Are We Afraid Lyrics
And did we want penance
Summer's so long
Colder men when their ice prayer never came
Didn't we fight it
And weren't we hard
Holding back a friend of mine
All the way coming home
The flames rolled and I said OK
Were we just asking
For something to come our way
Is there a hope that we'll wait
To walk a time?
He's a long road...
But the night holds on
Hello, I'm coming home
And are we ashamed
Coming here in the black dark night
And I don't feel so strange
Were we afraid?
Are we the summer...
This song is absolutely incredible. I'd place it in my top 3 favorite Toad songs. I get shivers every time I hear the intro drums!
I really don't know what the song means, beyond the obvious context of a relationship. These are some of Glen's most dense lyrics, IMHO. :-)
im not sure this is about a relationship exactly.....seems to vague. i think he is addressing 'we' as more than 2 people. i think he is talking about a group of people, maybe even society? love this song - dont know what glen meant, but maybe he doesnt either, and it might be better that way.
I think this song is about a group of friends who get over thier heads in something. They are waiting for the right time to reveal it and it nagging on the singer.
It seems like it's about two people who've done something they weren't supposed to and now they're feeling the guilt set in.
The narrator didn't want to take part in it at first, but by the end of the song ("And are we ashamed/ Coming here in the black dark night/and I don't feel so strange?), he's shrugged off that reluctance.
If I were to put in terms of a relationship, I'd say it's about a guy and a girl who are seeing each other, even though it's been forbidden.
I could be wrong, but my interpretation of this song is of some childhood friends who've done something that they are ashamed of that they would want "penance" for.
"The flames rolled and I said OK"
Maybe what they did was set something on fire?
I recall during an interview Glen saying that sometimes he just wrote random things not knowing himself what it all meant. I'm guessing this is one of those songs. It is too vague, very abstract but beautiful nonetheless. These guys are amazing, and even more so for the young age they were when all these albums were released. Simply incredible.