My uninformed interpretation: The song has to do with a death and the grieving process. Maybe some guilt over not grieving as much as you feel you're obliged to, or maybe being in such shock that you can't seem to behave as you ought to. The wishes could be wishing the person didn't die, or wishing you could feel the pain you know is coming.
The roses on the lawn
Don't know which side you're on
(Roses are indifferent to you. Whether you're alive or dead, or how you feel inside)
In a daze it will change
(I read this as "[You're] in a daze [but] [that] will change" i.e. the shock that someone has died will disappear and you will leave the daze and feel the grief)
Wishes on a wheel
Wishes on a wheel
The voices in the hall
Will carry on their talking
Carry weight you can't take
(This strikes me as a grown-up conversation taking place just out of earshot for a youth. Weight you can't take might be the death, which would be supported in a later line...)
Wishes on a wheel
Is it even real?
(Is that person really dead?)
The contact that you make
The moment when a memory aches
Who can tell?
You do it well
(Grief finally sets in, but you cannot express it "properly")
Wishes on a wheel
How's it supposed to feel?
(confusion over why the loss isn't felt the way it's "supposed" to be felt)
One in your life
It happens once and rarely twice
One in your life
It happens once and rarely twice
(this type of disarming shock from death only hits you once? 'm not sure about this part.)
The roses on the lawn
Won't know which side you're on
On that hill
Forever still
(The roses don't know you're in a grave, why have them at a funeral?)
Wishes on a wheel
How's it supposed to feel?
Wishes on a wheel
Wishes on a wheel
also just want to say the reason the death thing really jumped out at me was this last line "on that hill, forever still." even if the rest of my theory is totally garbage that part SCREAMS death.
also just want to say the reason the death thing really jumped out at me was this last line "on that hill, forever still." even if the rest of my theory is totally garbage that part SCREAMS death.
My uninformed interpretation: The song has to do with a death and the grieving process. Maybe some guilt over not grieving as much as you feel you're obliged to, or maybe being in such shock that you can't seem to behave as you ought to. The wishes could be wishing the person didn't die, or wishing you could feel the pain you know is coming.
The roses on the lawn Don't know which side you're on
(Roses are indifferent to you. Whether you're alive or dead, or how you feel inside)
In a daze it will change
(I read this as "[You're] in a daze [but] [that] will change" i.e. the shock that someone has died will disappear and you will leave the daze and feel the grief)
Wishes on a wheel Wishes on a wheel
The voices in the hall Will carry on their talking Carry weight you can't take
(This strikes me as a grown-up conversation taking place just out of earshot for a youth. Weight you can't take might be the death, which would be supported in a later line...)
Wishes on a wheel Is it even real?
(Is that person really dead?)
The contact that you make The moment when a memory aches Who can tell? You do it well
(Grief finally sets in, but you cannot express it "properly")
Wishes on a wheel How's it supposed to feel?
(confusion over why the loss isn't felt the way it's "supposed" to be felt)
One in your life It happens once and rarely twice One in your life It happens once and rarely twice
(this type of disarming shock from death only hits you once? 'm not sure about this part.)
The roses on the lawn Won't know which side you're on On that hill Forever still
(The roses don't know you're in a grave, why have them at a funeral?)
Wishes on a wheel How's it supposed to feel? Wishes on a wheel Wishes on a wheel
also just want to say the reason the death thing really jumped out at me was this last line "on that hill, forever still." even if the rest of my theory is totally garbage that part SCREAMS death.
also just want to say the reason the death thing really jumped out at me was this last line "on that hill, forever still." even if the rest of my theory is totally garbage that part SCREAMS death.