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That's When The Party Started Lyrics
Fourteen feet tall, and glassy and pale, and covered in soot
I don’t know who he was or what he was, the question was moot
I laid in bed, too scared to speak, and watched him watch me
There was no sound but the crickets outside and the leaves in the breeze, oh
He lit a cigarette and said, “Your chimney’s a bitch.”
I said, “Are you old Santa Claus?”
And he said, “You wish,” yeah yeah yeah yeah
That’s when the party started as far as I know
I grabbed a hold of it and never let go
And if I saw it well then maybe it’s so
Oh, whoa, etc…
Later that year, I swear to god, it happened again, oh
I was out camping with my baby and a couple of friends, oh
As we fell asleep I know I saw a light in the east, oh
Spinning around and changing colors with a weird humming sound, oh
As it got close I felt my sleeping bag rise from the ground, oh
When we woke up I was yards from the fire
Eyes swollen shut, and buried to my waist
That’s when the party started as far as I know
I grabbed a hold of it and never let go
And if I saw it well then maybe it’s so
Oh, whoa, etc…
I know I know I know I know I saw him again
I was out walking my dog and he followed me home, oh
Fourteen feet fall, a pinstripe suit and the same weird shadow, oh
He was outside for several weeks and then he vanished again, oh
I really don’t know what to think after twenty-three years
The only real thing I ever learned is: Maybe it is, if it has so appeared
That’s when the party started--
I grabbed a hold of it and--
And if I saw it well, then…
Oh, whoa, etc…
I don’t know who he was or what he was, the question was moot
I laid in bed, too scared to speak, and watched him watch me
There was no sound but the crickets outside and the leaves in the breeze, oh
He lit a cigarette and said, “Your chimney’s a bitch.”
I said, “Are you old Santa Claus?”
And he said, “You wish,” yeah yeah yeah yeah
That’s when the party started as far as I know
I grabbed a hold of it and never let go
And if I saw it well then maybe it’s so
Oh, whoa, etc…
Later that year, I swear to god, it happened again, oh
I was out camping with my baby and a couple of friends, oh
As we fell asleep I know I saw a light in the east, oh
Spinning around and changing colors with a weird humming sound, oh
As it got close I felt my sleeping bag rise from the ground, oh
When we woke up I was yards from the fire
Eyes swollen shut, and buried to my waist
That’s when the party started as far as I know
I grabbed a hold of it and never let go
And if I saw it well then maybe it’s so
Oh, whoa, etc…
I know I know I know I know I saw him again
I was out walking my dog and he followed me home, oh
Fourteen feet fall, a pinstripe suit and the same weird shadow, oh
He was outside for several weeks and then he vanished again, oh
I really don’t know what to think after twenty-three years
The only real thing I ever learned is: Maybe it is, if it has so appeared
That’s when the party started--
I grabbed a hold of it and--
And if I saw it well, then…
Oh, whoa, etc…
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i have no idea what this song is about, ufo abductions? it's such a good song.
I'm perplexed as well... I'm thinking it's about either aliens or drugs... or schizophrenia? Aliens might work - the figure he saw at night could have been a sleep paralysis apparation, or not, and the "light in the east" could have been a ufo... Otherwise the song could just be refering to the trips and hallucinations people experience when they "party", and perhaps the fourteen foot tall figure represents something... maybe a larger-than-life self, or the personification of addcition...?
I think the chorus ("and if I saw it, maybe it's so") alludes to "seeing is believing", though I can't tell whether it could be mocking or not... But this is a tough one.