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They flutter behind you your possible pasts
Some brightened and crazy some frightened and lost
A warning to anyone still in command
Of their possible future to take care
In derelict sidings the poppies entwine
With cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time
Do you remember me? how we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
She stood in the doorway the ghost of a smile
Haunting her face like a cheap hotel sign
Her cold eyes imploring the men in their macs
For the gold in their bags or the knives in their backs
Stepping uo boldly one put out his hand
He said, " I was just a child then now I'm only a man"
Do you remember me? how we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
By the cold and religious we were taken in hand
Shown how to feel good and told to feel bad
Tongue tied and terrified we learned how to pray
Now our feelings run deep and cold as the clay
And strung out behind us the banners and flags
Of our possible pasts lie in tatters and rags
Do you remember me? how we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
Some brightened and crazy some frightened and lost
A warning to anyone still in command
Of their possible future to take care
In derelict sidings the poppies entwine
With cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time
Do you remember me? how we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
She stood in the doorway the ghost of a smile
Haunting her face like a cheap hotel sign
Her cold eyes imploring the men in their macs
For the gold in their bags or the knives in their backs
Stepping uo boldly one put out his hand
He said, " I was just a child then now I'm only a man"
Do you remember me? how we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
By the cold and religious we were taken in hand
Shown how to feel good and told to feel bad
Tongue tied and terrified we learned how to pray
Now our feelings run deep and cold as the clay
And strung out behind us the banners and flags
Of our possible pasts lie in tatters and rags
Do you remember me? how we used to be?
Do you think we should be closer?
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Track duration: 04:27
"Your Possible Pasts" as written by Roger Waters
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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the question is, what does it mean to have a "possible" past? it means that once, many decades ago, people stood with many choices before them, and the choices they made led to the Holocaust and, subsequently, the world we now live in. (that's the "next time" at the end of the first verse: it happened once, and it can happen again.) but the choices that led us here are just one strain of many POSSIBLE choices. had people then chosen differently and more wisely, we might not be in a post-Holocaust world. and if we, now, choose wisely, we might avoid another Holocaust. that's what the album is all about. The Final Cut is shot thru with terror of another Holocaust, whether 'traditional' (ack) or nuclear.
the later verses are just sub-stories. the beginning lays it out: the horror which historically occurred was once not History, but merely Possible. it's our task to make future possibilities turn out better.
Thank you!
i dated this girl when we were 17 or so, time goes on we drift apart. maybe 20 years later we start talking again and ofcourse she reminds me of some the bad things i may have done "back in the day" my defense to her was
"i was just a child then, now im only a man" i find i often use floyd lines to express myself.
I am shocked there are so few comments.
I'm on my blackberry so I can't type well
or give any lengthy thoughts.
Just a godamned great song.
i love the solo