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And honestly, I have been begging for answers
That you and only you can give to me
A voice crying loud
I've been crying for days now
And as I start to run, I stop to breathe
(And I was nearly scared to death)
And I was nearly scared to death
(Of what you left in paragraphs)
Of what you left in paragraphs
(The words were nearly over us)
The words were nearly over us
You stop and turn and grab your bags
And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
With a tear in His voice
He said, "Son, that's the question."
Does this deafening silence mean nothing
To no one but me?
As hours move to minutes
And minutes take longer to break
I will be desperately awaiting
But my tongue won't fall apart
And we've been sitting here for hours
All alone and in the dark
So let me think of how to word it
Is it too soon to say "perfect"?
If I could find another thirty minutes somewhere
I'm sure everything would find me
All that's left is just to sing
And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
With a tear in His voice
He said, "Son, that's the question."
Does this deafening silence mean nothing
To no one but me?
And if you sing to me sweet till then
I may never sail Virginia again
And as this current moves slow for me
This much you must know
We'll meet again
And El, I'll have you know I'm scared to death
Tell me once again
That you'll love me to the death
And should I die
You swear that you will come for me
As I fade away, you reach out your arms
(And please don't let me go)
And please don't let me go
(And please don't let me go)
And please don't let me go
And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
With a tear in His voice
He said, "Son, that's the question."
Does this deafening silence mean nothing
To no one but me?
That you and only you can give to me
A voice crying loud
I've been crying for days now
And as I start to run, I stop to breathe
(And I was nearly scared to death)
And I was nearly scared to death
(Of what you left in paragraphs)
Of what you left in paragraphs
(The words were nearly over us)
The words were nearly over us
You stop and turn and grab your bags
And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
With a tear in His voice
He said, "Son, that's the question."
Does this deafening silence mean nothing
To no one but me?
As hours move to minutes
And minutes take longer to break
I will be desperately awaiting
But my tongue won't fall apart
And we've been sitting here for hours
All alone and in the dark
So let me think of how to word it
Is it too soon to say "perfect"?
If I could find another thirty minutes somewhere
I'm sure everything would find me
All that's left is just to sing
And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
With a tear in His voice
He said, "Son, that's the question."
Does this deafening silence mean nothing
To no one but me?
And if you sing to me sweet till then
I may never sail Virginia again
And as this current moves slow for me
This much you must know
We'll meet again
And El, I'll have you know I'm scared to death
Tell me once again
That you'll love me to the death
And should I die
You swear that you will come for me
As I fade away, you reach out your arms
(And please don't let me go)
And please don't let me go
(And please don't let me go)
And please don't let me go
And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
With a tear in His voice
He said, "Son, that's the question."
Does this deafening silence mean nothing
To no one but me?
Lyrics submitted by thoseguiltyeyes
Track duration: 04:38
You Be the Anchor That Keeps My Feet on the Ground, I'll Be the Wings That Keep Your Heart in the Clouds song meanings
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With a tear in His voice, He said, "Son, that's the question."
This is most definitely a reference to solipsism (which, in a nutshell, says the entire world is just in your head and doesn't exist outside of it).
If everything was in your head, though, that would include God, who'd be just as clueless as everyone as to who or what actually exists.
I mean:
And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
I mean:
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
to me this song is about him being left by his girlfriend because he was always afraid of their relationship. he doesn't realize how much he loves her until she leaves him because she cannot live with him being unsure all the time even if she does love him too (showing in the first verse, where she 'stop(s) and turn(s) and grab(s) her bags' - she is not sure about what she's doing but it's her only chance to be happy someday). another prove for that is that she leaves nothing but a letter, she couldn't face him while breaking up with him as she still loves him.
now he realizes that he's even more afraid all alone and running away doesn't change anything about his pain ('And as I start to run, I stop to breathe'). he asks himself, her and god why it had to come so far ('And honestly, I have been begging for answers / That you and only you can give to me / A voice crying loud / I've been crying for days now').
to calm down and to think he goes to sea, like many people do. all his 'sand castles fall', so everything is falling apart in his life. he needs to see 'sunset and silhouette dreams' (which are wonderful things in life) to see that the good does exist on earth while he is crashed with a 'deafening silence' missing her more than everything else. he feels even more alone because nobody seems to notice the silence around him. sitting by the sea he begins to wonder about life in general and if everything and everyone is real or everything is just make-believe. in his desperation he turns to god but not even he can give an answer to his questions. by saying "Son, that's the question" god tells him that after all these things don't matter and questioning everything won't change a thing. he should move on with his life and take action if he really wants her back.
he realizes that he will be waiting for her forever because when he's with her everything is perfect. now he understands that it was wrong to wonder about what he missed while being with her as this actually made him miss all the good situations in his life. he knows that he should be with her and the music and that it's better to be with than without her. he will be trying to work on his fear of their relationship and begs for another precious thirty minutes with her.
he promises that he won't leave her alone another time if she will stay with him ('And if you sing to me sweet till then / I may never sail Virginia again'). he's sure that they will meet again and promises that he will turn to god if he should ever be afraid of getting too close to her again because he is sure that god will help him deal with his fear.
in the end he begs her to come back to him and tell him once again that she 'will love him to the death' and that she will never let him go again. after all, his love to her is more powerful than his fear of relationships and even more powerful than death.
this is my favorite song by them
"And honestly, I have been begging for answers,
That you and only you can give to me"
I guess this is about unanswerable questions that only God could know.
