Meet the son of a government man
And a pillar of salt
I was born with blood on my hands
And have all the signs of a bleeding heart

Living high on a giant hawk
On a mountain so steep
Keep your head in a hollow log
As the ruling fog are about to creep

What have we done?
How'd we get so far from the sun?
Lost, lost in an oscillating phase
Where a tiny few catch all of the rays

Out beyond the western squalls
In an Indian land
They work for nothing at all
They don't know the mall or the layaway plan

Dig yourself a beautiful grave
Everything you could want
Maybe those invisible slaves
Are too far away for a ghost to haunt

What do we charge?
Letting go of a claim so large
Oh, all of our working days are done
But a tiny few are having all of the fun

Get used to the dust in your lungs

Is there no way down
From this peak to solid ground
Without having our gold teeth
Pulled from our mouth

Make me a drink strong enough
To wash away this dishwater world they said was lemonade
Walk with me after the show
Maybe we can find a way through the minefield in the snow

What are they charged?
Letting go of a claim so large
Oh, all of our working days are done
But a tiny few are having all of the fun

Apologies to the sick and the young
Get used to the dust in your lungs


Lyrics submitted by llscience, edited by gina102083

No Way Down Lyrics as written by James Mercer

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

No Way Down song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

15 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    “I read an article–I forget where, exactly–but it was just basically about how in the United States we used to manufacture a lot of stuff, like a lot of the microphones that I buy on eBay because they’re good, high-quality microphones, but they’re old. Nobody makes them anymore because we don’t make anything, basically. So it was about that issue, and it was about the argument that they were making. It was that big-money interests that lobbied to have free trade with Asia. So we were able to buy goods made in countries that had no respect for civil rights, and the relationships with the unions [in this country] could finally be skirted around and we could end that. So now we’re in the situation today where you cannot make a living, basically. We used to make every fucking thing we used, and we lost all that. Fucked the country, saved their asses, fucked the whole economy.”

    magnetmagazine.com/2012/03/26/magnet-web-exclusive-the-shins-james-mercer-on-the-new-port-of-morrow/

    llscienceon April 25, 2012   Link

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!