This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Afterglow in a distant row
The door is open and the lights are cold
The children come in here and they dare the ghost
Like a fire burning in a stone
Silent light in the theatre's sky
Phantom cigarette and a silent cry
The door swings open and it's cold outside
Run and hide, run and hide
They can still see him singing on the corner singing songs
That never fade away, fade into the kids that come along
Memory in a silent seat
Melody on a long retreat
Like an angel on a balcony
Like an angel on a balcony
The door is open and the lights are cold
The children come in here and they dare the ghost
Like a fire burning in a stone
Silent light in the theatre's sky
Phantom cigarette and a silent cry
The door swings open and it's cold outside
Run and hide, run and hide
They can still see him singing on the corner singing songs
That never fade away, fade into the kids that come along
Memory in a silent seat
Melody on a long retreat
Like an angel on a balcony
Like an angel on a balcony
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Angels on the Balcony Lyrics as written by Laura Davis Jimmy Destri
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The Night We Met
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
It's actually "Angels ON the Balcony," and it's about a theater
"...a distant row" - a row of seats.
"..long retreat" - the aisle down leading from the back to the front, "..singing on the corner" - this probably refers to Fred Astaire(?) in "Singing in the Rain", an old movie.
Most old theaters had balconies.
Love this song... very moody and ghostly. Evokes images of an empty (maybe abandoned) theater, possibly haunted by ghosts/memories, etc...
I agree with Capitalist; I also interpret the song to be about memories of a once great theater, probably an old movie palace. I imagine a beautiful old place that's in ruins, where kids sneak in and explore.
The "theater's sky" verse seems a reference to the little star lights (no longer working) and the painted clouds that some movies palaces had on the ceiling to give the audience the illusion that they were sitting outside.
I have lovely memories of the Fine Arts Theater in Chicago--very much like the movie theater described here (minus the star lights). I used to love sitting in the balcony of that theater when watching film.
one of my fave blondie tracks next to union city blues and dreaming - no idea what it means though - something about looking back at the long gone past. she has an incredible voice - real deep and husky on this one.
In the track by track notes for the box set Against The Odds, Jimmy Destri explained that the song is “…basically a recap of a local legend from a theater in Brooklyn… all the kids would tell a story about a ghost at the Loews 46th Street Theater. It was a greaser who got stabbed and died on the balcony.” cit. Last.fm
The first time I heard Angels on the Balcony, the preceding instrumental song sounded similar in style to the Beatles' "Wild Honey Pie." I felt "Angels on the Balcony" was about the Beatles, however, it took new meaning after Lennon's death. The song refers to an "Angel On the Balcony"; the first verse refers to an after-glow in a distant row--a Beatles Concert, perhaps? The "ghost" referred to in that verse could be John Lennon as well, because at that time the Beatles were gone, and John Lennon took up residence at the Dakota in NYC. The second verse with its ominous words "Silent light in the theatre's sky Phantom cigarette and a silent cry The door swings open and it's cold outside Run and hide, run and hide" could refer to the night Lennon was murdered. The song moves into Beatlesque riffs and then on to the break: "They can still see him singing on the corner, singing songs That never fade away, fade into the kids that come along" John Lennon's music along with all the Beatles' songs have done just that. The final verse "Memory in a silent seat Melody on a long retreat Like an angel on a balcony Like an angel on a balcony" refers to one angel although the title contains "Angels" It can't be denied that John Lennon's melody making is on a long retreat. Now for the cover art: The picture of the group depicts the appearance of more than one contemplating jumping (symbolizing the deep grief many of us felt at John Lennon's passing). The background skyline is 8th Avenue, where the Strawberry Fields Memorial now is. The guitars and coat look similar to what the Beatle once owned. The producer of the album is Michael Chapman. The murderer is Mark David Chapman. Very eerie co-incidence.