Staring at a maple leaf
Leaning on the mother tree
I said to myself we all lost touch
Your favorite fruit is chocolate covered cherries
And seedless watermelon ohhhh
Nothing from the ground is good enough
Body raised
It puts over me

[Chorus]
Oh chariot your golden waves
are walking down upon this face
Oh chariot I'm singing out loud
To guide me
Give me your:
Strength

Remember seeking moons of birth
Rings made mirrors of the earth
The sun was just yellow energy
It is a living promise land
Even over fields of sand
Seasons fill my mind and
Cover me
From bringing back
More than a memory

[Chorus]

You'll be my vacation away from this place
You know what I want
Holding that cup,
It's pouring over the sides
Make me want to spread my arms and fly

[Chorus]

Your be my vacation away from this place
You know what I want
Holding that cup,
Its Pouring over to the sides
Make me want to spread my arms and fly

Chorus



Lyrics submitted by tumblweed15

Track duration: 03:59

"Chariot" as written by Gavin Degraw

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Chariot song meanings
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67 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Also.... found this quote FROM GAVIN about this song...

    Chariot is a metaphorical vehicle for getting to a place in your mind that is a more broken down and laid back. It's somewhere to be just for a moment--instead of being wrapped up and living wherever you're living and consumed with what you're doing. It's a place to release and chill out.
    Flag angiemarieon August 22, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Knowing Gavin the way I do, I think a lot of you got it allllll mixed up. He's talking about life and people. Anyone who has been a fan for a while and had the chance to talk to Gavin knows that Gavin is a very simplistic man. Even though he's loaded with cash and does appreciate the finer things in life, he is not consumed by them. I think in this song he is talking about how we have all "lost touch" with whats truly important in life. So many people are consumed by money and status... these things mean little to Gavin. He's all about living and loving and doing what makes him happy. As far as the chorus goes... I think it's metaphoric. He's talking about this chariot... and how chariots go slow, enjoy the ride... hmm... at least that's what I get out of it.
    Flag angiemarieon August 22, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:In my opinion he is talking about how he started out as a simple guy who performed in small local places, then met a girl who pushed him to pursue his music. In the video it shows how this girl helps get him signed, brings him to parties that aren't his style, has girls and money in his life, and then a huge concert. The props moving, and the green screen in the end is showing it's fake in a visual seance, but they are trying to make a point that everything around him was changing into something he wasn't, as if were an act.

    So the lyrics are talking about how he was simple, but with the fame it turned complicated and he wanted to get out of the life style and be "normal" again. The chorus's are about his religious views (Christianity), in a sense of him praying to Jesus that he needs his help to get out of the situations he's found him self in, and is asking for his strength because he doesn't think he can do it on his own.

    He also talks about nature being peaceful to him and that he misses it, he says "It is a living promise land", Nature is like his living heaven, but he hasn't been close to nature in so long that he feels far from his "living promise land" and that goes back into religion.
    Flag Kennedy1on July 05, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's just about going to that one place... that brings happiness :D
    I sound all hippy but... seriously :)
    Flag lexi0498on February 27, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love this song! I like the tune and the lyrics too.
    Flag beautifulmindheartsoulon January 10, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:i know that im about six years too late but i just can't help it. although i do agree in general with the previous interpretations, i do find myself a bit disappointed with this chariot debate. it seems to me that a song about wanting simplicity would in fact also be a simple song, but sadly alot of people have over complicated it. some say its a generalized meaning to encompass all deity's, some say its "poetic licence", some say its god because he is christian, some say its the sun, some say its sex, some say its a girl. but remember this? "your chariot awaits you dear". would't a "chariot" be able to bring him from nyc to where he wants to be with just a bit of gas in the tank? don't you think its possible that he's just a boy singing about his car? simple song...simple explanation. i love my chariot too!!!
    Flag awaitinfateon November 22, 2010   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:Wow. I can't believe nobody gets it yet. It's a metaphor within a metaphor. The song uses lines from the bible because he's using religion to talk about his piece of Heaven. I am Christian, and I did love the christian comments, too. Awesome thinking, because I wasn't sure if I was the only one with those ideas.

    To put it short and sweet, the world he lived in was too complex. People wanted too much, and were trying to drag him into that mentality (remember the earlier comment, where it stated people were trying to offer him so much stuff, to convince him to join them?). This is sort of like his salvation. He wants the chariot to take him to "Heaven." The country(?) and nature. He's tired of the complex city. He wants simplicity. And, the reference from the Bible about the cup, I'm sure is a symbol of greed. Drinking from Jesus' cup will free him from greed, and once again take him home, as the Chariot could do. It will guide him out of this place he's in, and it will give him the strength to move past all the trouble. Or, perhaps he is just asking for God's strength? Sounds like Paganism, too. But, I doubt it.

    (Also, check out the Biggie and Tupac reference in the video! During the rap scene. They both, similarly, meet their ends due to wanting too much, and were both Christian. The video also shows a preview of this fake place he visited, and how he wanted to leave it. Everyone was so confused, and shocked, at the end. Also, seems to be a reference to that old Jim Carey movie.)

    God, now I sound like a nerd. If you want a break down of the lyrics, and a full explanation, please reply.
    Flag SpookyLotuson October 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This song has a lot of Pagan imagery in it, from the maple leaf and the 'Mother Tree', and the 'seeking moon's rebirth'. Personally I think this is a spiritual/religious song in homage to Apollo/the Sun God, and the need for self and others to be connected to the Earth and the seasons etc.
    Flag Flidaison June 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Okay, eveyone. Gavin Degraw himself has said that this song was written about his horse, named Chariot. Now it should all make sense to you.
    Flag yayayeah9on June 10, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Easily my favorite gavin degraw song. i have no idea why someone who can write lyrics like this would produce a song titled "I'm in love with a girl" (wow how original!) but whatever lol. Anyway, i see this song from sort of a transcendentalist angle: the message is basically just that you don't need anything more than what nature can give you to feel content
    Flag serenity23on December 19, 2008   Link

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