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Vesuvius
I am here
You are all I have
Fire of fire
I'm insecure
For it is all
Been made to plan
Though I know
I will fail
I cannot
Be made to laugh
For in life
As in death
I'd rather be burned
Than be living in debt
Vesuvius
Are you a ghost
Or the symbols of light
Or a fantasy host?
In your breast
I carry the form
The heart of the Earth
And the weapons of warmth
Vesuvius
The tragic oath
For you have destroyed
With the elegant smoke
Oracle, I've fallen at last
But they were the feast
Of a permanent blast
Vesuvius
Oh, be kind
It hasn't occurred
No it hasn't been said
Sufjan, follow the path
It leads to an article of imminent death
Sufjan, follow your heart
Follow the flame
Or fall on the floor
Sufjan, the panic inside
The murdering ghost
That you cannot ignore
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the host
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the host
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor your host
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the ghost
Follow me now
Or follow down
Why does it have to be so hard?
Follow me now
Or follow me down
Why does it have to be so hard?
Follow me now
Or follow me down
Why does it have to be so hard?
I am here
You are all I have
Fire of fire
I'm insecure
For it is all
Been made to plan
Though I know
I will fail
I cannot
Be made to laugh
For in life
As in death
I'd rather be burned
Than be living in debt
Vesuvius
Are you a ghost
Or the symbols of light
Or a fantasy host?
In your breast
I carry the form
The heart of the Earth
And the weapons of warmth
Vesuvius
The tragic oath
For you have destroyed
With the elegant smoke
Oracle, I've fallen at last
But they were the feast
Of a permanent blast
Vesuvius
Oh, be kind
It hasn't occurred
No it hasn't been said
Sufjan, follow the path
It leads to an article of imminent death
Sufjan, follow your heart
Follow the flame
Or fall on the floor
Sufjan, the panic inside
The murdering ghost
That you cannot ignore
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the host
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the host
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor your host
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the ghost
Follow me now
Or follow down
Why does it have to be so hard?
Follow me now
Or follow me down
Why does it have to be so hard?
Follow me now
Or follow me down
Why does it have to be so hard?
Lyrics submitted by imapickledbeet
Track duration: 05:28
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Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the host
I think go more like this:
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I forget the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Fall on me now
As I figure the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I figure your host
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Fall on me now
As I forget the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I forget the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Fall on me now
As I figure the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Fall on me now
As I figure the ghost
He is torn between not know what to do:
-Follow me now as I forget the ghost. His lover should stay with him as he leaves the bad feelings inside of him behind him.
-Fall on me now as I figure the host. Figuring himself out as the 'volcano' is erupted form inside of him.
-Fall on me now as I figure the ghost. Let it all out to truly understand the 'ghost' inside of him (relates to him questioning what the ghost is earlier on)
-Follow me now as I figure the ghost. Or should he let her carry on following him as he figures out this ghost inside of himself on his own?
This all relates to the next lines of which are split into:
Why does it have to be so hard?
Follow me now
Or follow me down
and
Why does it have to be so hard?
Fall on me now
Or fall on your doubt
Why do decisions like this in relationships have to be so hard?
Follow me now or follow me down? Stay with me or follow me to the death of our relationship?
Fall on me now or fall on your doubt? The volcano can either erupt within him and fall on him or fall on its/his doubt and not erupt at all.
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I favor the host
I think go more like this:
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I forget the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Fall on me now
As I figure the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I figure your host
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Fall on me now
As I forget the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Follow me now
As I forget the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Fall on me now
As I figure the ghost
Vesuvius
Fire of fire
Fall on me now
As I figure the ghost
He is torn between not know what to do:
-Follow me now as I forget the ghost. His lover should stay with him as he leaves the bad feelings inside of him behind him.
-Fall on me now as I figure the host. Figuring himself out as the 'volcano' is erupted form inside of him.
-Fall on me now as I figure the ghost. Let it all out to truly understand the 'ghost' inside of him (relates to him questioning what the ghost is earlier on)
-Follow me now as I figure the ghost. Or should he let her carry on following him as he figures out this ghost inside of himself on his own?
This all relates to the next lines of which are split into:
Why does it have to be so hard?
