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I recall when I was small
How I spent my days alone
The busy world was not for me
So I went and found my own
I would climb the garden wall
With a candle in my hand
I'd hide inside a hall of rock and sand
On the stone an ancient hand
In a faded yellow-green
Made alive a worldly wonder
Often told but never seen
Now and ever bound to labor
On the sea and in the sky
Every man and beast appeared
A friend as real as I
[Chorus]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood
Can it be this sad design
Could be the very same
A wooly man without a face
And a beast without a name
Nothin' here but history
Can you see what has been done
Memory rush over me
Now I step into the sun
[Chorus]
How I spent my days alone
The busy world was not for me
So I went and found my own
I would climb the garden wall
With a candle in my hand
I'd hide inside a hall of rock and sand
On the stone an ancient hand
In a faded yellow-green
Made alive a worldly wonder
Often told but never seen
Now and ever bound to labor
On the sea and in the sky
Every man and beast appeared
A friend as real as I
[Chorus]
Before the fall when they wrote it on the wall
When there wasn't even any Hollywood
They heard the call
And they wrote it on the wall
For you and me we understood
Can it be this sad design
Could be the very same
A wooly man without a face
And a beast without a name
Nothin' here but history
Can you see what has been done
Memory rush over me
Now I step into the sun
[Chorus]
Lyrics submitted by Nightvoice
Track duration: 03:34
"The Caves of Altamira" as written by Walter Carl Becker, Donald Jay Fagen
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Many years had come and gone,
and many miles between.
Through it all, I found my way
by the light of what I'd seen.
On the road as I returned
was a green and yellow sign,
saying "See the way it used to be",
and I took my place in line.
This verse is before the very last one ('Can it be...'), and makes the song's meaning take a different shape, in my opinion. I think it becomes about the loss of innocence of childhood and how things change as we age... but feel free to make your own meanings of it. I just thought it was amazing to hear another complete verse and had to share it with everyone.
"Nothing here but history..." - art history, that is (yawn)
"I step into the sun" - sounds sort of god-like, but perhaps he stepped from the gallery to the street
Is it a reaction against the new art versus a more traditional view that he has? Does it really go back as far as the caves? Perhaps he's commenting on a co-opting of graffiti art... but that's just a thought...
He hid in a cave pretty much for adventure, And saw the amazing World of a time Long before our own. Seeing the "ancient hand" brought to life the pastimes of the ancient world to his own current times.
The following lines show him realizing that Man has and always will have inner yearings for advancement." NOW and EVER bound to labor on th SEA and in the SKY ...Every Man and Beast appeared...a friend as real as I "
We as people of this modern world Tend to forget that Human nature has never changed. We were the same as we were Thousands,and thousands of years ago !
This child is clearly coming to that realization. The Last parts of the Song Show an almost disappointed Child..Seeing life for what it is. " This Sad design " Shows his disappointment during him seeing that History will forget about you.." A Wolly man without a Face...and A Beast Without a name " ..." Nothing here but HISTORY "... lost and forgotten. This child is realizing the Sadness of life and time in association with leaving your mark in history...some people will never be remembered.
It is obvious that the child is exiting the DARK cave He needed a Candle for...and "Steps into the Sun ". Not to mention the Sudden Change in demeanor From when he entered the cave rather excited....to leaving in a state of ...well Sadness.
Then again..i also feel the Childs inner imagination is at work while on the other side of a garden that may have wooded areas, and a small cave...??? LOL just a suggestion...Could Be Both !
"For you and me we understood"-it is an art that we can all realate to on an almost visceral level, not some highbrow concept laden bullshit that you need years of art history scholarship and modern art savvy to understand.
My favorite line is, "Could it be this sad design could be the very same?" The viewer can't believe what passes for art these days and how far removed it is from those early primeval sketches.
I see the song as, quite simply, a celebration of art/creativity as an inherent human good. "Art for art's sake," and for no other reason at all...except maybe expression and communion with the rest of humanity. "Hearing the call" is the human drive to create, and this is a much more ancient and primordial human trait than the modern ideas of art and fame and commerce or even written/spoken language.
In this way I think SD are also able to comment indirectly on the essential corruption of modernity (good call on the 2nd verse taking place in an art gallery). Thinking in a wide historical context helps people to think "outside the box" of their little existence. We're connected to our ancestors and to our descendants by the thread of time and history-- but if you ask the average person, they barely ever think about this-- and thus they never question if perhaps "the way things are now" wasn't always the way things were done (i.e. "Hollywood"). And without that kind of critical thought, you're just going to accept everything blindly and never escape the narrow confines of modern constructions ("before the fall"-- religion criticism?).
Also "for you and me WE understood" could be an attempt to illustrate how history connects us to our shared human heritage or experience, but even out past recorded history both into the past and the future. The narrator of the song AND the cave-dwelling artist both intuitively understand this kindred element to the art (be it music or painting), as do we all when engaged in the act of creativity (i.e. the cave-dweller was painting partly FOR the people in the future that he imagined might exist and find the painting).
So basically I see it as an ode to authenticity-- "there wasn't even any Hollywood" implies that SD wanted people to know that they, like the caveman, were making music just for the hell of it, or the sheer joy of it--- not to make money or be famous primarily (which, sadly, most mainstream musicians/the recording industry nowadays have made their primary/only goal).
But then there is still that quixotic element going on, in that the caveman is still going ahead and making the attempt at expression, or making something "permanent" against the ravages of time-- with no guarantee that anyone would ever see it or understand it or remember him or anything (and so perhaps he's actually the "wooly man without a face" and his painting the "beast without a name"). But still we have that "call" to do it anyway because that's what we humans do and have always done. And that's a wonderful thing that should be celebrated! (And what better way to celebrate this than by making your own mark, adding your own little piece to the continuum of human creative energy?) :)
The lyrics surprise me because they're relatively cynicism-free.