The Barricades of Heaven Lyrics

Lyric discussion by meanings 

Cover art for The Barricades of Heaven lyrics by Jackson Browne

in our youth, we start ready to be somebody we know little but that never stops us we rush to define ourselves to be recognized to make a difference to find our song

but we aren't alone we share with others some of those, in our eyes, seem to find what we seek so we connect and follow that road and pages of our lives are written many times never knowing what any of it meant or how important it was but we feel this barrier deep within and an undefinable cry for redemption a cry that is always with us

the cry drives us to define ourselves but we never meet those visions deep within we rush down the road to find the fortunes pit our will against others we want to follow those who have found success we think that will silence the cry feeling hollow, we are disillusioned at the futility disappointed that the struggle never redeems us

our youth gone, those ambitions rooted deep within our souls never answer the cry, never overcome the barricade pages continue to turn we still don't fully understand what any of it means

visions give way to dreams in the dark of night, we look back at how it all started the friends who shared those pages voices still clear the face of a long lost love we hope to always remember we begin to find meaning

we look back and see it all fading what we once held is past faded, torn, lost the failures and successes the good and the bad the only thing left are just the memories those define us now and give us meaning those in our lives who wrote the pages with us at that moment, we were recognized we made a small difference

still wanting to redeem ourselves confronted again by the barricades walls that still stand before us always an insurmountable barrier as if heaven itself denies us no redemption ever comes nothing we've done redeems us we never measure up there's no redemption for who we are there are only memories of those in our lives and we never seem to know this until we look back we find meaning in others we define ourselves by those in our life and we still want redemption but now it's for the past

My Interpretation

Great interpretive effort. I think you got captured a lot of what the song expresses.

@meanings great take on a terrific song. I\'m a year older than JB, grew up on the Jersey shore, hitchhiked out to LA in 1966. Remember it all. All of it. Amazing.

@meanings great take on a terrific song. I\'m a year older than JB, grew up on the Jersey shore, hitchhiked out to LA in 1966. Remember it all. All of it. Amazing.