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Down to the earth I fell
With dripping wings,
Heavy things won't fly
And the sky might catch on fire
And burn the axis of the world
That's why
I prefer a sunless sky
To the glittering and stinging in my eye
Feel so light
This is all I wanna feel tonight
Feel so light
Tonight and the rest of my life
Gleaming in the darksea
I'm as light as air
Floating there breathlessly
When the dream dissolves I open up my eyes
I realize that
Everything is shoreless sea
Weightlessness is passing over me
Feel so light
This is all I wanna feel tonight
Feel so light
Tonight and the rest of my life
Everthing is waves and stars
The universe is resting in my arms
I feel so alive
This is all I wanna feel tonight
I feel so light
Tonight and the rest of my life
With dripping wings,
Heavy things won't fly
And the sky might catch on fire
And burn the axis of the world
That's why
I prefer a sunless sky
To the glittering and stinging in my eye
Feel so light
This is all I wanna feel tonight
Feel so light
Tonight and the rest of my life
Gleaming in the darksea
I'm as light as air
Floating there breathlessly
When the dream dissolves I open up my eyes
I realize that
Everything is shoreless sea
Weightlessness is passing over me
Feel so light
This is all I wanna feel tonight
Feel so light
Tonight and the rest of my life
Everthing is waves and stars
The universe is resting in my arms
I feel so alive
This is all I wanna feel tonight
I feel so light
Tonight and the rest of my life
Lyrics submitted by kevin
Track duration: 05:15
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I think her world was shattered, maybe she was blissfully naive and had an experience that shook her to her core and made her question everything. And so heavy with disillusionment and regret she falls from the cloud she was on. But once away from the blinding sunlight, she realizes that, if she were to go back, the glittering will blind her again but this time, the process will end up consuming what ever remained of her. So she chooses to surrender fully to this new reality only to discover that this different state of being has brought her something she didn't know she was looking for: fulfillment. She is now complete, her own person. She may have lost her place by the sun in the process, but she gained the universe.
1 hr 20 min ago
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WHAT SHE WAS FEELING IS CAPTURED in the words. It reminds me of spirituality, Dark Night Of The Soul type concepts. IMO this is a song that both lyrically and with her beautiful nuanced timing of vocal melody ("glittering and stinging in my eye"), encapsulates spiritual release through letting go, and the calming and stability into the future it brings. For me, the two sides of the coin are the side of ego, represented by being like Icarus, who believed he could succeed in his desires but flew too high, and the ego-releasing person who learns to "prefer the sunless sky", and thus quieting the smaller self (call it ego), obtains a release into higher self of our creator and has a dazzling awakening of higher consciousness. If you've had it you'll know its more pleasurable by a thousand-fold than any physical experience.
The Band Kansas made similar references, both to Icarus (In their song of the same name), and to letting go of ego (such as in the songs Carry On Wayward Son, and Dust In The Wind.
"Once I rose above the noise and confusion, just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion, I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high" - from Carry On Wayward Son.
If you've ever had a dream about flying, that dissolves into an out-of-body experience after the dream then you'll possibly feel like I do, that she's captured it perfectly - the giving of oneself to the experience of that which is spiritual, truth seeking, for just a moment -devoting your thoughts to love and truth (not one someone else tells us they are). We choose physical things over spiritual, even physical religions that don't practice what they preach, as opposed to spiritual ones, that do. As Seal says, With A Sky Full Of People Only Some Want To Fly, Isn't That Crazy?
Compare Pink Floyd, Learning To Fly:
"Above the planet on a wing and a prayer,
My grubby halo, a vapour trail in the empty air,
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
Out of the corner of my watering eye
A dream unthreatened by the morning light
Could blow this soul right through the roof of the night
There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, a state of bliss"
That's putting it right out there, but Nina Gordon is more subtle and finessing.
IMO spiritual people hear and speak the same language of spirit. It may seem incomprehensible before a person will "knock and the door will be open..".
