@Broadpath, that's an interesting observation - and CV makes more sense, but in the live version it really sounds like he says "tv", which can be interpreted as he spends his days "living in a box", looking out through a window/screen. Just a thought. I like them both.
"Not so far to go", to himself - he's at the top, so he's almost there - maybe saying to himself "why aren't you happy, you've got what you want?"
The first verse is about his present situation and wanting to get out, questioning the how and the why. "Searching for a face that I know" - can mean he doesn't know anyone, feels all alone - or maybe he's looking for his lost love. Did his job cost him his marriage/relationship? We don't know, but we assume he wouldn't be lonely if he still had this person in his life.
The second verse - "I must've been working the ropes when your hand slipped from mine" - he's remembering someone he lost, and blames himself. He was supposed to be in control of the situation, or providing safety, but failed.
I take "mirrors and smoke" as just a simple juxtaposition of the common phrase, so "living on mirrors and smoke, it's a joke, a fix and a lie" means he thinks his life is a sham and he deceives people about his happiness, and hides his actual feelings of loneliness.
Then we get "Oh so far to fall" - he aspired to something but he's not happy, so that realization has caused everything to crash down for him (mentally). Or it's a mocking reference to how "high up and successful" he is. His status is meaningless to him at this point.
In the live version, the gentle rose line becomes "simple, gentle, binding, endless love".
In other words, send up a prayer in my name that I'll find true love again and can find happiness.
Thinking about it a bit more, "I must've been working the ropes when your hand slipped from mine" - "working the ropes" could be taken to mean he was working - maybe his status has large demands on his time. So he must've been working when his partner decided they were through with him. And it seems implied that maybe he was too busy to notice that the relationship was over.
Thinking about it a bit more, "I must've been working the ropes when your hand slipped from mine" - "working the ropes" could be taken to mean he was working - maybe his status has large demands on his time. So he must've been working when his partner decided they were through with him. And it seems implied that maybe he was too busy to notice that the relationship was over.
@Broadpath, that's an interesting observation - and CV makes more sense, but in the live version it really sounds like he says "tv", which can be interpreted as he spends his days "living in a box", looking out through a window/screen. Just a thought. I like them both.
"Not so far to go", to himself - he's at the top, so he's almost there - maybe saying to himself "why aren't you happy, you've got what you want?"
The first verse is about his present situation and wanting to get out, questioning the how and the why. "Searching for a face that I know" - can mean he doesn't know anyone, feels all alone - or maybe he's looking for his lost love. Did his job cost him his marriage/relationship? We don't know, but we assume he wouldn't be lonely if he still had this person in his life.
The second verse - "I must've been working the ropes when your hand slipped from mine" - he's remembering someone he lost, and blames himself. He was supposed to be in control of the situation, or providing safety, but failed.
I take "mirrors and smoke" as just a simple juxtaposition of the common phrase, so "living on mirrors and smoke, it's a joke, a fix and a lie" means he thinks his life is a sham and he deceives people about his happiness, and hides his actual feelings of loneliness.
Then we get "Oh so far to fall" - he aspired to something but he's not happy, so that realization has caused everything to crash down for him (mentally). Or it's a mocking reference to how "high up and successful" he is. His status is meaningless to him at this point.
In the live version, the gentle rose line becomes "simple, gentle, binding, endless love".
In other words, send up a prayer in my name that I'll find true love again and can find happiness.
What an amazing song.
@alf1053044
@alf1053044
Thinking about it a bit more, "I must've been working the ropes when your hand slipped from mine" - "working the ropes" could be taken to mean he was working - maybe his status has large demands on his time. So he must've been working when his partner decided they were through with him. And it seems implied that maybe he was too busy to notice that the relationship was over.
Thinking about it a bit more, "I must've been working the ropes when your hand slipped from mine" - "working the ropes" could be taken to mean he was working - maybe his status has large demands on his time. So he must've been working when his partner decided they were through with him. And it seems implied that maybe he was too busy to notice that the relationship was over.