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Stillness Is the Move Lyrics

when the child was just a child
it did not know what it was
like a child it had no habits
no opinion about anything

maybe i will get a job
get a job as a waitress
maybe waiting tables in a diner
in some remote city down the highway

after all that we've been through
i know we'll make it after the wait
the question is a truth
there is nothing we can't do
i'll see you along the way baby
the stillness is the move

on top of every mountain
there was a great longing
for another even higher mountain
in each city longing for a bigger city

after all that we've been through
i know that i will always love you
from now until forever baby
i can't imagine anything better

(chorus)

isn't life under the sun just a crazy dream?
isn't life just a mirage of the world before the world?
why am i here and not over there?
where did time begin
where does space end
where do you and i begin?

(chorus x2)
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Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

Recently got into this album; fantastic stuff.

On this song, I see it as being about being totally in love and feeling weird that you're feeling all these intimate things like love and desire, which all feel so real and intense, in a world which is so loose and based on pure coincidence.

"why am i here and not over there? where did time begin where does space end where do you and i begin?"

It's the great interior battle between a kind of existential confusion, which makes you feel meaningless, and the great chemical rush of love, which despite being entirely illogical and an illusion, gives you a purpose.

Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but I love the song so I don't really care :P

Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

this song is the fucking sex

It's based on a monologue from the movie. At least the first 4 lines of the song are.

The original German: http://www.wim-wenders.com/movies/movies_spec/wingsofdesire/wod-song-of-childhood-german.htm

And the English translation: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~eh644893/child.htm

yeah, would have to say the lyrics do use the monologue from Wings of Desire (great film by the way)

at least if you are going to "appropriate", you could d worse. Bottom line, i would expect that some kind of acknowledgement be given somewhere by Dirty Projectors.

nice groove tho...

Not Valid

I agree that the composer should have credited the screenwriter from Wings of Desire. It used to be said "Mediocre artist borrow, great artists steal," but it's gotten out of hand. If no one creates anything new, what will be the inspiration for future generations?

Still, only moderately disappointed, because it's such a wonderful song.

Not Valid

I don't think there's any need to be disappointed. I see the song as an homage to a beautiful film. "Wings of Desire" is quoting Peter Handke's poem, anyway. The poem inspired the film, the film inspired this magnificent song. It's neither stealing nor borrowing - it is just a reference. Listeners who've seen the film will recognize the reference immediately and it adds to one's appreciation of the song.

And it is a damn fine song, whether you get the reference or not!

Not Valid
Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

"If no one creates anything new, what will be the inspiration for future generations?" - I personally think that is a dangerous mentality to have when it comes to creating art, in this case music, because the implication is that we should be creating for the concept of a future, when in reality that doesn't exist, rather than a honest expression of one's self in the moment. I agree people should strive for originality and honesty in their work but it should be about the present, timeless moment and not for some illusory goal like a non-existent future.

Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

is the groove

Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

It is based on the movie Wings of Desire

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106725467

Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

There's a difference between inspiration and plagiarism; I don't think it's even possible for a song to plagiarize a movie. Great song though, like a Talking Heads song if they had formed in 2015 and let Tina Weymouth sing.

Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

The song seems to be about being in love while at the same time being clueless about the purpose of human existence.

The line, "isn't life just a mirage of the world before the world?", suggests, hearkening back to the theme of a mutable identity and worldview established in the opening verse, that we are constantly adjusting our phenomenal views of the world and that these "mirages" we continually build up and break down collectively comprise life itself.

Regarding the title, I think "Stillness is the Move" suggests that when in love, the optimal "move" in the sense of doing something to ameliorate one's life is "stillness"; quite simply, enjoying the moment and appreciating the company of a loved one.

Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

Swell.

Cover art for Stillness Is the Move lyrics by Dirty Projectors

It's about moving past your younger self and into the real world! You can no longer rely on someone else to hold up your life, it must be done on your own. Not only in yourself, but encouraging those around you as well. Could be way off. Very hymnal to me. And that riff...god. Dirty Projectors is it.