Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
She got down on hands and knees, one ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something, but the dirt made not a sound tonight
Echoes of songs still lurk on distant foreign shores, where we
Danced just to please the gods that only ask for more, so it goes
But still we give ourselves to this
We can't spend our lives waiting to live
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
The postcard says wish you were here
But I'd rather I was there, holding
On to the simple things before they disappear, that's what I meant
But that was then, and this is now
I'll make it up to you somehow
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
Our destination, a feint smile,
Another station, another mile,
Another day gone, I swear that I will
Be there before dawn, so be there I will
She got down on hands and knees, one ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something, anything at all
The dirt whispered, "Child, I'm coming home."
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
Holding her breath to hear something, but the dirt made not a sound tonight
Echoes of songs still lurk on distant foreign shores, where we
Danced just to please the gods that only ask for more, so it goes
But still we give ourselves to this
We can't spend our lives waiting to live
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
The postcard says wish you were here
But I'd rather I was there, holding
On to the simple things before they disappear, that's what I meant
But that was then, and this is now
I'll make it up to you somehow
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
Our destination, a feint smile,
Another station, another mile,
Another day gone, I swear that I will
Be there before dawn, so be there I will
She got down on hands and knees, one ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something, anything at all
The dirt whispered, "Child, I'm coming home."
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn't what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
As for them 'selling out...'
No one who actually plays music would ever think that changing one's sound means they've sold out. Every artist seeks to grow, that's why they're artists. A change in the way the play their music =/= sell out.
Selling out would be them abandoning the charging political lyrics they're known for and singing nothing but generic pop lyrics.
How do songs like 'From Heads Unworthy,' 'The Strength to Go On,' 'Elective Amnesia,' and 'Make it Stop' engender thoughts of 'selling out' their lyrics?
Dancing for the gods who only ask for more, indeed.
It starts off with her putting her ear to the ground to listen for any sound (like an approaching car) of him coming home. But she hears nothing ("the dirt made not a sound tonight"). Every night she preys that the night will pass more quickly ("in a prayer for dawn"), but she only wants the night to pass more quickly so that the next day can come to bring her a chance of seeing dad again. ("but the daylight isn't what she wants").
Meanwhile while he's doing all this he'd much rather be home than with ungrateful fans (which I assume he refers to as "the gods that only ask for more"). Gods meaning they are his paycheck and therefore his boss. Even though he doesn't want to leave he has to. ("but still we give ourselves to this"). At the end of the day he has to go to the next venue, hitting the road once again ("the concrete calls my name again").
As for the postcard reference, even though he sends her back a post card saying "wish you were here" he'd much rather be there with her to see her before she grows up, time that he can't get back.
At the end she finally hears the sound of her dad's car/train/other vehicle approaching ("the dirt whispered, 'child I'm coming home'")
Anyway, I think this song is about Tim being away on tour and missing his wife.
"echoes of songs still lurk on distant foreign shores, where we
danced just to please the gods that only ask for more, so it goes
but still we give ourselves to this
we can't spend our lives waiting to live"
I think the echoes on distant foreign shores are the songs RA plays all over the world while they're on tour, and that as much as he misses her, he knows he still has to leave her.
As she's listening to the dirt, and the concrete is 'calling his name again', it's like she's trying to reach him and he's on the other side of the world, dying to be home with his wife and daughters.