On Earth

The Sundays

And she's walking on the edge of a knife
And she knows it's the death of her
Sarah you live and you learn you're invisible

And she's walking on the edge of a crowd
Late at night you can never tell
Town from town
Sounds of England swallow you down
Makes you want to laugh

Could a heaven on earth be ours here and now?
And she says, "What's in my palm?
Read between the lines
Give me something to savour
Can you do that? Cause I'll believe anything"

And I say
When you're hoping for some more from your life
Shouldn't wonder you've had enough
And in my town
Sounds of England swallow you down

And a heaven on earth is all ours but not now
I tell you when a heaven on earth is all ours
Come on down


Lyrics submitted by spliphstar, edited by cassidy24, Mellow_Harsher

On Earth song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

1 Comment

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Comment

    On Earth is saddening. I think they're implying that this girl named Sarah is close to committing suicide. Moving from town to town and being on the outside is getting to her. The references to heaven seem to be about happiness in general.

    It can be interpreted from the last lyric that she does, in fact, go through with it:

    "And a heaven on earth is all ours but not now I tell you when a heaven on earth is all ours Come on down"

    Basically, you've got to persevere through the hard times to find what you want in life. To me, it's not a matter of offing yourself to avoid the pain of depression. What you'll find there won't be solace, but really..well nothing. You won't be able to "Come on down" once that decision is made. Which is the point of that last lyric, in my opinion. Very good!

    RobiWanon May 05, 2013   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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.