The lyrics on this site are fucked though. Come on: "Like a fly above is summer all day long"... What? What fucking language is that? Wrapping my heard around this semantically raped sentence gave me a goddamn aneurysm. So I'm just gonna go ahead and try my best to interpret the actual lyrics instead of this quasi-english bullshit.
I give my interpretation with a "hat-tip" to all you clever users before me.
"Oh I wish I was the sparrow in your kid's eye
I could fly above this summer all day long"
The "your" is most likely the narrators lover.
The narrator wishes to be closer to "your kid", expressing that this potential closeness what making him feel as if he were "Flying above this summer".
Note the positive metaphorical language.
"On an island in the heart he has to carry"
The narrator wishes he has a special place (an island) in the kid's heart.
The phrase "the heart he has to carry" shows that the narrator feels sympathy for whatever emotional turmoil this kid is going through.
"Past the many you have let into your song"
Talking to a lover, the narrator expresses that she has "let many into her heart".
Recap: The narrator is talking to a lover, focusing on how he wishes he had a special place in her kid's heart, past the many she has let into her "song" (into her life). He doesn't show much regard for his lover, but focuses instead on her kid, wishing that the kid (whom he seems to show sympathy for, i.e. "The heart he has to carry") would him dearer than all the other men the kid's mother has been with. (All those she has let into her song, if you will)
"And I said oh my Lord, why am I not strong
Like the wheel that keeps travelers traveling on"
The narrator wishes he was strong. He compares strength to the wheel that keeps "travellers travelling on". This comparison makes me believe that the narrator has a wish to leave this family behind, he washes he had the strength of the wheel so he could travel like the traveller. But he doesn't, and so he can't move on.
"Like the wheel that will take you home"
The narrator expresses a yearning for his lover to "come home". But again, she probably won't be coming home.
Recap: This is how I see it so far... The narrator is stuck in this semi-relationship with a single mother who keeps seeing all this other men. (The ones she is letting into her song) This is making the narrator deeply upset. He wishes he had a special place in the kid's heart, past all the other men. He shows sympathy for the kid and the "heart he has to carry", recognising it must be hard for the kid to not have a father, but instead have a mother who is seeing all these different men. More than anything, the narrator wishes the three of them could be a family, but his lover (the kid's mother) keeps fucking about, seeing all these other men. The narrator wishes he could let her and the kid go, that he could just leave them, that he could have the strength og the wheel that keeps the "travellers travelling on" or the strength of the wheel that brings her back to him.
But he doesn't, and so he despairs.
"And in the forest someone is whispering to a tree now
This is all I am so please don't follow me"
The switch between a third-person and second-person narrative makes me think that the person in the forest who is whispering to a tree, is actually the narrator himself, whispering his concerns to no one, to the trees of the forest if you will. The narrator seems deeply troubled and by saying: "This is all I am so please don't follow me" it makes it seem as if he is about to do something to himself. This line represents a self-loathing of sorts. "This is all I am", as if to say: "This is all I am and nothing more".
"And it's your brother in the shaft that I'm swinging"
I see this line as cryptical, but somehow I imagine the narrator walking through the forest, remembering the times he has felt like part of the family, swinging his lovers brother etc.
"Please let the kindness of forgetting set me free"
This line is pretty obvious. This poor man is walking through the forest, expressing his troubles to the trees, remembering all the good times he has had with his lover and hating how things are. Wishing he wouldn't remember all the good times, wishing the "kindness of forgetting" would set him free. (Great line by the way)
"And he said oh my lord why am I not strong
Like the wheel that keeps travelers traveling on
Like the wheel that will take you home"
See interpretation at first chorus.
"And on this Sunday someone's sitting down to wonder
Where the hell among these mountains will I be?"
Now... This is where it gets interesting. My interpretation of this is that the "someone" who is sitting down to wonder, is actually the kid. This poor little kid is sitting somewhere, wondering which one if these adults is going to take care of him. Where the hell among these "mountains" is the kid going to be. Mountains being a reference to how tall all these adults most seem to a little kid. In my mind, the narrator is walking about in the forest, sad as fuck, again expressing concerns for the kid. Where is he going to be now? Where does he belong? His mother doesn't seem to show much regard for him and he has no father. The only one who seems to really, genuinely give a shit about this kid, is in the forest talking to trees, about to do something stupid. So now that the narrators has fucked off, who among these "mountains" is gonna look after the kid?
