Lyrics for Blue Lips as interpreted by 16996602

Blue Lips Lyrics
He stumbled into faith and thought,
"God, this is all there is?"
The pictures in his mind arose,
And began to breathe.
And all the gods and all the worlds
Began colliding on a
Backdrop of
Blue.

Blue lips,
Blue veins.

He took a step, but then felt tired.
He said, "I'll rest a little while."
But when he tried to walk again,
He wasn't a child.
And all the people hurried fast,
Real fast,
And no one ever smiled.

Blue lips,
Blue veins.
Blue,
The color of our planet from far, far away.

He stumbled into faith and thought,
"God, this is all there is?"
The pictures in his mind arose,
And began to breathe.
And no one saw, and no one heard.
They just followed the lead.
The pictures in his mind arose,
And began to breed.

They started out beneath the knowledge tree.
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences,
And, marching along the railroad tracks,
They smile real wide for the camera lenses.
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines.

Blue lips,
Blue veins.
Blue,
The color of our planet from far, far away.

Blue,
The most human color.
Blue,
The most human color.
Blue,
The most human color...

Blue lips,
Blue veins.
Blue,
The color of our planet from far, far away.

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shobhna_guerin
01-12-2007

Rated +1 
I can't believe no one's commented on this song, it's so amazing! I absolutely love the chorus. I'm still trying to figure out what it means to me though.

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envirohodges
02-07-2007

Rated 0 
i love this song....and even regina herelf says soetimes she has no clue about what her own songs are about...but i think there is a connection of people in thi song....

blue...meaning the blood connects and familiarizes everyone....

"They started out beneath the knowledge tree.
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences,
And, marching along the railroad tracks,
They smile real wide for the camera lenses.
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines."

I absolutly love this line...it really speaks....i think it tellls about the assimilation of people and how everyone conforms.......stand out just try and be yourself...

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Lozeli
04-07-2007

Rated +2 
To me this song has a very clear meaning with lots of hidden religious references.

The line:
"They started out beneath the knowledge tree"
is a religious reference to the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" which is symbolic to Christians and Jews. In Genesis chapters 2/3, we are told how The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (also known as the Tree of Knowledge) is in the centre of the garden of Eden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Knowledge_of_Good_and_Evil

Look on that link for more information.

I think the message in this song is that our creator has made a perfect world for us all to live in yet we are mindlessly destroying it:

"They started out beneath the knowledge tree.
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences"

I think this line means that people's consciences are being destroyed by the media/goverment/the world we live in. The cutting down of the tree is the destruction of our consciences. When Regina tells us that they made the tree into fences, it is symbolising how people are greedy, out to make money from anything they can.

I believe the character in the song, the man who "stumbled into faith", is a highly religious character who is observing the collapse of soceity and goodness:

"And all the people hurried fast,
Real fast,
And no one ever smiled"

This line is saying how everyone is so caught up in their own lives they never take the time to look around and see what they are doing.

"And, marching along the railroad tracks,
They smile real wide for the camera lenses.
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines"

These lyrics are saying how people are proud of such little achievements, everyone is becoming the same, nobody stands out, everyone does the same. There is so much I could write about this song! :)

I would also agree with envirohodges, saying blue, the colour of our blood connects everyone.

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4 Replies
Lozeli
04-07-2007

Rated 0 
Ohh, I forgot to add that the psychological interpretation of the tree of knowledge (knowing right from wrong) is a collection of memories, therefore we learn right and wrong from what we are taught and thus remember this and our conscience is formed. This would explain:

"The pictures in his mind arose,
And began to breathe."

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idontknowme
04-21-2007

Rated 0 
Lozeli, absolutely brilliant... (throws up kudos) ;-)

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sparklenight
05-18-2007

Rated 0 
The line, "Blue: the most human colour" reminded me of Sylvia Plath.

In her poem "Ariel", she writes of her death:
"Stasis in darkness.
Then the substanceless blue.
Pour of tor and distances." The 'substanceless blue', the colour of tranquility, emotion, the sky, the sea, the planet from far, far away.

He addresses her: "But the jewel you lost was blue." Blue was Plath's intellect; her beautiful mind.