I think a lot of spiritual lyrics capture the experience both of how Physical "reality" can bring suffering through self-centeredness and personal illusion, and the need to let it go (Dust In The Wind), and also the experience of release from this small-mindedness. (Much like a solar system that has a sun at its center, but keeps one from the stars and complete universe). I think the the beginning of Nina's song says both beautifully, including that with the letting go of ego, of finding humbleness, we arrive at spiritual reality of love and truth. Its not a glaring fire that stings the physical eyes: The spirit is so light and peaceful that it will never be possible to really have a spiritual experience by way of drugs, that strengthen ego, or seeking what is in physical reality only. Seek the truth. Seek and Ye shall find.
["I prefer a sunless sky
To the glittering and stinging in my eye"].
This transitions, when the ego is let go in preference of the sunless sky, into:
["Everthing is waves and stars
The universe is resting in my arms"]
Which is why, I guess, she would not just want to feel this way tonight, but also:
["Tonight and the rest of my life"].
In other words it was a life changing experience. Out-of-body experiences that are the result of seeking God, and spiritual experiences like Grace, Smahdi, Nirvana, etc., have common threads. To be quiet and calm and still can bring one closer to God. A lot of people will be uncomfortable with spirituality because of so much fighting over religious views and beliefs, which is why a song like "Tonight And The Rest Of My Life" is so basic. We're all spiritual seekers one way or another even if we insist that we've "Found".
Compare Blue Oyster Cult's I LOVE THE NIGHT
"Then suddenly my eyes were bathed in light
And the lovely lady in white was by my side
She said "Like me I see you're walking alone
Won't you please stay?"
I couldn't look away"
And Then:
"No mortal was meant to know such wonder
One look in the mirror told me so
Come darkness I'll see her again
Yes I'm gonna go
'Cause now I know
"I love the night
The day is OK and the sun can be fun but I live
To see those rays slip away"
"I love the night"
Another reference, from WIKIPEDIA:
"Dark Night of the Soul (Spanish: La noche oscura del alma) is the title of a poem written by 16th-century Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic Saint John of the Cross, as well as of a treatise he wrote later, commenting on the poem. Saint John of the Cross was a Carmelite priest. His poem narrates the journey of the soul from its bodily home to its union with God. The journey occurs during the night, which represents the hardships and difficulties the soul meets in detachment from the world and reaching the light of the union with the Creator. There are several steps in this night, which are related in successive stanzas. The main idea of the poem can be seen as the painful experience that people endure as they seek to grow in spiritual maturity and union with God. The poem is divided into two books that reflect the two phases of the dark night. The first is a purification of the senses. The second and more intense of the two stages is that of the purification of the spirit, which is the less common of the two. Dark Night of the Soul further describes the ten steps on the ladder of mystical love, previously described by Saint Thomas Aquinas and in part by Aristotle."
Finally:
"....withdraw thy blinding splendour that I may behold thy radiant form: that Spirit far away within thee is my own inmost Spirit." From the Hindu Text Isha Upanishad.
alexpeak.com/twr/vedas/…
Could it be that Nina is singing about the pleasantness/relief of death? She feels so light (heaven-bound) and unburdened (by life).
"Down to the earth I fell;With dripping wings,;Heavy things won't fly" - They realize they feel fat.
"And the sky might catch on fire;And burn the axis of the world;That's why;I prefer a sunless sky;To the glittering and stinging in my eye" - Such a realization shatters your world.
"Feel so light;This is all I wanna feel tonight;Feel so light;Tonight and the rest of my life" - Lying in bed and feeling weightless after no food and weight loss.
"Gleaming in the dark sea;I'm as light as air;Floating there breathlessly" - Feeling lightheaded.
"When the dream dissolves I open up my eyes;I realize that;Everything is shoreless sea" - Coming back to 'reality' and feeling 'fat' again.
Etc. etc.
That's just one way I see it, I also see how all of you interpret it and it makes sense as well. The story of Icarus is my most favourite, though. : )
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
Especially this string:
Everthing is waves and stars
The universe is resting in my arms
It's very scientific song, I gues...
Hence:
Down to the earth I fell
With dripping wings,
Heavy things won't fly
the next lines are a witty ironic comment on the reason for his fall (the heat of the sun melting his wings:
That's why
I prefer a sunless sky
To the glittering and stinging in my eye
the rest of the song is from his perspective as he is foating/dying in the sea
that is just one "litteral" meaning
the song could also be about any experience that opens your eyes to the fullness and joy of life
(even if it is too late, sometimes)