I think this song is about the type of people who risk their lives or put themselves in great danger seemingly without a care, for the good of their fellow man, without any expectation of a financial reward. It should be the themesong of Medecin sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders.
"You walk out on the highwire/ you're a dancer on thin ice/ Pay no heed to the danger/and less to advise" refers to the dangerous situations these types of people put themselves in, and their seeming dismissal of danger and warnings about going to war or disease ravaged areas, for example.
"Your footsteps are forbidden/ but with a knowledge of your sin/ Throw your love to all the strangers/and caution to the wind"
They go places where they're officially unwelcome and beyond the help of their governments, but they're there to help the suffering and danger be damned.
"And you go dancing through the doorways/ just to see what you will find...and caution to the wind"
This second verse expands on the first, about going into squalid, depressed places with open minds and a sense of mission, taking care of all you find there.
"It takes love over gold and mind over matter to do what you do that you must, when the things that you hold can fall and be shattered or run through your fingers like dust"
It takes a special person, one who puts love of his fellow man over material things and with a special will to do these dangerous, difficult, emotionally draining things. It's something they feel they must do.
The things they hold are fragile lives, fragile bodies, easily broken and barely clining to life. Much of the work done perhaps futile as the inflicted are beyond help and only their suffering can be eased until they pass away, and run through fingers like dust...
Well, that's my take on this song. I think it's a fantastic piece of poetry.
@napier I think it's quite obvious that it's about a woman and that it is not more complicated than that. Your interpretation seems to be very projected. I think we all do that, and music can evoke in us feelings that aren't necessarily anything to do with what the artist intended, and it can inspire new and profound thought and emotion, which is wonderful, but in the context of trying to find the real meaning of the song I would have to -1 this :)
@napier I think it's quite obvious that it's about a woman and that it is not more complicated than that. Your interpretation seems to be very projected. I think we all do that, and music can evoke in us feelings that aren't necessarily anything to do with what the artist intended, and it can inspire new and profound thought and emotion, which is wonderful, but in the context of trying to find the real meaning of the song I would have to -1 this :)
I think this song is about the type of people who risk their lives or put themselves in great danger seemingly without a care, for the good of their fellow man, without any expectation of a financial reward. It should be the themesong of Medecin sans Frontieres/Doctors without Borders.
"You walk out on the highwire/ you're a dancer on thin ice/ Pay no heed to the danger/and less to advise" refers to the dangerous situations these types of people put themselves in, and their seeming dismissal of danger and warnings about going to war or disease ravaged areas, for example.
"Your footsteps are forbidden/ but with a knowledge of your sin/ Throw your love to all the strangers/and caution to the wind" They go places where they're officially unwelcome and beyond the help of their governments, but they're there to help the suffering and danger be damned.
"And you go dancing through the doorways/ just to see what you will find...and caution to the wind" This second verse expands on the first, about going into squalid, depressed places with open minds and a sense of mission, taking care of all you find there.
"It takes love over gold and mind over matter to do what you do that you must, when the things that you hold can fall and be shattered or run through your fingers like dust"
It takes a special person, one who puts love of his fellow man over material things and with a special will to do these dangerous, difficult, emotionally draining things. It's something they feel they must do. The things they hold are fragile lives, fragile bodies, easily broken and barely clining to life. Much of the work done perhaps futile as the inflicted are beyond help and only their suffering can be eased until they pass away, and run through fingers like dust...
Well, that's my take on this song. I think it's a fantastic piece of poetry.
@napier I think it's quite obvious that it's about a woman and that it is not more complicated than that. Your interpretation seems to be very projected. I think we all do that, and music can evoke in us feelings that aren't necessarily anything to do with what the artist intended, and it can inspire new and profound thought and emotion, which is wonderful, but in the context of trying to find the real meaning of the song I would have to -1 this :)
@napier I think it's quite obvious that it's about a woman and that it is not more complicated than that. Your interpretation seems to be very projected. I think we all do that, and music can evoke in us feelings that aren't necessarily anything to do with what the artist intended, and it can inspire new and profound thought and emotion, which is wonderful, but in the context of trying to find the real meaning of the song I would have to -1 this :)