We live on a mountain
Right at the top
There's a beautiful view
From the top of the mountain
Every morning I walk towards the edge
And throw little things off
Like:
Car-parts, bottles and cutlery
Or whatever I find lying around

It's become a habit
A way
To start the day

I go through all this
Before you wake up
So I can feel happier
To be safe up here with you

It's real early morning
No-one is awake
I'm back at my cliff
Still throwing things off
I listen to the sounds they make
On their way down
I follow them with my eyes 'till they crash
Imagine what my body would sound like
Slamming against those rocks

When it lands
Will my eyes
Be closed or open?

I go through all this
Before you wake up
So I can feel happier
To be safe up here with you



Lyrics submitted by dank


Hyper-Ballad song meanings
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61 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:the mountain is a metaphor of the self/herself, ourselves.. the song is about letting go of excess baggage.
    Flag Morphemeson March 30, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is about more than rituals. It is the absolute need to do certain things each day to ensure everything you hold dear stays safe. A typical trait of certain 'obsessive personality disorders'. With all this aside, it is still a beautiful insecure love song.
    Flagged Stubeanon September 21, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about having a moment of individuality in a relationship. She wakes up in the morning and sneaks out of the house where she lives with her partner and has this little moment of nonsensical insight.
    then she goes back in to her partner and carries on feeling safe again with her lover.

    It's very beautiful. and it's really something to consider when you go into a relationship: do you want to blend with your partner 24/7 or do you want to still keep a few moments for yourself alone?
    Flag dcassuson August 25, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i have a different perspective of this song. we live in an amazing universe, and sometimes we realize it. every morning, bjork feels how amazing it is. she also organizes parts of herself, so that she can maintain a relationship ("to be safe with you" after "you" wakes up) and maintain herself (throwing things off the mountain is sort of like emptying your psychological baggage). basically, she meditates each morning, and it renews her spirit.

    the words "it's become a habit" and how she holds back what the ritual involves suggests to me she meditates using cannabis, like myself and many others (maybe i'm reaching too far here, but i think it's very possible). cannabis and meditation and understanding one's body tend to go together.

    when her body breaks, this is the metaphorical destruction of the ego/self. meditation and psychedelics lead you to this state. she transcends the material world if she throws enough off that cliff (even herself). "renewal" of one's personality each morning is possible with meditation and/or proper use of psychedelics.
    Flag qwepoion July 28, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:All the way through the wording is 'safe again'. To me and from my perspective its about a destructive or even abusive relationship. She acts out of ritual as a release for all those things that you hate in a relationship but for one reason or another, it could be fear, loyalty or even love- she acts out these dark thoughts to release them so she can carry on back home, back to her life. To me its a song about bottling up your emotions and feelings and how this particular person deals with it.
    I love this song, and although it has a real uplifting effect when you listen to it full blast I get goosepimples with a combination of overwhelming happiness, sadness and regret all at once. Its an amazingly provocative song. I love it.
    Flag elisadayon May 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think that in this song bjork highlights what a person who is regarded as a deep person passes through. bjork is surely a very deep person herself, as her lyrics suggest. I think in this song, bjork explains what its like to love another person who isn't deep like her. She has a world of her own in her imagination, which her partner isnt aware of ( "I go through all this before you wake up"). She's working hard to make the relationship a success and not letting her deep side come in between, so that they can be happy ("so I can feel happier to be safe up here with you"). Still she highlights the need to get in touch with her deepest feelings, on top of the mountain, throwing things and letting her brain take control, imagining what would be the sound of her body slamming against the rocks.
    Flag giulio90on April 22, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Lovers who can only show their best sides to each other have to go do destructive things to release their aggression and worst sides.
    Flag ferrariguy90on August 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I really feel I understand this song, cause I went through it...
    In the beginning she talks about living on top a great mountain = Putting her relationship on a pedestal
    Every morning walking to the edge of the relationship to gather all the things that are wrong, and throws them off the mountain (out of sight out of mind).

    She does this everyday to help her insecurity, and stay on top of the world with her partner. She imagines what it would be like if she through her self out of love, due to her "garbage" and what it would feel like to be off the mountain of love. When she's out will she survive? Will She Learn? Will she find more love?
    This helps her to appreciate what she has, and it's happier to let things go then to see the whole truth of the facts at times.
    I just feel this is it in a nutshell, Bjorks lyrics are very misconstrued at times, but that's what I truly think this song is about.
    Flag Erikwithakon July 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about ANXIETY. it epitomizes anxiety.
    Flag venus6on April 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is very similiar in feeling to Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." It's about suicide done in a very subtle way. I think suicide is something every sentient person has considered, at the very least, briefly, in his or her life.

    I also don't see this being about a relationship she's in, unless that relationship is with God, or Earth.
    Flag ikickedagirlon December 30, 2009   Link

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