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The lights go out, I am all alone
All the trees outside are buried in the snow
I spend my night dancing with my own shadow
And it holds me and it never lets me go
[Chorus]
I move slow and steady
But I feel like a waterfall
Yeah, I move slow and steady
Past the ones that I used to know
My dear old friend, take me for a spin
Two wolves in the dark, running in the wind
I'm letting go, but I've never felt better
Passing by all the monsters in my head
[Chorus]
And I'm never ready
'Cause I know, I know, I know
That time won't let me
Show what I want to show
[Chorus]
And I'm never ready
'Cause I know, I know, I know
That time won't let me
Show what I want to show
All the trees outside are buried in the snow
I spend my night dancing with my own shadow
And it holds me and it never lets me go
[Chorus]
I move slow and steady
But I feel like a waterfall
Yeah, I move slow and steady
Past the ones that I used to know
My dear old friend, take me for a spin
Two wolves in the dark, running in the wind
I'm letting go, but I've never felt better
Passing by all the monsters in my head
[Chorus]
And I'm never ready
'Cause I know, I know, I know
That time won't let me
Show what I want to show
[Chorus]
And I'm never ready
'Cause I know, I know, I know
That time won't let me
Show what I want to show
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Have you ever say, had strong feelings for someone and they weren't returned after expressing them to that person? Or got in to a fight with someone you care about, not resolved it and let it pull you apart? Then have you ever tried to walk "Past the ones that I used to know" in public? You force yourself to act normally but in your head your mind is in overdrive thinking about just about everything involving said person "I move slow and steady But I feel like a waterfall"
As well you may want to say something but you dont feel comfortable doing so "I know
That time won't let me Show what I want to show"(You keep postponing solving the problem till you eventually feel its too late to do anything, youve lost your window of opportunity)
In summation its about the conflict and physical experience of trying to move past an uncomfortable part of your life both mentally and physically and the problems it presents. And the how sometimes you just have to dance with your own shadow (be happy with yourself and not require validation from others no matter how tough it can be) , or let a dear old freind take you for a spin(get your mind off of it)
For whatever reason (a bad grade, a death in the family, a broken nail, etc), the lights go out, and the singer retreats to the shadow--her dear old friend--and, slowly and steadily, they dance with one another without letting go. The feelings of pain, anguish, suffering, and discontent are old and familiar, and, therefore, although they are acknowledged to be bad and morally undesirable "monsters in [her] head," they provide a sort of perverse comfort bred from that familiarity. They are her "dear old friend[s]," and part of her is glad to be back in a familiar and stable (although stable in the most unwholesome way) environment instead of the less usual and less familiar "light," which just went out, and, even worse, the jarring transition between light and shadow. In short, "[she's] letting go, but [she's] never felt better."
How to account for "feeling like a waterfall?" I would think the comparison would mean she's feeling emotional, in the midst of tumult, free-falling, but being jarred along the way down as well. She's moving "slow and steady" with her shadow, but, despite the comfort of being in the familiar position with those dark emotions, the loss of the light and, what's worse, how she lost it, is not far from her mind, and, I suspect, it's like a knife.
How to explain the last verses? The better part of her--the part of her that is more morally praiseworthy and striving to flourish in light rather than subsist in dank shadows--wants to LIVE, take chances, and put herself out to the world. She "knows" (read; firmly believes), however, that she'll never be ready to do that, because no amount of time will sufficiently heal her or insulate her from the fears of failing when taking those chances. Time, she believes, won't make her strong and brave, so, instead of braving life in the light where the lethal knife stroke may fall but joy may also be found, she resigns herself to living in the shadow with monsters in her mind, where there is no danger of a lethal and sudden knife stroke but no hope of the best of things, or even maybe of just what makes life worthwhile, either.