In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea
You became the light on the dark side of me
Love remained a drug that's the high and not the pill
But did you know that when it snows
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can't be seen?
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah
And now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
There is so much a man can tell you, so much he can say
You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain
Baby, to me, you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny
Won't you tell me, is that healthy, baby?
But did you know that when it snows
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can't be seen?
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah (yeah)
Now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey
And if I should fall, will it all go away? (I've been kissed by a rose on the grey)
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey
There is so much a man can tell you, so much he can say
You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain
To me, you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny (yeah)
No won't you tell me, is that healthy, baby?
But did you know that when it snows
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can't be seen?
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
Yes, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah (yeah)
And now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea
You became the light on the dark side of me
Love remained a drug that's the high and not the pill
But did you know that when it snows
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can't be seen?
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah
And now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
There is so much a man can tell you, so much he can say
You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain
Baby, to me, you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny
Won't you tell me, is that healthy, baby?
But did you know that when it snows
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can't be seen?
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah (yeah)
Now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey
And if I should fall, will it all go away? (I've been kissed by a rose on the grey)
I've been kissed by a rose on the grey
There is so much a man can tell you, so much he can say
You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain
To me, you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny (yeah)
No won't you tell me, is that healthy, baby?
But did you know that when it snows
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can't be seen?
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
Yes, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey
Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah (yeah)
And now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
Ba-ya-ya, ba-da, ba-da-da-da, ba-ya-ya
Now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the grey
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Ok meant to post this not reply, my bad
Here is what I think the song means:
There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea:
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey:
There is so much a man can tell you So much he can say
And if I should fall, will it all go away?
That's what I think.
I really don't like the relation to drugs. Even though it seems plausible I feel it ruins the beauty of this song.
Thorns are never mentioned in the song, so I strongly believe the rose represents colour and happiness.
Before reading the lyrics I too always thought he sang grave, but grey makes a lot more sense, especially since the songs starts with "a greying tower". But even if grey is replaced by grave it still holds the same meaning.
Amazing, thank you for your contribution, I fully enjoyed, and agree with it.
The drug metaphor doesn't ruin the beauty of this song at all, but rather tempers it by telling us of the dangers of unabashed love, especially in regard to a lovelorn person. Seal tells us of how his first lost love and the misery that follows hurt him immensely, and how his new lover brightens his life to the point where he may cling to (and even smother) her to stay high on love. To "abuse her like a drug", if you will.
@Jop Sir, I would like to know the meaning of 'Secret Love Song'. If you free and please, please post explaining. <br /> <br /> Respectfully<br /> Michael
if we match this song to the batman. I think the first women was his mother. what do you think?
@Jop Love remains a drug that's the high and not the pill: I think refers to the high people get while in love with someone like drugs which stimulate the same parts of the brain. Not the pill I think means like a medication for the sadness he feels. Love still doesn't really cure the pain, but the high he gets kind of helps. The love is kind of addictive like drugs which stimulate the same parts of the brain, though, so is that okay?
@Jop This is a beautiful breakdown of the lyric....wow, I got sad reading your explanation...love this song more now!
No one has posted a comment in a while, but THIS IS TRUE MUSIC! People need to listen to more of Seal; this is what makes music music. I always listened to pop and rock and stuff like that, but once I heard Seal I knew he had the musical talent, without all of the autotuning. This music NEEDS TO BE PLAYED ON THE RADIO; the newer music gets played every day, the same thing, all the time for like 2 years. If this music was being played on the radio, it would not get boring, because it is truely amazing and definately can touch your heart, make you excited, etc. THIS MUSIC WILL NEVER DIE, it is too amazing. His work leaves me speechless.
@TheIntimindator27 I just heard it on Mellow Magic mate
I always thought it was; "a kiss on the grave"-shows how well I can hear apparently... :| Lovely song. :) It was the best part of that Batman installment.
@Thia007 i thought it was grave also
this song is about a guy who is a loner and never had any real emotions, who falls in love with a beautiful girl who he believes will light his dark and lonely life up "light on the dark side of me". he then does everything in his power to get her to fall in love with him but as she realizes he loves her, he pays the ultimate sacrifice, thus love is like a rose, beautiful but can bear its thorns and become painful.
I think it means that you love someone eternally beautiful, like a rose, but their thorns are causing you pain at the same time. It is definately not about heroin or something. That line "and love became a drug that's the high and not the pill" means that love is giving you a "high" that no pill could ever give you.
i think this song means this person is very much in love with someone and they are the most beutiful thing in their life, maybe the only beutiful thing in their life cause the song says "rose on the grey". They brighten up their dull and ugly life.
I thought the lyrics were " kiss from a rose on the GRAVE." interesting..
@Shock_Resistor I always thought that too!!
I also thought it was "grave".
I think that "a kiss from a rose" is like kissing something so beautiful but its painful at the same time...like Somebody you love so much but they cause you pain.
“No we’re never gonna survive unless… We are a little… [Rilke]”
The following has been given his Seal of approval: A prick from a rose thorn, Sealed with a “kiss from a rose”. Poetic allusions in Seal’s "Kiss from a rose": An existential exegesis
“Kiss from a rose” alludes to a prick from a rose thorn suffered by Rainer Maria Rilke which he received whilst in his rose garden; from which he thought he had contracted the infection that ultimately killed him (instead of leukaemia, which he had been diagnosed with).
The rose’s thorn could symbolise: the pain of life; or the painful pointed prick of life as you die; or the pain of death, before you are extinguished, vanished, gone.
Hence, “a kiss from a rose on the grey” [my italics], is not literally referring to “a rose on a grey”, but just alluding to the grey colour of the tombstone, to emphasise the causal link betwixt roses and his untimely interment.
The rose symbolises death, so the kiss from the rose is the kiss of death, which eliminates the greyness of life, replacing it with the bright light of death.
The “light” is death, which “hits the gloom” of life, Like the sharp thorn that pierced Rilke’s fleisch.
Flowers “in bloom” on Rilke’s grave now grow; But did I see roses there? Alas, no.
Rilke’s epitaph, as laid out on his tombstone (with capitalisation still intact, as in the original, and my translation) reads thus: