I'm paralysed and things could change for you as well
You're not so bad off now, you can move anything you need
I'm not this way because of an emergency I caused
At seventeen a guard perched above the chlorine floor
When I saw a hand raise up from just beneath the air
A frantic move for help, I made an instant judgment call

Dive, I arched my feet to dive, I broke the elemental line
To save a child.
Dive, into the shallow floor
The bottom scraped my palms and compressed my spine

Now I'm paralysed while they just hope to make amends
The family and the kid who faked the drowning accident
I've felt the hand of God and that's the last thing I felt
At all below my back, I've lost the faith I thought I had.

Dive, I arched my feet to dive, I broke the elemental line
To save a child.
Dive, into the shallow floor
The bottom scraped my palms and compressed my spine


Lyrics submitted by Mopnugget

Ballad of a Paralysed Citizen Lyrics as written by Jacob Thiele Clark Baechle

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Ballad of a Paralysed Citizen song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

25 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    ..This is such a wonderful song, makes me feel depressed, but you gotta love that synth sound..

    Kittypawon April 27, 2003   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song: Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.” That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.