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When I was a young boy I tried to listen
And I want to feel like that
Little white shadows blink and I missed em
Part of a system I am
If you ever feel like something's missing
Things you'll never understand
Little white shadows sparkle and glisten
Part of a system plan
All this noise, I'm waking up
All this space I'm taking up
All this sound is breaking up
Whoa oh
Maybe you'll get what you wanted
Maybe you'll stumble upon it
Everything you ever wanted
In a permanent state
Maybe you'll know when you see it
Maybe if you say it you'll mean it
And when you find it you'll keep it
In a permanent state
A permanent state
When I was a young boy I tried to listen
Don't you want to feel like that
You're part of the human race
All of the stars and the outer space
Part of the system plan
All this noise, I'm waking up
All this space I'm taking up
I cannot hear, you're breaking up
Whoa oh
Maybe you'll get what you wanted
Maybe you'll stumble upon it
Everything you ever wanted
In a permanent state
Maybe you'll know when you see it
Maybe if you say it, you'll mean it
And when you find it you'll keep it
In a permanent state
A permanent state
Swimming on a sea of faces
A tide of the human race
So, an answer now is what I need
I see it in the new sun rising
I see it break on your horizon
Oh come on love, stay with me
And I want to feel like that
Little white shadows blink and I missed em
Part of a system I am
If you ever feel like something's missing
Things you'll never understand
Little white shadows sparkle and glisten
Part of a system plan
All this noise, I'm waking up
All this space I'm taking up
All this sound is breaking up
Whoa oh
Maybe you'll get what you wanted
Maybe you'll stumble upon it
Everything you ever wanted
In a permanent state
Maybe you'll know when you see it
Maybe if you say it you'll mean it
And when you find it you'll keep it
In a permanent state
A permanent state
When I was a young boy I tried to listen
Don't you want to feel like that
You're part of the human race
All of the stars and the outer space
Part of the system plan
All this noise, I'm waking up
All this space I'm taking up
I cannot hear, you're breaking up
Whoa oh
Maybe you'll get what you wanted
Maybe you'll stumble upon it
Everything you ever wanted
In a permanent state
Maybe you'll know when you see it
Maybe if you say it, you'll mean it
And when you find it you'll keep it
In a permanent state
A permanent state
Swimming on a sea of faces
A tide of the human race
So, an answer now is what I need
I see it in the new sun rising
I see it break on your horizon
Oh come on love, stay with me
Lyrics submitted by rocketqueenz
Track duration: 05:28
"White Shadows" as written by Guy Rupert Berryman, William Champion, Christopher Anthony John Martin, Jonathan Mark Buckland
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"A permanent State" here is not a good thing. "MAYBE" things will go your way and you'll accidentally "stumble" into a happy fulfilling life by following the crowd. The chorus is somewhat sarcastic, because this is not how it worked out for the speaker. He's trying to get out above the "see of faces"...and find what makes him stand out...what makes him special.
When the speaker asks for an answer He "sees" it in the "New sun breaking on the horizon". it is the speaker coming to life...finding himself...finding what he needs to fill the emptiness. discovering that he is different, and beautiful, and meaningful.
It's about growing up and seeing things and realizing things. And then you feel something's missing, and you start to look back, recall, what you've left behind. And you start to regret, wishing you have lived in a "permanent state" in the past. You want to go back, but you can't let go of what you have. You forget what life is meaningful for. You forget why you exist and what makes life worthwhile.
And then the end comes. And people are running everywhere and you know you are doomed. You're "swimming in the sea of faces". You are left behind. The end is near. Yet you can see no point of escape, but you just want to know *why*. You suddenly realize the truth, the fact that we should not live in the past and try to move on, as the past is passed. You sit down and quietly enjoy the last bit of your life.
As for the last part I agree it's about a nuclear war. Reminds me strongly of Fahrenheit 451. "New sun rising" and "break your horizon" is probably the bomb exploding.
What I've come to associate with it include:
-realizing that not everything is as it seems to be
-the purpose of the body and the mind
-the insecurities and finite qualities of life
-our souls and others'
-seeking stability
-and the feeling that there is always something more, but you never know what and probably never will.
it could also be about the united states dropping the atomic bomb on hiroshima,b/c it was recorded that persons near the blast left "white shadows" on walls because the wall around them was blackened
as you grow up you see things you don't understand
you act upon things you see
and you only sometimes think and know why but its out of your reach cause thoughts you learn
are not yours to much they are taught
and implemented
as you grow up and if you grow up with curiosity
you realize your part of something bigger than yourself
that is the system
implementing ideas on you
without you being conscious of it
and permanent state mean the static condition of the culture
Maybe you'll know when you see it
Maybe if you say it, you'll mean it
And when you find it you'll keep it
In a permanent state, a permanent state ; about positivism?
Swim out on a sea of faces ; it's about social networking? where we only see face (in the picture)
Tide of the human races ; about trafic, in the city where people like a tide
Oh, an answer now is what I need... ; yeah, i need the answer too.
but, i'm not sure about what "white shadows" mean.
refers to : "You're part of the human race All of the stars and the outer space Part of the system again", maybe white shadow mean the white man (Caucasian), race will mean nothing, because we're part of human race, and the universe. just like Yellow (mongoloid)
(a "white shadow"). Now all he wants is for her to get what she wants.
"When i was a young boy i tried to listen, and i want to feel like that..." This bit made me think of how when you are in emotional pain, you can get caught up in your passed, wishing things were how they used to be and when you had the simplicity of childhood.
Also he repeats the line: "Part of a system, i am" or "Part of a system again..." If you feel like you are insignificant, just part of the cycle of life and death that keeps going and going, or socially just another person in the system of politics and big business and all that, you dont feel like you want to live that way ("Swim out on a sea of faces, tired of the human race" also).
He talks about answers and questions a few times, possibly questioning The way the world is and philosophy, the point of life ect? I thought of the "little white shadows" as these ideas of not mattering, questioning the way the world is and of course escaping it, little notions in the back of his head that could change everything if he let them, notions that scare the hell out of him and fascinate him all at once.
The bit about him waking up i think could mean that he is realizing the possiblility of death as an escape, especially because many people when they are depressed feel helpless and just dont know what to do to get rid of the pain, and if suicide crosses thier mind, it could seem like a clear, almost rational idea in the turmoil of your emotional problems, and at this point people tend to loose touch with the world and obsessed with escaping it (I cannot here, your breaking up)
Also "all this space i'm taking up", that doesn't need much of an explanation. And In the chorus, everything you ever wanted (freedom from the pain) in a permanent state (death?)
Finally, at the end of the song, He seems to think for the first time in the song about another person who he has feelings for on some level, and his tone changes a little. He sounds like he might be rethinking it.
Then again, i think its one of those songs that can mean a million different thing to a million different people, maybe i am thinking to specific, but thats what this song means to me i guess. Its a really good song either way.