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.
I was sipping on a whiskey when I got the call
Yeah, my friend Lex was lying in the hospital
She'd been pretty sick for about half a year
But it seems liked this time the end was drawing near
So dropped my plans and jumped the next London train
I found her laid up and in a lot of pain
Her eyes met mine and then I understood
That her weather forecast wasn't looking too good
So I sat and spun her stories for a little while
Tried to raise her mood and tried to raise a smile
But she silenced all my rambling with a shake of her head
Drew me close and listen this is what she said now
"You'll live to dance another day
It's just now you'll have to dance
For the two of us
So stop looking so damn depressed
And sing with all your heart that the Queen is dead"
Yeah, she told me she was sick of all the hospital food
And of doctors, distant relatives, draining her blood
She said, "I know I'm dying but I'm not finished just yet
Yeah, I am dying for a drink and for a cigarette"
So we hatched a plan to book ourselves a cheap hotel
The center of the city and to raise some Hell
They waste to all the clubs
And then when everyone else is long asleep
Then we know we're good and done
You'll live to dance another day
It's just now you'll have to dance
For the two of us
So stop looking so damn depressed
And sing with all your heart that the Queen is dead
And South London's not the same anymore
The Queen is dead
And the last of the great has finally gone to bed
Well, I was working on some words when Sarah called me up
She said that Lex had gone asleep and wasn't waking up
And even though I knew that there was nothing to be done
I felt bad for not being there and now, well, she was gone
So I tried to think what Lex would want me to do
At times like this when I was feeling blue
So I gathered up some friends to spread the sad, sad news
And we headed to the city for a drink or two
And we sang
We live to dance another day
It's just now we have to dance for one more of us
So stop looking so damn depressed
And sing with all our hearts, long live the Queen
Yeah, my friend Lex was lying in the hospital
She'd been pretty sick for about half a year
But it seems liked this time the end was drawing near
So dropped my plans and jumped the next London train
I found her laid up and in a lot of pain
Her eyes met mine and then I understood
That her weather forecast wasn't looking too good
So I sat and spun her stories for a little while
Tried to raise her mood and tried to raise a smile
But she silenced all my rambling with a shake of her head
Drew me close and listen this is what she said now
"You'll live to dance another day
It's just now you'll have to dance
For the two of us
So stop looking so damn depressed
And sing with all your heart that the Queen is dead"
Yeah, she told me she was sick of all the hospital food
And of doctors, distant relatives, draining her blood
She said, "I know I'm dying but I'm not finished just yet
Yeah, I am dying for a drink and for a cigarette"
So we hatched a plan to book ourselves a cheap hotel
The center of the city and to raise some Hell
They waste to all the clubs
And then when everyone else is long asleep
Then we know we're good and done
You'll live to dance another day
It's just now you'll have to dance
For the two of us
So stop looking so damn depressed
And sing with all your heart that the Queen is dead
And South London's not the same anymore
The Queen is dead
And the last of the great has finally gone to bed
Well, I was working on some words when Sarah called me up
She said that Lex had gone asleep and wasn't waking up
And even though I knew that there was nothing to be done
I felt bad for not being there and now, well, she was gone
So I tried to think what Lex would want me to do
At times like this when I was feeling blue
So I gathered up some friends to spread the sad, sad news
And we headed to the city for a drink or two
And we sang
We live to dance another day
It's just now we have to dance for one more of us
So stop looking so damn depressed
And sing with all our hearts, long live the Queen
Lyrics submitted by simon_quine, edited by smitchey
Long Live the Queen Lyrics as written by Francis Edward Turner
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great song, and a really good message. Last time in Norwich he said that this friend dying was a tragedy and a huge loss and all that but the important thing was that "she took her life and really lived the shit out of it" and that's what everyone should do. Yes it's sad but you've gotta dance through it cos you've got the chance to.
Like Whilll said, it's about a friend of Frank's who died but really lived her life, and i guess in a broader sense it's telling everyone to live their lives to the full.
Some friends who saw him in Cardiff in '07 mentioned that he'd just come back to the funeral and also wrote "Ballad" about her.
"Lex would love this song, but she would be pissed he wrote it after she died." -Andre.
I'm lucky to have had people I know survive cancer. A lot of people aren't so lucky.
The album was released a week before my aunt died from cancer and so this song really means the world to me, especially as this was exactly the attitude she carried right to the end - live your life to the full. I've heard that money from the single is going towards a breast cancer charity - top notch as always from Frank
This song moved me more than most songs about a death, even though the melody isn't that sad. It's one of those songs where lyrics go so perfectly with the right bit of the tune, if that makes any sense whatsoever.
the first time i herd this song i didnt understand it then i took a closer look at the lyrics and it realy made me cry and it makes me cry everytime i hear it now, uve realy gotta admire her and his spirit and outlook on life truly insperational
I first heard this song on the radio driving home after seeing a friend in the hospital. He had crashed his dirtbike and broken his neck. He is still alive today but he still may never move his body again. At the time though it felt like we could actually loose him. When I heard these lyrics I lost it and had to pull over and just cry. I still can't make it all the way through the song without tearing up. It's so powerful. I still can't get over how freaky it was to hear this song at that exact moment when it would mean the most.
I'm fortunate enough to have not been touched by personal tragedy, but this song still gets to me...the power of song writing...