My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision of the ever-changing view
A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold

Once, amid the soft, silver sadness in the sky
There came a man of fortune, a drifter passing by
He wore a torn and tattered cloth around his leathered hide
And a coat of many colors, yellow, green on either side

He moved with some uncertainty, as if he didn't know
Just what he was there for, or where he ought to go
Once he reached for something golden hanging from a tree
And his hand came down empty

Soon within my tapestry, along the rutted road
He sat down on a river rock and turned into a toad
It seemed that he had fallen into someone's wicked spell
And I wept to see him suffer, though I didn't know him well

As I watched in sorrow, there suddenly appeared
A figure, gray and ghostly, beneath a flowing beard
In times of deepest darkness, I've seen him dressed in black
Now my tapestry's unraveling, he's come to take me back
He's come to take me back


Lyrics submitted by cailin

Tapestry Lyrics as written by Carole King

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Tapestry song meanings
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    General Comment

    I never have figured out what this song means. The dreamworld lyrics are strangely evocative, but what they are supposed to be saying, I really can't grasp.

    I have to say, though, that I've always thought the first four lines are wonderful on its own. "My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue" [NOT embroidered]. These lines always make me think of my own life and the wonder and meaning of it all, and of the uncertain but still fantastic sojourns of all us here. Those four lines sent chills down my spine when I first heard them.

    Bluewaveson April 11, 2006   Link

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