I heard this song & loved it so much I came here :) I wish there were more comments; I'll do my bit.
In the first four lines, I imagine myself now, as an adult, finding a photo album from years ago, when I was a child. "There's nothing to hide" I lived a much more straightforward life as a kid; now I put on a face for other people and regularly deceive people close to me. Not like "when the world was just beginning" at all.
"I memorized a face so it's not forgotten" I focus on the photo and the person I used to be, trying to remember what it was like and how I can live honestly and simply again.
"And we'll mix our lives together" Contemplating who I was as a child in this way changes who I am today, as in a mixture of two substances that become something entirely different & new.
The conclusion of the song suggested to me a more general way of looking at the whole song: the speaker is dying (think of 'going home' as a metaphor), and is remembering and reflecting on his childhood. Soon he'll be reunited with friends and family members who preceded him in death.
Perhaps "Home" is the great unknowable void: where we go when we die, and where we were before we were born. I've long suspected it's the same place.
Glad I got these ideas out. It was fine just enjoying the song -- it's always given me chills and made me strongly nostalgic -- but now I really appreciate it.
Like your take. You never know with Byrne as to what he had in mind with this song, his lyrics can be quite sophisticated and thoughtful but also quite random and cynical. Moreover his better songs do allow a wide range of interpretation and entry points for the listener and this is one of those.
Like your take. You never know with Byrne as to what he had in mind with this song, his lyrics can be quite sophisticated and thoughtful but also quite random and cynical. Moreover his better songs do allow a wide range of interpretation and entry points for the listener and this is one of those.
I like your comments on the concluding verses - it certainly gets quite contemplative, cosmological even; 'home' is one of those mysterious universals - we all know what it means yet can't fully grasp it (or live it?) at the same time.
I like your comments on the concluding verses - it certainly gets quite contemplative, cosmological even; 'home' is one of those mysterious universals - we all know what it means yet can't fully grasp it (or live it?) at the same time.
I heard this song & loved it so much I came here :) I wish there were more comments; I'll do my bit.
In the first four lines, I imagine myself now, as an adult, finding a photo album from years ago, when I was a child. "There's nothing to hide" I lived a much more straightforward life as a kid; now I put on a face for other people and regularly deceive people close to me. Not like "when the world was just beginning" at all.
"I memorized a face so it's not forgotten" I focus on the photo and the person I used to be, trying to remember what it was like and how I can live honestly and simply again.
"And we'll mix our lives together" Contemplating who I was as a child in this way changes who I am today, as in a mixture of two substances that become something entirely different & new.
The conclusion of the song suggested to me a more general way of looking at the whole song: the speaker is dying (think of 'going home' as a metaphor), and is remembering and reflecting on his childhood. Soon he'll be reunited with friends and family members who preceded him in death.
Perhaps "Home" is the great unknowable void: where we go when we die, and where we were before we were born. I've long suspected it's the same place.
Glad I got these ideas out. It was fine just enjoying the song -- it's always given me chills and made me strongly nostalgic -- but now I really appreciate it.
Like your take. You never know with Byrne as to what he had in mind with this song, his lyrics can be quite sophisticated and thoughtful but also quite random and cynical. Moreover his better songs do allow a wide range of interpretation and entry points for the listener and this is one of those.
Like your take. You never know with Byrne as to what he had in mind with this song, his lyrics can be quite sophisticated and thoughtful but also quite random and cynical. Moreover his better songs do allow a wide range of interpretation and entry points for the listener and this is one of those.
I like your comments on the concluding verses - it certainly gets quite contemplative, cosmological even; 'home' is one of those mysterious universals - we all know what it means yet can't fully grasp it (or live it?) at the same time.
I like your comments on the concluding verses - it certainly gets quite contemplative, cosmological even; 'home' is one of those mysterious universals - we all know what it means yet can't fully grasp it (or live it?) at the same time.