Look behind
Your head's on fire
Whirling masses
Rolling ashes
Keep on yawning
Career dawning
Life is tasteless
Folding paces

To turn away from the night
Allowing the light a low
He's surely fooling yourself
Leaving life on the shelf

You'll never know
How low an angry heart can go
How long a sitting hands return meant

Look behind
Your head's on fire
Whirling masses
Rolling ashes
Keep on yawning
Career dawning
Life is tasteless
Folding paces

Look behind
Your head's on fire
Whirling masses
Rolling ashes
Keep on yawning
Career dawning
Life is tasteless
Folding paces



Lyrics submitted by Konversekid

Track duration: 03:02

"Your Head Is on Fire" as written by James Mercer Brian Burton

Lyrics © CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Your Head is on Fire song meanings
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13 Comments

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  • 0
    My Opinion:run and hide (not look behind! listen to it! it's very clear)
    your heads on fire
    whirling masses
    rolling ashes

    dream of morning
    greener dawning (not career)
    life in stasis
    forty paces (still unsure here the forty part is clear but not the second word)

    to turn away from the night
    allowing the light alone
    is surely fooling yourself
    leaving half on the shelf ('half' not 'life' for sure)

    you'll never know
    how low an angry heart can go
    (run and hide, your heads on fire)
    soon hold on a sitting hands returning (not 'return me' i'm positive)


    does anybody else here feel that fear,
    the moment all these good things had to be? (I deduced 'moment' from the rest of the sentence)
    is it just me?
    Flag juicyjay42on June 24, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The song is about living in a mundane life, looking forward to a better one, right? So:

    Run and hide = Look out
    Your head's on fire = You're lying to yourself
    Whirling masses = Everything's moving around you, leaving you behind
    Rolling ashes = All the stuff that's in motion is already dead/pointless
    Dream of morning = You're dreaming that a new life comes soon
    GREENER DAWNING = You want that new life to be better (greener) than your current one
    Life in stasis = Because your life isn't going anywhere
    Folding aces = And you're giving up on all the truly good things in life

    "Career dawning" suggests that the speaker's job/life is ALREADY getting better, not mundane and in need of betterment, which is what the surrounding lyrics suggest. "Greener dawning" fits both the audio and the context better.
    Flag markedwardon December 10, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Lyric Correction:look behind your
    head's on fire
    whorling masses
    rolling ashes

    cling more fawning
    career dawning
    life in stasis
    fording paces

    to turn away from the night
    allowing the light alone
    is surely fooling yourself
    leaving half on the shelf

    you'll never know
    how low an angry heart can go
    (look behind your, head's on fire)
    soon
    hold on asserting hands return me

    does anybody else here feel like you
    ignored of all these good things had to be
    is it just me
    Flag CosmicFilibusteron September 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:wait! i got it! its

    "hold on asserting hands return me"


    making the complete lyrics as follows;..
    Flag CosmicFilibusteron September 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:but i agree with you guys about the meaning
    Flag CosmicFilibusteron September 26, 2010   Link
  • -1
    Lyric Correction:look behind your
    head's on fire
    whorling masses
    rolling ashes

    cling more fawning
    career dawning
    life in stasis
    fording paces

    to turn away from the night
    allowing the light alone
    is surely fooling yourself
    leaving half on the shelf

    you'll never know
    how low an angry heart can go
    (look behind your, head's on fire)
    soon hold on our sitting hands return me

    does anybody else here feel like you
    ignored of all these good things had to be
    is it just me
    Flag CosmicFilibusteron September 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Ok. Just my observations, I hear:

    "Run and hide
    Your head's on fire
    Whirling masses
    Rolling ashes

    Dream of morning
    Career dawning
    Life in stasis
    Folding aces"

    To me it's about the frustration of being a spectator in this life, of seeing millions of millions of people living so blissfully unaware of what life really is, many of them miserably trapped by their families or careers, living in a state of dull stasis. "If they could only see what I see..." is the message I get.

    I think this is an amazing song, the "Run and hide your head's on fire" part is almost patronizing, like a children's song, as if to symbolize the pressure to conform to everyone else in the working class. "Does anybody here feel like me?" is James Mercer's desperate reply, trying to rise over the noise of the masses.
    Flag rebelquietly101on July 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Lyric Correction:I hear "Forty paces" instead of "Folding paces." It makes more sense, I think, in the context of the kind of lock-step, mundane-office-job existence that seems to be the theme of this song. Also, for the second-to-last line, I hear "None of all these good things have to be" instead of "Dawn of all..."

    I agree with nostalgicBadger's correction of the first part of the verse. However, I can't figure out what I'm hearing on the line that reads here "How long a sitting hands return meant." I know that's not what he's saying because it doesn't make sense, but after several listenings I still can't determine what the real words are. Suggestions?
    Flag geekouton June 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i thought it was whirling masses and not foiling asses... im not sure though

    great song, its my favorite on the cd
    Flag musiclvr36on May 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Best song on the album right here. It makes me think of anyone who is unhappy and has a boring, mundane life; to explain to them how their life is, you might as well be telling them "hey, your head's on fire".
    Flag Granger17on May 13, 2010   Link

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