Follow me now
Or follow me down
and
Why does it have to be so hard?
Fall on me now
Or fall on your doubt
Why do decisions like this in relationships have to be so hard?
Follow me now or follow me down? Stay with me or follow me to the death of our relationship?
Fall on me now or fall on your doubt? The volcano can either erupt within him and fall on him or fall on its/his doubt and not erupt at all.
Also, I think the song is about being on the edge of a decision, one side feels safe, the other feels dangerous, like jumping into a volcano, or falling in love, or taking some other huge risk. Sometimes it is hard to make that kind of decision because you are afraid to get hurt, but you also know it could turn out much better for you.
He said last night at Royal Festival Hall that he had been a planner when he was 15, everything meticulous, well-behaved and in it's place, but at 30 he has decided to give in to all his impulses and feelings, to give in to his desire to become a creature of the body instead of the creature of the mind he has been in the past. He said he was trying brave new things like stamp-collecting, and he (jokingly) told us to quit school and take drugs.
From a Christian perspective, you'd say that Sufjan has fallen, and is risking fire and brimstone (and the song worries about this - "article of eminent death," "why do things have to be so hard"). I'd say Sufjan's belatedly finding himself. Best wishes, Sufjan! Awesome concert, eruption of joy and dancing at the end - everything I think this song is about! :)
Regarding this song – since their prior heartbreaking (and devastatingly played) loss last night, this song has been in my head non-stop. In summary, the caveman7 intrepretation from earlier (to either "follow" or "fall down") is essentially right-on, for me – the Caps will either be defeated ("fall down" = burnt up, cremated, destroyed... their season consumed in flames) – or they're miraculously turn things around, find that inner-fire, and somehow win 4 games in a row to escape the series alive. Fire, either way –– the fire that is realized through their incendiary "good" performance, or that same fire proves too much for them – and it eats them up (on account of their "bad" performance not being good enough).
As for the long, I love it. Love how it achieves such a mood and feeling with a relatively light dynamic tone. The fire of fire doesn't need to prove anything to anyone – it may start off slow/soft, but don't worry – the wall of flames comes eventually.
Go Caps, that is all.
I hear either:
Fall on me now or fall on your (?)
its in your favour
why does it have to be so hard
repeated a few times.
The word said is not easily picked up from the live recordings either
doubt is a possibility, but makes no sense in the song
also possible although unlikely is 'tau' the hebrew term for a T shaped letter used to divide saved from damned in the book of the prophet ezekiel.
Also thought in the album version that he was singing
"fall on me now Lord fall on me now,"
although this doesn't seem to be the case in the live versions.
before he played this he gave a pretty lengthy description
he compared it to Niagara falls, and how he was on this plateau and then suddenly theres this drop, this vast opening and how he longed to embrace it, understand it, and be a part of it
im not sure how that applies directly to the lyrics, but after hearing the explanation from him and then hearing it, i loved it even more
i guess you can sort of hear it in the lines:
"Vesuvius
Oh, be kind
It hasn't occurred
No it hasn't been said
Sufjan, follow the path
It leads to an article of imminent death
Sufjan, follow your heart
Follow the flame
Or fall on the floor"
i’ve pretty much given up everything for you, but i’m still a little worried. i know there’s no way to change your mind about the apocalypse, and i’m pretty sure i won’t live through it. i guess that’s not the worst thing in the world - i plan on trying my hardest anyway. i’d rather try and fail than not try at all.
sometimes i don’t really recognize you anymore. are you even really there? are you everything i thought you were? i don’t recognize your violence, even though i know man was created in your image - and we both have the ability to be violent and destructive.
you promised a long time ago to destroy bad people in an apocalypse, and i know you’ll keep your promise. but even if i live through it, there will probably be a lot of other people killed. i’m not totally cool with that.
remember how peter told jesus to be kind to himself, that he didn’t have to really die? and jesus replied that not only did he have to die, but that most other christians should be ready to accept death. i guess i feel like that. like peter, i’m wishing there was another way. but death was necessary for jesus, and death is sometimes just a necessary thing. i know i only have two choices here - life or death. i know time is running out for me to make a choice.
geez! i suck at making decisions, especially when i feel pressured. ugh!
love,
sufjan"