Owner Of A Lonely Heart

The song meaning is clarified by the video. The video script/screenplay is an adaption of the Franz Kafka novel "The Trial". The script remains faithful to the novel till the very last scene, where in typical Yes fashion we have a happy ending. This is not a betrayal of the novel as Kafka postulates the alternative ending anyway and Yes have simply taken him up on it. The Kafka novel starts with an ordinary guy with an ordinary job leading an ordinary life being arrested. He is told that he is on trial and , to cut a long story short, his sentence is death. In other words, this guy "goes with the flow" and does not question the world around him. The first couple of verses have Yes admonishing this bloke and urging him to make up his own mind about things and take control of his life. Following verses do much the same thing. "Give your free will a chance etc." It's difficult for me to keep explaing the meaning of the song as it is so directly tied to the clip and the novel...I would give away the punchline(s) of the book and ruin it for those who would read it. Sufficient to say that the song is a great piece of music and the lyrics open up worlds to those who care to follow it through. See the clip, read the book and the lyrics will have another level of meaning.

They are saying it's better to try and get burned then to not and just be lonely... :P :|

Dreamer Deceiver you've managed to get the opposite meaning of the song. The song is addressing the owner of a lonely heart and saying that the reason for it is that he's too afraid to get his heart broken: "Say, you don't want to chance it, you've been hurt so before". But it's actually saying you SHOULD chance it and there's no reason to be lonely: "in the end, you've go to go.... it will excite, it will delight". It's actually a real simple message but a nice set of lyrics.

I think the bottom line of this song is: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained". Its a message to those who have have experienced failures and setbacks in the past to stop feeling sorry for themselves, get off their butts, get out there and give it another shot.Basically, never give up, even if you dont succeed right away.

trust your will, your authentic will, no matter what

keep moving forward with confidence

trust yourself and your instincts

full awareness

trust I seek and I find in you - Nothing Else Matters

what can be confusing about the song is the weak distortions of the ego during the chorus saying 'Much better than - a' versus the Soul's will to action in the rest of the song. Not unlike our own minds.

great song and video. Yes diehards might not like it, but its great nonetheless

The guitar background/solo are pretty sweet. From a musical perspective, it's rather technically solid. Sorry to rain on your parade, edward.

to me it means what was mentioned earlier that its better to be an owner of a lonely heart then to have a broken heart because if u dont know love hurts but yet again people say its better to have loved and lost then to have not loved at all something like that so i see it as love but be ready for the consequences....by the way the 1st time i heard this was in GTA: Vice city (that game rocks)

When I was little listening to this song, it was easy to try to take it literally which was just confusing. I still remember the guy in the original video jumping off and turning into an eagle. Hearing it now it sounds like someone repeating advice in their head, like 'put yourself out there,' but there is bitterness because it's so demanding "you're every move you make, so the story goes", so he doesn't and he stays "owner of a lonely heart" and tells himself "much better than a owner of a broken heart" I remember being at an aspie meet, complaining how my heart keeps getting trampled on, and every fellow aspies in the room looked me square in the eye and said "I wish to God I could get that far, just to know what it's like to have my heart broken" I want to tell them how bad it hurts, but I remember being in their shoes, wondering why no one even noticed I existed. Like the Eagle, spread your wings and fly best you can, and if your crash, try try again.

When I was a teenager, I used to make lists of "Summer Music" and "Winter Music." The songs didn't have to mention summer or winter, it was just based on their sound. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" was always on the Winter Music list. I can't explain exactly why it has such a cold feeling, but the echoey atmosphere; the effects, like the blur of sound around the words "the eagle in the sky," and the odd, scuttling jumps that sound like spider feet; the three-note riff at the end of each line in the refrain; and the descending bass line before the final refrain, make me feel like it's winter. I sort of get a picture of standing in front of my old house, seeing my teenage self in my bedroom winter composing lists of Summer Music and Winter Music.

Well, we're supposed to say what it means to us, right?

Oh and I think this one of Yes's best songs. Musically it's way ahead of its time in the use of samples/orchestra hits, the verses and the refrain are memorable, and the lyrics speak to everyone on their own terms.

oops, that should be bedroom WINDOW, not bedroom WINTER. Why can't we edit our posts?