Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth
Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt
Still a little hard to say what's going on

Still a little bit of your ghost your witness
Still a little piece of your face i haven't kissed
You step a little closer to me
Still i can't see what's going on

Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to lie
Life taught me to die
So it's not hard to fall
When you float like a cannonball

Still a little bit of your ghost, your weakness
Still a little bit of your face, I haven't kissed
You step a little closer each day
Still I can't see what's going on

Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to lie
Life taught me to die
So it's not hard to fall
When you float like a cannon

Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to cry
So come on courage!
Teach me to be shy
'Cause it's not hard to fall
And i don't want to scare her
It's not hard to fall
And i don't want to lose
It's not hard to grow
When you know that you just don't know



Lyrics submitted by paranoia_girl

Track duration: 05:10

"Cannonball [Radio Remix]" as written by Damien George Rice

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Cannonball song meanings
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171 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment:This is one of the most beautiful and relatable songs I know. The character is explaining his hesitance and insecurity in committing to a girl.

    The relationship is slowly growing in closeness every day and the man is scared because he feels like it's fated to bugger up. After all, he buggers up everything he does, he "floats like a cannonball".

    It is interspersed with something I think everyone over a certain age can relate to: the realisation that all your teachers in life, parents, role models, whatever, didn't in fact know what they were doing themselves; they were stones teaching people to fly. In light of this, how is a poor sap like this bloke, or any of us, supposed to have any idea what we're doing either?

    It's this realisation, that there are no guarantees in life, which makes people age more than anything else.
    Flagged blobblon February 05, 2013   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:It's about someone who led a hard life, and experienced a lot of pain from other people (perhaps someone broke his heart, perhaps someone abused him). But all of the sudden, he falls in love with someone, and it surprised him a bit, that he manages to find someone who he wants to be close to, who he wants to open up to him. someone he agrees to trust.

    Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth
    Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt
    Still a little hard to say what's going on

    Still a little bit of your ghost your witness
    Still a little piece of your face i haven't kissed
    You step a little closer to me
    Still i can't see what's going on

    these lines describes the process of falling in love ("you step a little closer to me"), but the songwriter still has his doubts, he's still not sure if it's really happening or not, if he's really falling in love, and if he really agrees to put himself in such a vulnerable position such as being in love. ("still i can't see what's going on").

    Stones taught me to fly
    Love taught me to lie
    Life taught me to die
    So it's not hard to fall
    When you float like a cannonball

    these lines represent the hardships in his life. he's using cynicism in these lines. (for example, he saya "stones taught me to fly", although stones are heavy objects, and are therefor the worst "teacher" to have when "learning to fly"). these lines suggest that the writer had poor examples to follow in his life, hard experiences, that made him a cynic, a sad person, a doubtful person.


    Stones taught me to fly
    Love taught me to cry
    So come on courage!
    Teach me to be shy
    'Cause it's not hard to fall
    And i don't want to scare her
    It's not hard to fall
    And i don't want to lose
    It's not hard to grow
    When you know that you just don't know

    the writer continues his cynicism ("so come on courage! teach me to be shy", which expresses the writers will to confess his love to her, but he's so ready to be let down by something, to be dissappointed by something). he continues to express his sad view on life, and somewhere deep inside, he's so sad and doubtful and cynic that he doesn't believe in love. but on the other hand, he expresses a will to hang on to his love - "and i dont want to scare her", "i dont want to lose". the writer has an inner conflict between his realistic, melancholic view about life, and his optimism and hope, his will to hang on to his love. on one line he says "it's not hard to fall", and immidiatly on the next one "and i don't want to scare her". as if there are two voices speaking from within him, each expressing different views.

    Eventually, the writer says "It's not hard to grow, When you know that you just don't know". finally, at the end, after the inner conflict, the writer comes to a conclusion he just doesn't know. he doesn't know if he's in love or not, he doesn't know if he really wants it or not, he doesn't know if it's good for him or not.

