In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Just take a pebble and cast it to the sea,
Then watch the ripples that unfold into me,
My face spill so gently into your eyes,
Disturbing the waters of our lives.
Shread of our memories are lying on your grass;
Wounded words of laughter are graveyards of the past.
Photographs are grey and torn, scattered in your fields
Letters of your mem'ries are not real.
Wear sadness on your shoulders like a wornout overcoat
In pockets creased and tattered hang the rags of your hopes.
The daybreak is your midnight; the colours have all died.
Disturbing the waters of our lives, of our lives, of our lives, lives,
lives, lives...
Of our lives.
Then watch the ripples that unfold into me,
My face spill so gently into your eyes,
Disturbing the waters of our lives.
Shread of our memories are lying on your grass;
Wounded words of laughter are graveyards of the past.
Photographs are grey and torn, scattered in your fields
Letters of your mem'ries are not real.
Wear sadness on your shoulders like a wornout overcoat
In pockets creased and tattered hang the rags of your hopes.
The daybreak is your midnight; the colours have all died.
Disturbing the waters of our lives, of our lives, of our lives, lives,
lives, lives...
Of our lives.
Lyrics submitted by thedanman344, edited by eduardolins01
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Well, I have now progressed to the second song on the album. It's nice, but I'm not too impressed yet...
I'll continue this post in a few minutes...
My impression:
Pros Nice Softer Not Catchy/poppish Well-written lyrics
Cons Not quite my musical style No real catch Keyboard solo doesn't hold me No real catch Feel like its been done before/again
I'd give it a solid B/B-. 3.5-4 stars.
@inpraiseoffolly Let me guess, you weren't even alive when this was released in 1970 were you?
Wait a minute, I just realized that it didn't really end right there, and that it's actually over 10 minutes long.
Well, this instrumental portion isn't holding my attention well.
Now we're getting somewhere, just before 9 minutes in.
B-.
Sorry, the low hanging fruit is to quote Jurassic Park . Malcolm: You see? The tyrannosaur doesn’t obey set patterns or park schedules. The essence of Chaos. Ellie: I’m still not clear on Chaos. Malcolm: It simply deals with unpredictability in complex systems. The shorthand is the Butterfly Effect. A butterfly can flap its wings in Peking and in Central Park you get rain instead of sunshine. – Jurassic Park (1993) I am so surprised no one else attempted to work on the lyrics. I will dwell on this a bit more.
At the time I heard the lyrics as describing the effects of LSD. The pebble is a metaphor for it, the source of the ripples disturbing the waters of life. "The daybreak is your midnight; the colours have all died." I heard as a reference to the experience of having stayed up all night, when after typically 12 hours or so "the colours have all died" after having "disturbed the waters", as LSD is wont to do. His is not a positive view of the experience, what with the "wornout overcoat" and "rags of your hopes" I got the impression it was a cautionary tale, even while experiencing the song without negativity.