"A voice crying loud, I've been crying for days now,
And as I start to run I stop to breathe"
I'm not sure what to make of this.
"And I was nearly scared to death,
Why you left in paragraphs,
The words were nearly over us,
You stop and turn and grab your bags"
God left us with nothing but the bible to interpret what he wanted, and its message was "over us," like we don't clearly understand it so we interpret it in different ways.
"And I'll be here by the ocean just waiting for proof,
That there's sunsets and silhouette dreams"
He's waiting for God's work.
"All my sandcastles fall like the ashes of cigarettes,
And every wave drags me to see"
The faith he builds up falls each time temptation (the waves) hit it, and he gets dragged back into a life of sin.
"I could stand here for hours just to ask God the question,
'Is everyone here make-believe?'
With a tear in His voice, He says 'Son, that's the question'
Does this deafening silence mean nothing to no one but me?"
He asks God if faith/Heaven/Hell exists, gets no reply, but realizes that faith is trusting without proof.
"As hours move to minutes,
And minutes take longer to break,
I will be desperately awaiting,
But my tongue won't fall apart,
And we've been sitting here for hours,
All alone and in the dark"
Proof that God exists isn't available (the dark) and you could wait for it forever and receive nothing.
"So let me think of how to word it,
Is it too soon to say 'perfect?'"
Heaven, maybe? Not sure.
"If I could find another thirty minutes somewhere,
I'm sure everything would find me,
All that's left is just to sing"
Maybe he thinks that if he could just wait a little longer, he would be sure of God's existence, and until then, he'll keep singing.
"And if you'll sing to me sweet until then,
I may never sail Virginia again"
If God will keep good in the world, he will try to be a faithful person (just guessing here, but Virginia could be sin, or something. Really no idea).
"As this current moves slow for me,
This much you must know: we'll meet again,
And El, I'll have you know I'm scared to death"
As life moves slowly by, he knows he'll eventually die, but he doesn't know if he'll make it to Heaven.
"Tell me once again,
That You'll love me till the death,
And should I die You swear that You will come for me"
He wants to know that God will save his soul after death.
"As I fade away,
You reach out your arms"
Whenever he begins to doubt, God renews his faith with something great.
"And please don't let me go"
Pretty self-explanatory. He wants God to save him.
Anyway, that's what I got from it. Probably way off, but I tried. ^^
The first, less depressing, is that it's a lost love song, someone left him and he really loved her, he needs her back, and he's asking God why these things happen, if he's dreaming, or even if he dreamed his relationship with her.
The second, mildly depressing one, is a personal interpretation, my uncle killed himself almost eleven years ago, no reason, no goodbye, just a note that said "Don't fight"
"(And I was nearly scared to death)
And I was nearly scared to death
(Of what you left in paragraphs)
Of what you left in paragraphs"
That part is obviously about me being scared to read the note, because I was convinced I'd done something wrong and he didnt want to know me anymore. (I was seven)
"And I'll be here by the ocean
Just waiting for proof that there's
Sunsets and silhouette dreams
All my sand castles fall
Like the ashes of cigarettes
And every waves drags me to sea
I could stand here for hours
Just to ask God the question
Is everyone here make-believe?
With a tear in His voice
He said, "Son, that's the question."
Does this deafening silence mean nothing
To no one but me?"
The part about the ocean and sand-castles reminds me of him because he always used to take me to the beach, and as I got older I would stand on the beach for hours, not specifically the one we went to but any beach, and pray, ask why, scream at "God" and my uncle. I would sometimes convince myself it was all a dream and that he was coming back.
"As hours move to minutes
And minutes take longer to break
I will be desperately awaiting
But my tongue won't fall apart
And we've been sitting here for hours
All alone and in the dark"
That bit is relevant because I would lie in bed at night and talk to him, just talk about my day, my friends, how much I missed him, I believed, and I still do believe, that he can hear me, that part of him is with me all the time, and that he's happier now. I believe that he's my Guardian Angel and he helps me have strength when I can't do things on my own.
"This much you must know
We'll meet again
And I will have you know I'm scared to death
Tell me once again
That you'll love me to the death
And should I die
You swear that you will come for me
As I fade away, you reach out your arms
(And please don't let me go)
And please don't let me go
(And please don't let me go)
And please don't let me go"
That part is relevant because I know I'll see him again someday, and that when I do die, he'll be there to meet me, and take me wherever I need to go.
That's what this song means to me, whenever I'm down about my ex or my uncle, I listen to it, and strangely, It calms me.
And just a small problem with the lyrics posted, the "And El, I'll have you know I'm scared to death" part is definately; "And I will have you know I'm scared to death"
=]