    All he knows, is that he doesn't know anything.
    Flag afterlife1on November 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:In my opinion, this song is about a guy and girl who have just recently started seeing each other. He falls very fast for her and he is not sure if she feels the same way. So, he hopes that he can hold back so that he doesn't scare her away because he wants to grow in a relationship with her. He doesn't want her to think that he is crazy by falling in love with her so soon.
    Flag wsb88on May 11, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:Absolutely beautiful song.. one of my favorite's from Damien.
    Flag ejmson April 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is the most beautiful thing. I have a proper love affair with it everytime I listen to it. It just really hits home and I totally get it. Its just so moving and so 'real life' Damien Rice is one of the few singers that actually KNOWS what he singing. Flawless!! x
    Flag evemcbayon January 17, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:I think this song is about the beginning of a relationship. It's definitely about two people, let's call them "he" and a "she".

    Maybe they just spend the day together, maybe the night, and she's gone now, off to work or something. He is maybe lying in his bed, or sitting in his couch, thinking about everything. He's thinking about how much he like this girl, he's feeling very lucky to be with her. But he's afraid that she doesn't feel the same way, and even if she does, he knows that he can't tell her. He's had relationships in the past and they were ruined by going too fast. So he has to fight his instincts and take it slow, even though he doesn't really want to.

    stones taught me to fly
    love, it taught me to lie
    life, it taught me to die
    so it's not hard to fall
    when you float like a cannonball

    The chorus pretty much sums up the song. In past relationships he had to learn how to be reticent, reluctant, to get her on the same page, maybe to get her to realise that she really likes him and doesn't want to lose him. He had to learn that when he's "in love" he can't completely share his feelings immediately, because he learned that it might scare her off.
    All of it is beautifully summarized in one sentence. "It's not hard to fall when you float like a cannonball". In real life, physically, a "floating cannonball" won't fall, it will just keep on going untill it hits something. Just like stones don't fly.
    But when it comes to love, everything is backwards. Stones do fly, and floating like a cannonball here means rushing things - for example immediatly laying all your cards on the table and admitting how much you like that other person - and it's a tough lesson to learn that when you do that, you will just fall down and have nothing.

    there's still a little bit of your song
    in my ear
    there's still a little bit of your words
    I long to hear
    you step a little closer to me
    so close that I cant see what's going on..

    and stones, taught me to fly
    love, it taught me to lie
    life taught me to die
    so its not hard to fall
    when you float like a cannon..
    stones taught me to fly
    love; it taught me to cry
    so come on courage
    teach me to be shy
    cause it's not hard to fall
    and i dont want to scare her
    it's not hard to fall
    and I dont want to lose
    it's not hard to grow
    when you know that you just..dont know
    Flagged rrubenon January 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Easy and beautiful song to understand.

    love; it taught me to cry
    so come on courage
    teach me to be shy
    cause it's not hard to fall
    and i dont want to scare her
    it's not hard to fall
    and I dont want to lose

    That pretty much sums it up. He likes a girl, but doesn't want to really show how much he likes her as it's too soon and he doesn't want to lose her.
    Flag MarcusHon September 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Just talking about the chorus now, I think the song is about messing up and getting it really wrong.

    stones taught me to fly
    love, it taught me to lie
    life, it taught me to die
    so it's not hard to fall
    when you float like a cannonball

    I think he did learn all these things but has realised that he obtained his tuition from the wrong places.
    Flag rabrandomon September 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about the first stage of a relationship where you´re so excited about falling for the other person but at the same time being so afraid they´re not on the same page, therefore you know you should take it slower for fear of ruin it.
    I love how Damien expresses life´s contradictions with such irony. "life taught me to die" meaning as soon as we become aware of life we learn we're to die. "love, it taught me to lie" We can tell the worst lies to the person we love. "Stones taught me to fly" It's when we're so pressed on or weighted down with stuff that we're willing to do whatever to be free.
    Anyways, those are my thoughts.
    Flag Kharoon June 23, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is beautiful.... It's about a relationship that was becoming intimate. One person was open to love "stepping a little closer each day," and the other person "ran" for fear of letting their guard down- "it's not hard to fall when you float like a cannonball"! AMAZING!
    Flag temptation777on May 23, 2010   Link

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