This is one of Nena's most meaningful songs to me. The fully German version is more coherent than this version, but this one has its appeal too. My review is of the German version because that conveys the original meaning of songwriters Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen and Carlo Karges better than the English version, which, to my mind lapses too much into pure love song, without enough focus on the ephemeral nature of life that is the main theme of the German lyrics.
The first verse introduces two people, motes in the dark falling through space and time (as we all are in the grand scheme of things).
The song first speaks of a future beginning somehow somewhere and sometime, and the singer doesn't want to wait. Love is made from courage, so don't think too much about it, because the fire of our lives burns out so quickly in the darkness of time.
"Give me your hand, I'll build you a palace of sand": everything we build in life is like a sandcastle, and it will eventually be washed away. So "the time is always ripe for a little tenderness, somehow, somewhere, sometime".
In the second and final verse, the meaning is once more brought home: life is like awakening from a dream, and it's only a short blink of an eye before the night closes in on us again.
And in the final passages the meaning is clear: time is short, I don't want to wait, love comes from courage, so don't think about it, because we're riding catherine wheels into the night, so give me your hand, I'll build you a palace of sand, somehow, somewhere, sometime.
This is one of Nena's most meaningful songs to me. The fully German version is more coherent than this version, but this one has its appeal too. My review is of the German version because that conveys the original meaning of songwriters Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen and Carlo Karges better than the English version, which, to my mind lapses too much into pure love song, without enough focus on the ephemeral nature of life that is the main theme of the German lyrics.
The first verse introduces two people, motes in the dark falling through space and time (as we all are in the grand scheme of things).
The song first speaks of a future beginning somehow somewhere and sometime, and the singer doesn't want to wait. Love is made from courage, so don't think too much about it, because the fire of our lives burns out so quickly in the darkness of time.
"Give me your hand, I'll build you a palace of sand": everything we build in life is like a sandcastle, and it will eventually be washed away. So "the time is always ripe for a little tenderness, somehow, somewhere, sometime".
In the second and final verse, the meaning is once more brought home: life is like awakening from a dream, and it's only a short blink of an eye before the night closes in on us again.
And in the final passages the meaning is clear: time is short, I don't want to wait, love comes from courage, so don't think about it, because we're riding catherine wheels into the night, so give me your hand, I'll build you a palace of sand, somehow, somewhere, sometime.
Great song.
[Edit: Edited for clarity.]