Ted Hughes writes of Plath,
"Blue was better for you. Blue was wings.
Kingfisher blue silks from San Francisco
...
Blue was your kindly spirit - not a ghoul
But electrified, a guardian, thoughtful."

It might be what Regina alludes to here. It might not. Either way, this is what my interpretation of this beautiful song is.

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sparklenight
05-18-2007

Rated -1 
The line, "Blue: the most human colour" reminded me of Sylvia Plath.

In her poem "Ariel", she writes of her death:
"Stasis in darkness.
Then the substanceless blue.
Pour of tor and distances." The 'substanceless blue', the colour of tranquility, emotion, the sky, the sea, the planet from far, far away.

Ted Hughes writes of Plath,
"Blue was better for you. Blue was wings.
Kingfisher blue silks from San Francisco
...
Blue was your kindly spirit - not a ghoul
But electrified, a guardian, thoughtful."

He addresses her: "But the jewel you lost was blue." Blue was Plath's intellect; her beautiful mind.

It might be what Regina alludes to here. It might not. Either way, this is what my interpretation of this beautiful song is.

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indierockess
12-14-2007

Rated 0 
i find that this song describes an awakening from a religious slumber. the character realizes something is wrong with religion and the idea can't be stomped out, and instead multiplies. "a picture in his mind awoke and began to breed."

religion may have had sacred roots, but it's become something bloody and manufactured. "god is a million dollar industry, he made it for you and me, get down on your knees.- shelter by the dead trees." beliefs don't matter because in the end we are all human, we bleed, and we ultimately die (blue lips on corpses.)

I love the songs where Regina challenges the religion and various other taboos, but regina is amazing no matter what.

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crow_heart
01-03-2008

Rated 0 
regina is a genius
"blue, the most human color"

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philaphobic
03-20-2008

Rated +1 
i think a lot of this song is about war, not only religion. "And all the gods and all the worlds/Began colliding on a/ Backdrop of/Blue." makes me think of the world wars... the gods of the worlds being the leaders of the countries. "And, marching along the railroad tracks,/They smile real wide for the camera lenses./They made it past the enemy lines/Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines." this part also reminds me of war. i see the WWI/II men walking along the tracks and they are so proud at first, "smiling real wide" and maybe they win the war but in the end they are still slaves, slaves to their nation, their economy, the factory lines, when they get home.
I think the knowledge tree is another tie between people, we all started out under that tree in Adam and Eve. But now we have used it to make divisions between us. She often expresses how she wishes religions could just get along together. We have forgotten the knowledge of the tree and only use it as a tool.. the knowledge that is in each religion that is good is being forgotten and only conscienceless people are left.
I think she is uniting the people of the world under this color, blue, as many others have stated. I think she is showing us that our smallest veins are blue, our dead lips are blue, and we share a big blue planet.
I am still sort of confused about the narrative part of this though... the story of this boy who finds faith and becomes a man... maybe his falling tired is because it is so hard to be faithful in our world.

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lacrimosa
06-17-2008

Rated 0 
i always thought the line
They smile real wide for the camera lenses.
was
Why didnt the camel relent

which doesnt make much sense but i felt was another biblical reference, im liking her words better

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listentothemusic_1
07-15-2008

Rated +1 
I get chills listening to this song.

In my opinion, it is about the history of religion and humanity, as the two are forever tied. Also, the hypocrisy of people who claim to be religious but end up become hypocrites.

It first begins with a religious leader (like Abraham) who "stumbles into faith, and thought this is all there is."

Then, humanity begins to follow, even though they didn't actually ever see any proof that he's right: "And no one saw and no one heard, they just followed lead." They are all united by these "breathing pictures" alighted in their mind, some great unifying idea like Monotheism, in which all the gods become One.

After this big spiritual revelation, though, people slowly stray from their ideals and begin to "hurry by real fast, and no one ever smiled."
They became exactly what they were fighting against,

"They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines."

The part about the knowledge tree getting made into picket fences is so beautiful. And also, the protestors who end up becoming just the people they were protesting. Its about hypocrisy, and human nature.