"There's a cloud behind the cloud to which I'm yelling
I could hear you sneak around so easily"
First line is an expression of all the trouble in the narrators life at the moment. It's not just the fact that his lover is seeing other men, it's also the fact that the kid is caught in the middle of it all. A cloud behind a cloud.
Second line doesn't really need much of an interpretation, it's pretty straight forward. The narrators lover has been seeing other men, but this is absolutely no surprise to the narrator, who has known for quite a while, yet stuck around in the hope that she would "come home" so the she, the narrator and the kid could be a family.
"And I said oh my lord why am I not strong
Like the branch that keeps hangman hanging on
Like the branch that will take me home"
Now... We all know where this is heading at this point. "Hangman" is a pretty obvious clue. The narrator is talking to God, for a final time, asking: "Why am I not strong, like the branch that supports a hangman, like the branch that will take me home." The narrator wishes he was as strong as the branch he is planning to hang himself from, in despair about the whole situation.
So... To recap this entire fucked up emotional rollercoaster...
A guy falls in love with a single mother. He loves her and he loves her kid. He wishes more than anything that they could all be together. This is all screwed up by the mother, who keeps seeing other men. So what is the narrator suppose to do? He wishes he had the strength to leave, but he doesn't. So he walks out to the forest, expressing all his concerns to the trees and clouds. He keeps remembering how happy he was, being a part of this family, and he wishes he could forget all these happy moments. He has known the whole time that his lover has been with other men. He expresses a final concern for the kid, who he really loves, before he decides to hang himself in complete despair...
VERY emotional song, brilliantly executed, amazing lyrics.
Beautiful song.
The lyrics on this site are fucked though. Come on: "Like a fly above is summer all day long"... What? What fucking language is that? Wrapping my heard around this semantically raped sentence gave me a goddamn aneurysm. So I'm just gonna go ahead and try my best to interpret the actual lyrics instead of this quasi-english bullshit.
I give my interpretation with a "hat-tip" to all you clever users before me.
"Oh I wish I was the sparrow in your kid's eye I could fly above this summer all day long"
The "your" is most likely the narrators lover. The narrator wishes to be closer to "your kid", expressing that this potential closeness what making him feel as if he were "Flying above this summer". Note the positive metaphorical language.
"On an island in the heart he has to carry"
The narrator wishes he has a special place (an island) in the kid's heart. The phrase "the heart he has to carry" shows that the narrator feels sympathy for whatever emotional turmoil this kid is going through.
"Past the many you have let into your song"
Talking to a lover, the narrator expresses that she has "let many into her heart".
Recap: The narrator is talking to a lover, focusing on how he wishes he had a special place in her kid's heart, past the many she has let into her "song" (into her life). He doesn't show much regard for his lover, but focuses instead on her kid, wishing that the kid (whom he seems to show sympathy for, i.e. "The heart he has to carry") would him dearer than all the other men the kid's mother has been with. (All those she has let into her song, if you will)
"And I said oh my Lord, why am I not strong Like the wheel that keeps travelers traveling on"
The narrator wishes he was strong. He compares strength to the wheel that keeps "travellers travelling on". This comparison makes me believe that the narrator has a wish to leave this family behind, he washes he had the strength of the wheel so he could travel like the traveller. But he doesn't, and so he can't move on.
"Like the wheel that will take you home"
The narrator expresses a yearning for his lover to "come home". But again, she probably won't be coming home.
Recap: This is how I see it so far... The narrator is stuck in this semi-relationship with a single mother who keeps seeing all this other men. (The ones she is letting into her song) This is making the narrator deeply upset. He wishes he had a special place in the kid's heart, past all the other men. He shows sympathy for the kid and the "heart he has to carry", recognising it must be hard for the kid to not have a father, but instead have a mother who is seeing all these different men. More than anything, the narrator wishes the three of them could be a family, but his lover (the kid's mother) keeps fucking about, seeing all these other men. The narrator wishes he could let her and the kid go, that he could just leave them, that he could have the strength og the wheel that keeps the "travellers travelling on" or the strength of the wheel that brings her back to him. But he doesn't, and so he despairs.
"And in the forest someone is whispering to a tree now This is all I am so please don't follow me"
The switch between a third-person and second-person narrative makes me think that the person in the forest who is whispering to a tree, is actually the narrator himself, whispering his concerns to no one, to the trees of the forest if you will. The narrator seems deeply troubled and by saying: "This is all I am so please don't follow me" it makes it seem as if he is about to do something to himself. This line represents a self-loathing of sorts. "This is all I am", as if to say: "This is all I am and nothing more".
"And it's your brother in the shaft that I'm swinging"
I see this line as cryptical, but somehow I imagine the narrator walking through the forest, remembering the times he has felt like part of the family, swinging his lovers brother etc.
"Please let the kindness of forgetting set me free"
This line is pretty obvious. This poor man is walking through the forest, expressing his troubles to the trees, remembering all the good times he has had with his lover and hating how things are. Wishing he wouldn't remember all the good times, wishing the "kindness of forgetting" would set him free. (Great line by the way)
"And he said oh my lord why am I not strong Like the wheel that keeps travelers traveling on Like the wheel that will take you home"
See interpretation at first chorus.
"And on this Sunday someone's sitting down to wonder Where the hell among these mountains will I be?"
Now... This is where it gets interesting. My interpretation of this is that the "someone" who is sitting down to wonder, is actually the kid. This poor little kid is sitting somewhere, wondering which one if these adults is going to take care of him. Where the hell among these "mountains" is the kid going to be. Mountains being a reference to how tall all these adults most seem to a little kid. In my mind, the narrator is walking about in the forest, sad as fuck, again expressing concerns for the kid. Where is he going to be now? Where does he belong? His mother doesn't seem to show much regard for him and he has no father. The only one who seems to really, genuinely give a shit about this kid, is in the forest talking to trees, about to do something stupid. So now that the narrators has fucked off, who among these "mountains" is gonna look after the kid?
"There's a cloud behind the cloud to which I'm yelling I could hear you sneak around so easily"
First line is an expression of all the trouble in the narrators life at the moment. It's not just the fact that his lover is seeing other men, it's also the fact that the kid is caught in the middle of it all. A cloud behind a cloud. Second line doesn't really need much of an interpretation, it's pretty straight forward. The narrators lover has been seeing other men, but this is absolutely no surprise to the narrator, who has known for quite a while, yet stuck around in the hope that she would "come home" so the she, the narrator and the kid could be a family.
"And I said oh my lord why am I not strong Like the branch that keeps hangman hanging on Like the branch that will take me home"
Now... We all know where this is heading at this point. "Hangman" is a pretty obvious clue. The narrator is talking to God, for a final time, asking: "Why am I not strong, like the branch that supports a hangman, like the branch that will take me home." The narrator wishes he was as strong as the branch he is planning to hang himself from, in despair about the whole situation.
So... To recap this entire fucked up emotional rollercoaster...
A guy falls in love with a single mother. He loves her and he loves her kid. He wishes more than anything that they could all be together. This is all screwed up by the mother, who keeps seeing other men. So what is the narrator suppose to do? He wishes he had the strength to leave, but he doesn't. So he walks out to the forest, expressing all his concerns to the trees and clouds. He keeps remembering how happy he was, being a part of this family, and he wishes he could forget all these happy moments. He has known the whole time that his lover has been with other men. He expresses a final concern for the kid, who he really loves, before he decides to hang himself in complete despair...
VERY emotional song, brilliantly executed, amazing lyrics.
@PeterHentrichHulme Update. I agree with the MelleB90 on the part about the brother:
@PeterHentrichHulme Update. I agree with the MelleB90 on the part about the brother:
"It's your brother in the shaft that I'm a-swinging" He's talking to the tree. The shaft of the axe is made of wood."
"It's your brother in the shaft that I'm a-swinging" He's talking to the tree. The shaft of the axe is made of wood."