 11, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General CommentNo. Go away.
    sommyon August 29, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Commentwow this must be the first entry by Oh_Pea that doesn't look like an utter troll to me. this might have made sense to you at the time, and it still is a viable interpretation, but i don't think that's the only one possible. i don't know what to make of it yet, but maybe some future posts might give me a clue.
    Lepra Messiason April 15, 2005   Link

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