I fell into the ocean
And you became my wife
I risked it all against the sea
To have a better life

Marie you are the wild blue sky
Men do foolish things
You turn kings into beggars
Beggars into kings

Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green

The face forgives the mirror
The worm forgives the plow
The questions begs the answer
Can you forgive me somehow?

Maybe when our story's over
We'll go where it's always spring
The band is playing our song again
All the world is green

Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
Can we bring back the old days again
When all the world is green

Moon is yellow silver
Oh, the things that summer brings
It's a love you'd kill for
And all the world is green

He's balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our graves
When all the world is green

Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green

He's balancing a diamond
On a blade of grass
The dew will settle on our graves
When all the world is green


Lyrics submitted by ST

All The World Is Green Lyrics as written by Thomas Alan Waits Kathleen Brennan

Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC

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All the World Is Green song meanings
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12 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment

    "The face forgives the mirror The worm forgives the plow The questions begs the answer Can you forgive me somehow"

    now that is a fucking lyric

    patobrienon December 08, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    The worm/plow line is a quote from William Blake's 'Marriage of Heaven & Hell,' and Waits and his wife wrote the song for the musical adaptation of the 1913 play "Woyzeck," in which it is performed as a duet.

    SocietysPlierson August 19, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Holy crap. Where were you that they were playing this? If there was a bar/club near me that played Tom Waits I bet I'd never be out of it... That said, this song is absolutely perfect. To meet a girl who likes this song... Well. It would be a damn miracle.

    BrokeAccounton October 07, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Beautiful song, one of my favourite.... "He is balancing a diamond On a blade of grass The dew will settle on our graves When all the world is green" I wonder, it could be "...balancing a diamond on a blade of grass.." sounds like he is trying to do something that seems impossible. Do you think it's like trying to keep balace in a relationship or maybe in life :? "The dew will settle on our graves When all the world is green"... and at the end we all die but the world will keep turning..

    EveMusicon February 16, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This is one of my absolute favourites! It came on while i was watching a movie with my boyfriend and my jaw just dropped.

    I think it is about a man who was is deeply in love with a lover he has wronged and is trying to explain to her how much he is sorry and how much he loves her.

    theblackrideron June 11, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Sounds to me like an old married couple trying to make their relationship a happy one again.

    HatFullaRainon June 16, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is the first song that my fiance and I ever danced to when we first started dating. Our friend Nathan Asher from the band Nathan Asher and the Infantry will be performing this song at our wedding for our first dance. I can't wait. Go check out my friends band if you love lyrical music. nathanasher.com

    melanieo7on February 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    patobrien - precisely.

    And yeah, if I knew of a bar that played this kind of stuff I'd never leave it either.

    caitsith01on December 03, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Such a beautiful song. One of Wait's best.

    relephant23elephanton November 03, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    While I actually like your opinions on the song meaning, I am afraid this song is actually about something quite dark. Tom Waits wrote this song for a play called Woyzeck, and the album Blood Money contains all the music that he wrote for the play. In this play the main character, Franz Woyzeck, is a German soldier who lives with his love Marie. She leaves him for another man who forces himself upon her. In a fit of jealousy kills Marie and then kills himself. At least this is what I have read. My interpretation is that this song is something that Woyzeck is expressing as remorse right before he kills himself.

    TomWaitsforNooneon July 31, 2011   Link

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