Does it hurt to remember
Does it help to forget
Do you know what you started
When you lit the fuse of regret

There's not a reason why you've come undone
There's nothing left to justify, this can't go on
There's nothing left inside as I walk this broken land

Cause you're living on a paper sun
Blind to all the damage done
Living on a paper sun
Waiting for the tide to turn
Living on a paper sun
You can't hide and you can't run
All your dreams have come and gone
Living on a paper sun

Do you still hear 'em screamin'
And does the fear make you run
Is the anger inside of you
A gift from father to son

I don't believe in you, you've come undone
I don't believe in what you do, this can't go on
I don't believe in you as I walk this broken land

Cause you're living on a paper sun
Blind to all the damage done
Living on a paper sun
Waiting for the tide to turn
Living on a paper sun
You can't hide and you can't run
All your dreams have come and gone
Living on a paper

You will discover the way to suffer
And like no other you feed the fire

There's not a reason why you've come undone
There's nothing left to justify, this can't go on
There's nothing left inside as I walk this broken land

Cause you're living on a paper sun
Blind to all the damage done
Living on a paper sun
Waiting for the tide to turn
Living on a paper sun
Waiting for the night
All your dreams have come and gone


Lyrics submitted by fletch699

Paper Sun Lyrics as written by Collen Campbell

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Paper Sun song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    This song is about the Omagh Bombing, Northern Ireland, 1998.

    rz0on June 16, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    To me this is easily the best track off Euphoria (which by their earlier standards is distinctly average). Anyway, the meaning. I don't know why but to me the lyrics seem at least in part to describe a boy who is abused by their father. For example "hurt to remember", "help to forget", Is the anger inside of you, a gift from father to sun" (He has great anger at the thought of his abuse and his father abused him hence "a gift from father to sun". The lines "Blind to all the damage done", and "Waiting for the tide to turn" suggest that they are doing nothing at the moment to stand up for themselves and make it stop. That would seem to be the main meaning of this song. A boy being abused by his father and doing nothing about apart from wishing it would stop.

    There's so much more depth I could go nto but i feel i should leave that to other posters.

    cheesemaestroon August 16, 2005   Link
  • 0
    Song Comparison

    For me,Paper sun is a song about that i have bipolar disorder, and that my mental disorder when i was hypomanic went beyond young girls in a bad way,and that i was living on a paper sun when i treated the girls bad when i was hypomanic,a metaphor for that i thought the bad way i treated the girls was right of me, and didnt understand the seriousness of what i did to them.

    And that when i knew what i really did to them beginned to regret what i did to them, so i got very depressed and felt very bad.

    i associate the part of the text: you will discover the way to suffer with this.

    Cause your living on a paper sun,blind to all the damage done: I feelt joy when the girls felt discomfort of nasty words i said to them,and thought it was okay of me to take revenge on them that way,and didnt understand the seriousness of what i did to them.

    But for me also Paper sun general is a song about when people with bipolar disorder are manic or hypomanic,and are bad to people and feel proud of it,and so begin to regret what they did to people and begin to feel very bad when they realize what they actually did.

    Tagemannenon November 19, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I've always interpreted this as someone looking at their life and seeing how bad it is. Something is ruining their life. Their life is burning up, like a sun made of paper.

    Orintarioon November 12, 2016   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    A powerful song about the saddest day in Northern Ireland

    arch103794on October 03, 2021   Link
  • -2
    Song Meaning

    This song IS about blotter acid. If you grew up in the 70's like I did, you probably did your share of acid. If not, you have no clue what this song is all about. I remember the picture of "Mr. Natural" on a 4 way hit of blotter, "window pane", "orange sunshine", "green blotter", brown blotter", etc. You could buy blotter acid on a page of 100 hits (blots of LSD on a white page of typing paper). Listen to the words in the song! Now look up LSD. For reference, I looked up "paper sun" in the Urban Dictionary. "A slang term for LSD (acid) that was coined by the unheard-of single by the 1960's psychedelic rock group Traffic due to their first single: 'Paper Sun'."

    70smusicloveron October 28, 2013   Link
  • -3
    General Comment

    I agree

    latinbuff369on March 07, 2007   Link
  • -5
    General Comment

    When I first heard this I kept thinking what on earth a "Paper Sun" could mean. A "Paper tiger" is something we think is powerful but has no strength and is a chimera. So what on earth is a false sun? Def Leppard has always disliked organized religion. Could several lines be a cryptic play on words with Sun meaning "Son" or "Savior"...The Son of God? Could it be a statement that Christianity is a joke and that people who rely on Christ are living on a "paper son" or "dream", putting their faith in something false. "I don't believe in you" (No belief in God or the Savior) you've come undone (people get carried away in religion) Blind to all the damage done (how organized religion hasn't been helpful.

    I know this is a stretch, but I'm convinced some of the lines are a sly jab at religion.
    Of course Cheesemaesto's take is probably the best straightforward meaning.

    Hokieguy95on December 15, 2010   Link

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