ain't it funny how we pretend we're still a child
softly stolen under our blanket skies
and rescue me from me, and all that i believe
i won't deny the pain
i won't deny the change
and should i fall from grace here with you
will you leave me too?
carve out your heart for keeps in an old oak tree
and hold me for goodbyes-and whispered lullabyes
and tell me i am still
the man i'm supposed to be
i won't deny the pain
i won't deny the change
and should i fall from grace here with you
will you leave me too?
too late to turn back now, i'm running out of sound
and i am changing, changing
and if we died right now, this fool you love somehow
is here with you
i won't deny the pain
i won't deny the change
and should i fall from grace here with you
would you leave me too?



Lyrics submitted by Ice

Track duration: 04:47


Galapogos song meanings
Add your thoughts

54 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:This song rang so true during my first and only heartbreak. "I won't deny the pain, I won't deny the change".

    Yet over the years this song is becoming even more real to me because I am seeing now that it is about the evolution of a particular love - a transition of one love to another, an institution of change which involves a serious skepticism based on the prospect of being hurt once again.

    "and should i fall from grace here with you
    will you leave me too?
    too late to turn back now
    im running out of sound
    and i am changing, changing"

    The difficulty and indecision of leaving one for another. It is about a conflicting love. Inevitable, undeniable change. Yet there will always be worry for what you're leaving.
    Flag rolando14on March 07, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:reminds me of yoshi's island
    listened to a lot of pumpkins while playing that game
    Flag Gurrason December 23, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song is about growing up and accepting that you are a teenager and no longer a kid... and taking the consequences of your new responsabilities
    Flag silverushon December 08, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think this song is about billy's marriage ending with chris. i think billy recognizes the flaws in himself that are leading to the deterioration in his marriage, and that's what he means by "rescue me from me," because he can see how it's his actions and beliefs that are pushing them apart. by saying "i won't deny the pain, i won't deny the change," he sees that he is hurting her, he sees that their relationship is changing. and if he "falls from grace," or she sees him at his lowest, at his worst, he asks, will she leave him?

    i think the strongest line in the song, for me, is "tell me i am still the man i'm supposed to be." it seems to express that he knows he's not a good husband anymore, but he's still wishing they could recapture their youth, and that she will still see him as the man she wanted him to be and thought he would be when they got married.

    in the end of the song, he seems to acknowledge the fact that he has changed, that he can't help it, and he is hoping she'll stay with him because he loves her, despite all his changes and flaws.
    Flag whatisthewhaton March 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think its about either changing for some one in a drastic way. Or him needing to change in a drastic way for himself, but its something he knows will break up the relationship.

    I get this feeling from the line
    "i won't deny the change, and should i fall from grace here with you, would you leave me too?". I also get the feeling that he's kind of being rejected by others for making whatever decision it is. & he's relying on the one he loves to understand but she isn't. Listening to the song doesn't give me that sense but the lyrics do if that makes sense. I guess because in a situation like that you'd think some one would be more resentful with their tone but the song has a calmer tone, obviously a sad one too.
    Flag Jenitalson February 05, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song is depressing as butt tits
    Flag NINirvana69on November 28, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I just heard him say that, Zinbobdan. When I first heard this song, I heard whispers in the background but didn't make much of it. That was pretty cool. :)
    Flag Ckhawaon August 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I wont even begin to assume that i have even the slightest understanding of what Billy Corgan is attempting to convey with this song, but i will say that the lyrics blend perfectly with the melody changes. This song makes me feel for him. i feel troubled. i like it
    Flag BeterThanYouFakeIton May 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I feel it is about the transition to adulthood and transition from rmoantic love to real love with the person you are with.

    When you marry you have a fantasy of how life should be. You are in essence still like a child with your childish thoughts and beliefs.

    As you grow, you change. As I change, I may ask my wife, "am I still the man I'm supposed to be?" A marriage or any relationship has much pain and change. You cannot deny that and perhaps a fall from grace (infidelity). But in the end, he will stay with her, forever, even after death.

    As we grow and mature we will change. But this doesn't mean that we still won't be the person whom the other fell in love with so long ago.
    Flag eckharton April 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've searched online for this interpretation but found it nowhere.

    Isn't this song Galapogos about Darwin himself?

    Darwin was always interested in animals, fossils, and botany. As a child he could explore in the countryside around his house searching for these things for fun, but after going to the Galapagos Islands, he formulated the theory of Evolution, which he knew was bound to change humanity and himself, forever. He could no longer "pretend [he's] a child" and now will rescue himself from all that he once believed (Christianity).

    Darwin withheld publication of "On the Origin of Species" for many years because he knew what pain would follow both to Christians and himself in the academic community. But while he won't deny this pain, he could not keep his results hidden forever, thus "I won't deny the change" (of evolutionary theory).

    Now the next line is very important: he is speaking to God himself - if his theory is heresy (remember, Darwin was once Christian himself) and he "falls from grace" and publishes his work does that mean that God will, like many in the academic community, "leave [him] too?"

    The animals on the Galapagos Islands, having no natural predators, were very receptive to human visitors, and will not run away, making for easy observation and building of relationships. The variety of finches that Darwin discovered were the key to his theory, and having to kill some of them to analyze their anatomy, he makes a poetic gesture by putting a heart of one inside the oak trees that they live in, figuratively "holding" him with the "whispered lullabyes" that they sing to him, soothing him into knowing that his search for truth will still allow him to be the "man" (i.e. the scientist) he is "supposed to be".

    The rest is fairly self-explanatory using this context.
    Flag mashingkrumpkinon March 17, 2007   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!

Back to top
explain