Jewel – Long Slow Slide

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Lights are bright in the circus
The geeks and the freaks all light cigarettes and laugh at your misery
While the white of the curtain closing crushes your heart
The inertia of loneliness tears your flesh apart

[Chorus]
It's a long slow slide
It's a long slow slide
It's a long slow slide
Down

Once the neon is gone
There's still that golden splinter at your side
His manners are charming
But who are you fooling
You're still nobody's bride
And Bukowski's widow
Haunts each empty seat on the Ferris wheel
As ghoulish lovers collide in a collage of kisses that they steal

[Chorus]

And outside your window you can see the circus it's lurching
with rings of smoke
You laugh halfheartedly at the punchline
Not realizing they've made you the joke
And inside you're heart a war is raging
A region still untamed
The worst fear I can imagine is for the mystery to be named
Is for the mystery to be named

[Chorus]

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Lyrics submitted by starpatroller

Track duration: 03:49

"Long Slow Slide" as written by Jewel Kilcher

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Long Slow Slide song meanings
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5 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I think the person is trying to find perfect love, where all the pieces fit together. He or she has found some pieces, but they never make a whole, so the person is never truly complete in the way other people "the geeks and the freaks" (who think they are truly in love) are. To me, the weight of the curtain is symbolic of life, and in this case, almost like an hourglass, like time is ticking, the curtain is slowly falling and you aren't even complete yet, and there's a chance you may never be. Maybe you aren't ever truly complete with out someone else to compliment and vice versa.

    SIDE NOTE: Jewel compares "Bukowski's widow" to this perfect love. Bukowski was a famous poet and literary icon. He died years ago but his wife to this day, still feels a missing part, like half of her is gone. She was even quoted in August of 2000 in the Long Beach Press for saying "Every day I don't get over it, every day I cry. It's almost absurd. It's like when somebody loses an appendage. What do you do? The other half of me is gone."
    Flag cruel_dayzon November 05, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't think she is talking about falling in love. I think it is more falling OUT of love. Have you ever looked at the person that you're in love with and you just get the feeling that they are no longer in love with you but aren't breaking it off for whatever reason? So you pretend that everything is okay, but every night the weight of reality "crushes your heart," and in the end, "you're still nobody's bride." And you know until someone decides to break it off it is going to be a "long slow slide," while the relationship loses its love. It's just a song in which the inevitable is obvious, but you chose to ignore it, and so everything just slips and fades.
    Flag MlleLorion October 02, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:talking about the long slow fall in love
    and just because she is amazing, and CAN, she uses the carnival metaphor for this
    Flag silhouettedon July 02, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think she's talking about how she was lost so instead of trying to find herself, she tried to fit in and slowly began to sink down into that trap.
    Flag coolnuts5on June 11, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think she is basically in a carnival by herself, and feeling lonely. However, the carnival is symbolic of going through life without anyone. My favorite line is "Who are you fooling-You are nobody's bride."
    Flag SisKittenon May 04, 2006   Link

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