you gonna look fine
be primed for dancing
you're gonna trip and glide
all on the trembling plane
your diamond hands
will be stacked with roses
and wind and cars
and people of the past
i'll call you thing
just when the moon sings
and place your face in stone
upon the hills of stars
and gripped in the arms
of the changeless madman
we'll dance our lives away
in the ballrooms of mars
you talk about day
i'm talking 'bout night time
when the monsters call out
the names of men
bob dylan knows
and i bet alan freed did
there are things in night
that better not to behold
you dance
with your lizard leather boots on
and pull the strings
that change the faces of men
you diamond browed hag
you're a gutter-gaunt gangster
john lennon knows your name
and i've seen his



Lyrics submitted by oofus

Track duration: 04:10


Ballrooms Of Mars song meanings
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13 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:In my opinion, this song was something like a letter to David Bowie. Marc and him were close friends since the end of the 60s, and Bowie was kind of sad for being forgotten by Bolan when he became famous. So, after Bowie realeased "Hunky Dory" in 1971, Bolan had an ispiration and wrote "BALLROOMS OF MARS", cause now him and bowie were famous, and Bowie made a hit with "Life on MARS".

    It's about having fun in mars, being famous, where everybody knows your name and you're recognized. Bob Dylan knows (Song for Bob Dylan)...
    Flag ale1990on January 04, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This poetry has one simple explantion. It's an anti-war song.
    Mars => the god of War.
    Dancing => Fighting
    Ballrooms of Mars => Battlefields
    Witn my comments on the lyrics between brackets.

    you gonna look fine
    be primed for dancing
    [in your uniform with your battle gears]
    you're gonna trip and glide
    all on the trembling plane
    [that carry you to the battlefields of a foreign country]
    your diamond hands
    will be stacked with roses
    and wind and cars
    and people of the past
    I'll call you thing
    just when the moon sings
    and place your face in stone
    upon the hills of stars
    [all iconic images of the return of the war hero]
    and gripped in the arms
    of the changeless madman
    we'll dance our lives away
    in the ballrooms of mars
    [The crazyness on the battlefields has not change throughout History]
    you talk about day
    i'm talking 'bout night time
    when the monsters call out
    the names of men
    [Not about the mediatized crazyness in daylight but about the hidden crazy face of those who plan who are going to die the next day]
    bob dylan knows
    and i bet alan freed did
    [Dylan anti-war R&R hero, Freed anti-racial segregation R&R hero]
    there are things in night
    that better not to behold
    [That's why they are not mediatized]
    you dance
    with your lizard leather boots on
    [Maybe refering to the special ops officers who used to add personal distinctive features to their uniforms]
    and pull the strings
    that change the faces of men
    [Maybe refering to booby traps like the Claymore]
    you diamond browed hag
    you're a gutter-gaunt gangster
    [Maybe reference to their dealings with the drug lords for military intelligence]
    john lennon knows your name
    and i've seen his.
    [Lennon anti-war R&R hero, the inspiration for this song]
    Flag TOG01on December 25, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Seems to me that this song is about Rock and Roll and what it means to Marc, or what he thinks it should mean to most people. He reference Dylan(a huge inspiration to him) and Alan Freed, the radio DJ who coined Rock and Roll. He also mentions John Lennon, who was a huge rockstar and one of Marc's friends.

    The song is almost entirely about dancing, aside from that he makes references to the qualities of a woman's beauty and his "Rock" icons. Not to mention placing a face in stone upon a hill of stars, some would consider this a metaphor for an eternal pedestal.

    It sounds like he's saying "I love Rock and Roll and it helps me show my love for you, with dance. Not only that, my love is as eternal as rock and roll and the men that make it that way."
    Flag marcrollins89on August 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Thanks spojmonkey. Nice interpretation.

    Beautiful mysterious song. Like the best of Bolans songs it works just below the conscious. I think it's about the influence of his musical heroes. He works in haunting images of cars and escaping into the night. His songs foretell his own tragic end.
    Flag honeycombon January 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Ahhh i love this song, although I really don't think it means anything. Doesn't stop it from being beautiful though! I mean, "I'll call you Thing, just when the moon sings, and place your face in stone upon a hill of stars?" Come on. And it's got that gorgeous guitar solo too. Definitive "glam rock" song- poetry and outer space. Lol.
    Flag ironbuffalo66on June 17, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:If you think this song is meaningless you are very shallow. It's easy to find out from any ammount of research that Marc Bolan was obsessed with fantasy and he used fantasy terms to illustrate meanings in songs. When you take all of the space references out it's a song about someone that he either has or had a strong emotional attachment to. That one sour cord he plays every other verse and the dark imagery leads me to believe something bad happened to this person, or his relationship with this person. Thus they are no longer "on earth" or in his reality, This is why he would have to meet them on mars. The beginning of the song is set up to show that it is something that he is dreaming about. "You're gonna look fine." phrases like this show that it hasn't happened yet. It's something that he is dreaming up or that he wishes would happen. The fact that he says "John Lennon knows your name" leads me to believe she might be some groupie he liked who has some type of standing in the music industry. This could just be a bias of mine since Marc Bolan dated syd barret's ex girlfriend. Hope you guys enjoy my interpretation. :)
    Flag spojmonkeyon January 22, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:spot on, Lady Stardust. People go on and on about how Marc Bolan's lyrics make no sense BUT THEY ARE POETRY. A lot of the time it's just about the sound the words make together with the music. I suppose some people just have no soul....
    Flag RabbitFighteron November 06, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Uhm,, eeyore. If this song is so simple to write, why don't you write one yourself and earn millions of dollars?
    Yeah, I thought so. So shut up.
    I think these lyrics don't really mean anything, just describing a dream or something. It's pure poetry.
    Flag Lady Starduston April 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I will admit that I have never heard of T. Rex before in my life, but I heard this song on the School of Rock soundtrack and loved it for some reason. I intend to look at their other stuff. I like the music and the singer's voice and although I don't really know what they're about, I like the lyrics. But isn't the one line:
    Your diamond brown hair
    instead of whatever the hell it says above? I guess what I think doesn't make much sense, but neither does the line in the lyrics above.
    Flag devilslittlesisteron August 15, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:One of my faves, too, Child Star. T Rex was brilliant not in spite of, but because of, such enigmatic lyrics. One of the best bands ever!!

    Wonder why someone would even bother to post about lyrics he hates? Eeyore may not be quite retarded, but he probably has an IQ of, oh maybe 90.
    Flag Thor the Almightyon January 11, 2006   Link

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