Lyrics for Windmills as interpreted by rabidpenguin

Windmills Lyrics
I spend too much time raiding windmills
We go side by side
Laughing until it's right

There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
Take the darkest hour-break it open
Water to repair what we have broken

There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
And anyway the wind blows
It's all worth waiting for

Pull on the borders to lighten the load
Tell all the passengers we're going home

I spend too much time seeking shelter
World without end couldn't hold her

There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
And anyway the wind blows
It's all worth waiting for
Anyway the wind blows

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Davkay20
06-17-2002

Rated 0 
this is such an amazing song, why has no one said anything about it?

the "spend" i think is past tense "spent"....little difference but means a lot to the song. very sad song. personally this i relate to my dad dying of cancer because its the first song i heard after he died. dont know what the lyrics were meant to mean...except that it is about regret.

the allusion is to the character don quixote, who was a guy in spain that was kinda off and dressed in medieval armor and thought he was a knight in like the 1800's. his horse was a goat i think and he used to attack windmills all the time. don quixote was confused and mislead in life - and very alone because of it, and i think glen is identifying himself with that. its a very sad song.

its like she, or whatever is gone, and he is still waiting to see the something that they wont show. the line "i spent too much time, seeking shelter - world without end, couldnt hold her" is very striking. its like he tried so hard to keep things controlled and contained, and in the end he couldnt hold on, there was no way he could have.

sad song, love it...

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NateKalbach
08-01-2002

Rated 0 
This song really is amazing. It's one of those songs that you feel the first time you hear it and can't stop listening to it afterwards. Probably my favorite song now...

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stinkycheezman22
03-18-2003

Rated 0 
I agree with the whole Don Quixote allusion. I think this song romanticizes the idea of romanticism. even though Don Quixote ended up being wrong, his intentions were right and in the end, he ended up doing what he thought was right. "It's all worth waiting for...anyway the wind blows."

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elwyn5150
11-28-2004

Rated 0 
The album title "Dulcinea" is also an allusion to the Don Quixote theme. Dulcinea was the woman who Quixote pined for.

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adimak07
07-16-2006

Rated +1 
most soothing song i've ever heard

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filosk8
09-10-2006

Rated 0 
Don Quijote had a white horse but was old as him, Sancho Panza had a mule.
And I believe he means he was aways jelaus or always figting for nonesense with her thats why he says hes raiding windmills and as Nate said Don Quijote fighted windmills thinking they were giants.

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davidecoyote
12-28-2006

Rated +1 
Yes, oh yes, the "title track" because of the album's reference to Don Quixote's dream lover. We all have a dream lover, be it a love for an actual person or just an idea of how things are supposed to be.

I agree, Toad the Wet Sprocket is the most under-appreciated band of the 90s, and this has to be one of their best songs. I'm also surprised, however, that no one has yet picked up on the "world without end" part of the lyrics, as they are straight out of the Christian vernacular.

"World without end" is the last line of a Christian prayer that basically states that the world is perfect, the way that God (the trinity) conceived it to be. Don Quixote's love for Dulcinea is perfect, but only in his own mind. In the end of the novel, it's not enough.

So is any ideology worth it, waiting or fighting for?

Answer yes, and you're a romantic.

Of course, the line "anyway the wind blows" is a direct reference to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," which, in turn, derives from the plot of Albert Camus' "L'etranger", which leads us to "Killing an Arab" by "The Cure"...

...it's all part of a rich tapestry.

Okay, I'm going to bed now...

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HelloFade232
01-11-2007

Rated 0 
the melody of this song to me sounds similar to the song "The Freshman" by the Verve Pipe (and yes i know this song came out before the freshman did,,but they do sound similar, at least I think they do)

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mantooth
05-19-2007

Rated 0 
chasing things that we can never achieve

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folsomfearless
08-03-2007

Rated 0 
Que Sera sera...that's what I get out of it, I mean you can spend all your life or all your time doing what you feel is right and in the end que sera sera

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jacobkeld
12-12-2007

Rated +1 
This song is definitely about loss. It happens to be the one of the best songs that I have ever heard!!

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FezBoy
04-09-2008

Rated 0 
Quite apart from the lyrical meaning and the literary allusions, I cannot think of a more calm and mellow song than this one.

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Buffy828
11-21-2008

Rated 0 
Pull on the borders to lighten the load
Tell all the passengers we're going home

What do you guys think this means?

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docstrangelove
03-21-2009

Rated -1 
I hate to break it, but this is NOT Toad the Wet Sprocket.

It IS Glen Phillips singing, but the band behind him is actually Nickel Creek - Chris Thile and Sean and Sara Watkins. Windmills is from an impromptu band called the Mutual Admiration Society; basically Nickel Creek with Phillips as the lead vocalist.

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murphyspop
03-24-2009

Rated 0 
Actually, this is originally a Toad The Wed Sprocket song. It was later redone by mutual admiration society and is also done quite often by glen in his solo career.

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metaphorious
05-16-2009

Rated 0 
I think that the song in general refers to taking in all that is, embracing reality. 'which ever way the wind blows' and the regret of 'seeking too much shelter' in the windmills of our minds meanwhile missing out on the bitter sweet beauty of real relationships in which we ' go side by side, laughing until we get it right'.



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metaphorious
05-16-2009

Rated 0 


"Pull on the borders to lighten the load
Tell all the passengers we're going home"

Should that be spelled 'boarders' instead of borders?



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metaphorious
05-16-2009

Rated 0 
'World without end, couldn't hold her' fantasy of perfection - a world without reality, without end, his unrealistic mind could not hold her... a love lost
Or
'World without end, couldn't hold her' infinite possibilities of reality couldn't hold her, she committed suicide, died of drug addiction, some sort of a fatal attempt to escape the vagaries of reality...

Either way a love lost.



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somebodyknows
05-29-2009

Rated 0 
I've always loved Toad the wet sprocket and this song only makes me love them more. Such a shame they are no longer an official 'band'.

Like the posts above, I agree "Windmills" is directly taken from the tale of Don Quixote (ie., chasing windmills and the albums title Dulcinea, Quixote's dream lover) and is used effectively in Glen's lyrics. I used to think the line

"I spend too much time raiding windmills"

was

"I spend too much time reading the news"

Then that wouldn't really fit into the context of the Don Quixote allusion, would it?




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TheMonolith
10-06-2009

Rated 0 
One of the finest songs ever recorded.

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