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Won't you look up at the skyline
At the mortar, block, and glass
And check out the reflections in my eyes
See they always used to be there
Even when this was all was grass
And I sang and danced about a high-rise
And you were laughing at my helmet hat
Laughing at my torch
Go ahead you laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
(It keeps my feet on the ground)
And I trust it like the ground
That's why my philosophy
Keeps me walking when I'm falling down
I see that there is evil
And I know that there is good
And the in-betweens I never understood
Would you look at me I'm crazy
But I get the job done
I'm crazy but I get the job done
So go ahead and laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
(It keeps my feet on the ground)
And I trust it like the ground
That's why my philosophy
Keeps me walking when I'm falling down
I pushed you cause I loved you guys
I didn't realize
That you weren't having fun
And I dragged you up the stairs
And I told you to fly
You were flapping your arms
Then you started to cry, you were too high
Now you take this all for granted
You take the mortar, block, and glass
And you forget the speech that moved the stone
But it's really not that you can't see
The forest from the trees
You just never been out in the woods alone
So you can laugh all you want to
But I've got my philosophy
(It keeps my feet on the ground)
And I love you you're my friend
But you got no philosophy
Now it's time for this song to end
At the mortar, block, and glass
And check out the reflections in my eyes
See they always used to be there
Even when this was all was grass
And I sang and danced about a high-rise
And you were laughing at my helmet hat
Laughing at my torch
Go ahead you laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
(It keeps my feet on the ground)
And I trust it like the ground
That's why my philosophy
Keeps me walking when I'm falling down
I see that there is evil
And I know that there is good
And the in-betweens I never understood
Would you look at me I'm crazy
But I get the job done
I'm crazy but I get the job done
So go ahead and laugh all you want
I got my philosophy
(It keeps my feet on the ground)
And I trust it like the ground
That's why my philosophy
Keeps me walking when I'm falling down
I pushed you cause I loved you guys
I didn't realize
That you weren't having fun
And I dragged you up the stairs
And I told you to fly
You were flapping your arms
Then you started to cry, you were too high
Now you take this all for granted
You take the mortar, block, and glass
And you forget the speech that moved the stone
But it's really not that you can't see
The forest from the trees
You just never been out in the woods alone
So you can laugh all you want to
But I've got my philosophy
(It keeps my feet on the ground)
And I love you you're my friend
But you got no philosophy
Now it's time for this song to end
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Basically he is saying, "yeah, I may be crazy and strive to achieve things way out of my league... but hey, I get it done. Where there was grass and trees I pictured a skyscraper and I worked to make that happen... you laughed while I had my construction hat on and I made the vision in my head come to life. You might even laugh at me now and say it's just mortar, block and glass but you forget how much it took for me to get here, for me to "build" this! You forget that I made this from nothing! I have my philosophy that helps me do the things I strive to do. I think you guys are great but you don't understand my philosophy in life... I am proud of what I have accomplished. I want to achieve my dreams!" - the skyscraper is a metaphor.
I don't think this has anything directly to do with drugs or the USA... though I guess you could see it that way. I do think it could have been more specifically about Ben pushing his band into success and they hated him for making them try harder... looking back they forget how much he had to push to make the band a success and now they take it all for granted :)
"Now you take this all for granted
You take the mortar, block, and glass
And you forget the speech that moved the stone"
Again, I think the skyscraper is a metaphor for anything that people doubt you can achieve and then you do against all odds.
The first time I heard this song, I pictured the Statue of Liberty singing it. Makes a lot of sense this way, and you really don't have to think as deep as some of you are. Can't believe it took until recently for anyone to say it. I think 'evasive truth' is on drugs.
first began to try drugs. It turned his whole life in a new direction,
somewhat describing the lyrics "mortar block and glass" when the
normal term would be "glass block mortar". He's beginning to appreciate things he never noticed before ("check out the reflections in my eyes"). In his own mind, the feelings that he gets using the drugs have always been there, but he just hadn't noticed them with all the other distractions in life.
People began to judge him because he was trying drugs,
which are declared bad in modern day society. He felt like he had
a new knowledge (the torch) that he acquired from these drugs, but he
couldn't share this knowledge with people who hadn't tried them,
because they would only judge him.
So he says go ahead and judge him all you want,
he knows the truth; he's got his philosophy.
He sees that there is evil; he sees hard, addictive drugs being done and misused.
But he also knows that there is good, because he has done drugs before, and
they have opened up his mind to be a better person.
He's confused about the in-between, because he's also seen people doing the drugs that he does, but they abuse them and make something good into something evil.
He then says that he pushed his friends because he loved them; he wanted them to feel this extraordinary feeling that he felt. He didn't realize that they weren't ready for what he gave them. He "dragged them up the stairs and told them to fly"-- he was pushing them to try to get them to try the drug-- "you were flapping your arms, then you started to cry, you were too high"-- they really tried to feel good like Ben Folds did, but they couldn't handle it, it was too much. They were too high.
Now they all take life for granted; they don't appreciate the things that he learned to appreciate through drugs. "it's not really that you can't see the forest from the trees, you just never been out in the woods alone"-- i think this is Ben Folds saying that his friends may be able to look at people doing drugs and judge them, but it's only because they have never been out in the woods alone.
Sorry to all this offends, but I really think this it what he was thinking when he wrote the song. That is just my opinion.
great, great tune!
"Won't you look up at the skyline
At the mortar, block, and glass
And check out the reflections in my eyes
See they always used to be there
Even when this was all was grass
And I sang and danced about a high-rise"
He was blazing a path that others could not see before he was finished. The verse about pushing them up the stairs means that he pushed others to limits they couldn't achieve.
This song is about going and getting what you want regardless; succeeding in the face of adversity.