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flamingo304
08-14-2008

Rated 0 
I just read Anna Karenina, and the idea of religious awakening happening while surrounded by nature reminded me of when Levin discovers faith at the end of the novel.

I know Regina usually writes songs with characters in mind, could this be it?

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some_person
10-23-2008

Rated 0 
i love what listentothemusic_1 had to say about this song.
In the lyrics i think that "god this is all there is?" shouldn't have a question mark at the end...the speaker isn't asking a question they've just stumbled into what they think is all they need in life...their own personal revelation

and only after that epiphany comes action and soon people get tired and go right back to how they used to live. they start out "behind the knowledge tree" only to "become enslaved in the assembly lines" a human nature of hypocrisy

i dont think this was meant to be a song about religion, but religion is the most common example of this hypocrisy

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iamtiffany
11-03-2008

Rated +1 
I'm not sure if this song is meant to be a religious song, but clearly there are some religious references in it.
Where it says:
He stumbled into faith and thought,
"God, this is all there is?"
The pictures in his mind arose,
And began to breathe.
And no one saw, and no one heard.
They just followed the lead.
And began to breed.
---
I take this to mean that people blindly follow religion without ever seeing/hearing their "God"
They just follow everyone else, perhaps its about a specific person, maybe moses. No one knew for sure he was telling the truth, but they believed him anyway and he gained a huge following.

And I also definitely agree that the "blue lips" references the dead, since lips turn blue when you die. This makes blue "the most human color" because everyone will eventually die. It is human.

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sheela_l
03-22-2009

Rated 0 
This song reminds me of Carl Sagan and the Pale Blue Dot photograph of Earth. One tiny planet seems so big from here. I don't think this song is so much outright critical of humanity than it is a brief history of human existence.

Sagan was an atheist...

This is from his reflection on the Pale Blue Dot photograph.

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."


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COOLombian
04-03-2009

Rated -1 
Blue is the color of our SeA!!... The color of our planet from far, far away
THE MOST human color! our cielo

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blue.painted.tears
04-19-2009

Rated +1 
I think I know exactly what this song means, in my heart. My mind is drawing a blank, however.
Either way, this song is stunning and speaks so loudly and so much. I am so, so happy this will be on her upcoming album.

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texjew21
05-18-2009

Rated -1 
This song is most likely about the assimilation of immigrants to the United States and how they had to live a completely new life and find work (when she quotes Assembly Lines).

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texjew21
05-18-2009

Rated -2 
to build upon what I said in the previous statement. It is definitely about the assimilation of immigrants.

"He stumbled into faith and thought,
"God, this is all there is?"
The pictures in his mind arose,
And began to breathe."

This is where an immigrant finally arrives to America (where he had a faith that things would be better here). He then is somewhat surprised as to what he sees. The pictures in his mind are the visions he had of what America was going to be like. There is no religious references other than the fact that he asks God in a somewhat sarcastic tone. Everybody does that.

"He took a step, but then felt tired.
He said, "I'll rest a little while."
But when he tried to walk again,
He wasn't a child.
And all the people hurried fast,
Real fast,
And no one ever smiled."

This part shows the immigrant feeling overwhelmed, making him want to rest. When he got up and walked again, it basically is saying that this is a very real situation and he is an adult and he has to act mature and take care of himself. When she says "All the people hurried fast and no one smiled", that's when everybody is scared in a way and trying to hurry to find out where they will work, live, etc... No one was smiling because everybody is just so overwhelmed and they have to act fast to try and get their piece of the pie and figure out their new life.

"And, marching along the railroad tracks,
They smile real wide for the camera lenses.
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines"

This is pretty self explanatory. When it says enemy lines though it is more than likely referring to the different areas where groups of immigrants congregated the most. Such as the Irish, Italian, Polish, etc...


The color Blue is where it gets tricky. I personally think its the color of the sky over America, and how all of the immigrants feel that this new place will come with Blue skies. So their lips and veins are blue in aspiring to be under the great blue sky of America. Blue represents hope, and hope is one of the key elements of Humans. Therefore Blue is the most human color. But that's my interpretation of "Blue" in this song, you all can have different ideas.


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1 Reply
andymac24
05-21-2009

Rated +2 
I can't believe nobody can see that blue is the colour of sadness? "I'm feeling blue"? "The Blues?"

Blue - the colour of our plant from far far away? - everybody's unhappy. Blue, the most human colour; the most human emotion. Captain Obvious.

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Sophic
05-21-2009

Rated +1 
The beauty of this song is that it can be interpreted as almost anything, and I could be way off, but I see this as sort of about the cultural evolution of humanity.

You start off with different cultures developing across the planet, each one asking questions about existence, and developing creation myths:
"The pictures in his mind arose,
And began to breathe.
And all the gods and all the worlds
Began colliding on a
Backdrop of
Blue."

The next verse could reference the seventh day of rest in the Old Testament creation story, or, from a human perspective, more of the Rip Van Winkle story - how gradual changes in the world can appear so fast if you remove yourself from them, and come back to find everything changed.

"He took a step, but then felt tired.
He said, "I'll rest a little while."
But when he tried to walk again,
He wasn't a child.
And all the people hurried fast,
Real fast,
And no one ever smiled."

Then there's the dual metaphor - the tree of knowledge is from the Garden of Eden, of course, but the picket fences line can also refer to the growth of societies, rather than nomadic tribes, and the very different approach to faith that entails. Now, we're closer to the present. Warring nation-states finally make peace and turn into modern nations, and we see the start of the Industrial Revolution.

"They started out beneath the knowledge tree.
Then they chopped it down to make white picket fences,
And, marching along the railroad tracks,
They smile real wide for the camera lenses.
They made it past the enemy lines
Just to become enslaved in the assembly lines."

And throughout everything, from the beginning to the present, there's life (blue veins), death (blue lips), and the knowledge of the smallness and beauty of humanity in comparison to the universe as a whole (blue, the color of our planet from far far away). (The last one can refer to the space race, as well).

Like I said, just one interpretation, but I was surprised to see how well it fit.

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mrbosh
05-22-2009

Rated 0 
Hm. Some interesting ideas here. I'm surprised so many people are confidently stating what the song "means" without the qualifier "to me" - there's obviously millions of ways to interpret songs as ambiguous as this one, but for what it's worth, here are my thoughts.

So far only andymac24 has pointed out what I feel the most obvious thing to take from the lyric - blue is typically a sad colour. I seem to remember Regina talking in an interview about when she first heard Joni Mitchell's album "Blue", and was amazed by it. And something similar about Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue". One thing no one has mentioned (that I've seen) is the fairly obvious point that lips are usually only blue if you're cold or dead. Blood isn't actually blue at all, incidentally - the fact veins often appear blue has more to do with the way light travels through your skin, and the way your brain processes the dim colours you see... But I digress - My point is that there's a fairly morbid overtone to the assertion that Blue is "the most human colour".

Secondly, and this is in no way intended as a definitive reading, the second verse reminded me of a section in the book "Lanark: A Life in four books" by Alasdair Gray - the protagonist Lanark finds himself walking along an almost endless road upon which time is unravelling: he ages rapidly, and struggles to keep up with other people racing past on the road (amongst other interesting things - get a copy and read it!). I couldn't help but wonder if Regina has read the book and if she had Lanark in mind for that verse, or if it's just a coincidence.

Besides those little points, it's hard to fault the general consensus that the song is largely about the development of man/religion/modern life. But as envirohodges pointed out, Regina herself is often very vague on what exactly her words 'mean' - it's more about capturing a feeling, which I think this lyric does superbly.

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mamma123456
05-24-2009

Rated 0 
He stumbled into faith and thought,
"God, this is all there is?"
The pictures in his mind arose,
And began to breathe.
And no one saw, and no one heard.
They just followed the lead.
The pictures in his mind AWOKE,
And began to breed.


if you listen to it on her myspace, she doesn't say arose ;)

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ThatOneGuyWhoLikesWaffles
05-25-2009

Rated +1 
I think its she talking 'bout the struggle between Man and the difficulty of having faith in something also it tell how you gave up something for a lost cause

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Reply back

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