Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
You walk out on the high wire
You're a dancer on thin ice
You pay no heed to the danger
And less to advice
Your footsteps are forbidden
But with a knowledge of your sin
You throw your love to all the strangers
And caution to the wind
And you go dancing through doorways
Just to see what you will find
Leaving nothing to interfere
With the crazy balance of your mind
And when you finally reappear
At the place where you came in
You've thrown your love to all the strangers
And caution to the wind
It takes love over gold
And mind over matter
To do what you do that you must
When the things that you hold
Can fall and be shattered
Or run through your fingers like dust
You're a dancer on thin ice
You pay no heed to the danger
And less to advice
Your footsteps are forbidden
But with a knowledge of your sin
You throw your love to all the strangers
And caution to the wind
And you go dancing through doorways
Just to see what you will find
Leaving nothing to interfere
With the crazy balance of your mind
And when you finally reappear
At the place where you came in
You've thrown your love to all the strangers
And caution to the wind
It takes love over gold
And mind over matter
To do what you do that you must
When the things that you hold
Can fall and be shattered
Or run through your fingers like dust
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
Let’s face it, there is a fine line between someone doing something artistic and someone being foolish. It is one thing to go up on stage drunk and sing into a karaoke machine to be silly, but it is quite another to make it your profession.
When he talks about a person who goes “dancing through doorways” I think he’s talking about the kind of person who decides to become a performer. They are not the conservative kind of person who wouldn’t risk looking foolish. What kind of person throws their love to all the strangers? That’s what performers do.
I think the title of the song means that successful performers do it for the love of their craft and certainly not for the money. Because, even if you are successful for a time, it will “run through your fingers like dust” when your work falls out of favor.
"You walk out on the highwire/ you're a dancer on thin ice/ Pay no heed to the danger/and less to advise" refers to the dangerous situations these types of people put themselves in, and their seeming dismissal of danger and warnings about going to war or disease ravaged areas, for example.
"Your footsteps are forbidden/ but with a knowledge of your sin/ Throw your love to all the strangers/and caution to the wind"
They go places where they're officially unwelcome and beyond the help of their governments, but they're there to help the suffering and danger be damned.
"And you go dancing through the doorways/ just to see what you will find...and caution to the wind"
This second verse expands on the first, about going into squalid, depressed places with open minds and a sense of mission, taking care of all you find there.
"It takes love over gold and mind over matter to do what you do that you must, when the things that you hold can fall and be shattered or run through your fingers like dust"
It takes a special person, one who puts love of his fellow man over material things and with a special will to do these dangerous, difficult, emotionally draining things. It's something they feel they must do.
The things they hold are fragile lives, fragile bodies, easily broken and barely clining to life. Much of the work done perhaps futile as the inflicted are beyond help and only their suffering can be eased until they pass away, and run through fingers like dust...
Well, that's my take on this song. I think it's a fantastic piece of poetry.