Precious and fragile things
Need special handling
My God what have we done to You?

We always try to share
The tenderest of care
Now look what we have put You through

[Chorus]
Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give

Angels with silver wings
Shouldn't know suffering
I wish I could take the pain for you

If God has a master plan
That only He understands
I hope it's your eyes He's seeing through

[Chorus]

I pray you learn to trust
Have faith in both of us
And keep room in your heart for two

[Chorus]



Lyrics submitted by theetum

Track duration: 04:10

"Precious" as written by Paul John Weller

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Precious song meanings
Add your thoughts

52 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    Song Meaning:In this song, Martin Gore is talking to his children. He is apologizing for the pain they have to go through during his divorce with their mother Suzanne Boisvert. I think it is really amazing that he wrote this for them. He says "Angels with silver wings shouldn't know suffering. I wish I could take the pain for you." Suzanne must have been awful because he obviously was reluctant to put his "angels" through any unnecessary pain. He is a very amazing artist with a depth that few understand.
    Flag nikole98on March 17, 2013   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:To me it's about failure with the man I loved the most. We used to be so in love. Something changed him, something took him away from me. I still grieve over this loss and I want him back.
    I've done things I shouldn't have but I've done them because I loved him more than he loved me. I'm sorry I got involved in your business, but I want to know who you're talking to. I want some explanations, am I still your sweetheart?
    Flag Besttimes3on November 12, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Another fine example of how Martin Gore has the ability to see things from a perspective of absolute clarity. Having been a child that went through divorce I would have liked to think that my parents thought this way, but I don't believe they did. It is an ugly process, and in families with children there is unavoidable collateral damage. In a way only Gore can craft, his plea to God is groundshaking. I hope if you have a master plan, that you are seeing the result of what you have created through the eyes of the innocent that are sentenced to live through the strife. That is absolute revelation that he understands the situation his children find themselves in. If Martin Gore had lived and died a long time ago, no doubt he would be held in the same breath of some of the poets and literaries that the world holds dear today.
    Flagged hvacigaron March 20, 2012   Link
  • -2
    My Interpretation:I think it's about people who are suffering all around the world because of wars, terrorism, starvation etc

    Not the best Gore's lyrics...
    Flag AlffromMelmacon February 19, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:First heard this song on Smallville years ago, and it still sounds just as good as it did then. Love this song. It never gets old.
    Flag les25on August 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:My personal interpretation is about a man who loves his girlfriend so much, that he would like to protect her from all harm, and would take the pain as his own if he could.

    The divorce it's more on spot, but that's the interpretation I came up with.
    Flag starriolon December 01, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song is a heart-breaking jem, so beautiful. :(
    Flag dark_eyez_666on May 15, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is pretty clearly about a man who laments the effect that a divorce or fights he is having with his wife are having on their daughter.
    Flag fletc3heron November 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Obviously my interpretation isn't what the song is actually about, but it just sets up that kind of imagery for me.
    Flag downeyjron November 09, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:To me it's seems like it's idealism in love. Witnessing your loved ones beauty and optimism in the face of a very apathetic and bleak humanity, and believing that love and all things good will prevail in the end.

    Inevitably, their soft heart is crushed under the weight of the masses expectations of survival in the world, and that initial beauty you fell in love with in regards to them is slowly fading away. Kind of like the innocence of a child being destroyed, and wanting to hang on to that fragile quality for as long as possible because it's so few and far in the "real world".

    The narrator wants to save this trait and laments the loss of it in an equally beautiful way.

    "If God has a master plan
    That only He understands
    I hope it's your eyes He's seeing through"

    The persons vision was so pure and wholehearted that it was Paradise, and if God knows what he's doing all along and will eventually bring prosperity, the person hopes that it's through their loved ones eyes because nothing can get more perfect than the vision they previously had.
    Flag downeyjron November 09, 2008   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain