to me, this song is about a new relationship. you know how it is at the start where your just working out your feelings for each other and aren't quite sure what the other one thinks? well the verses make me think of that, especially the line that says " so close that i cant see whats going on." I think the chorus adds to that because its like, in his past, he's unexpectedly found that things he thought would knock him down actually lifted him up (stones taught me to fly), whereas things that were supposed to lift him up actually knocked him down (love taught me to lie, life taught me to die) so hes totally unsure how the relationship will work out, even though he loves her. "its not hard to fall when you float like a cannonball" seems to be the only area of certainty cos if you float like a cannonball then youre on the floor, and its not hard to fall if youre already on the floor! It sort of makes me think hes trying not to raise his expectations that the relationship will work out to protect himself from hurt. similarly, "courage teach me to be shy" is where hes feeling confident about the relationship but again he wants to pull back from that incase it doesnt work out and he gets hurt. you get hurt less if your expectations are lower.
to me, this song is about a new relationship. you know how it is at the start where your just working out your feelings for each other and aren't quite sure what the other one thinks? well the verses make me think of that, especially the line that says " so close that i cant see whats going on." I think the chorus adds to that because its like, in his past, he's unexpectedly found that things he thought would knock him down actually lifted him up (stones taught me to fly), whereas things that were supposed to lift him up actually knocked him down (love taught me to lie, life taught me to die) so hes totally unsure how the relationship will work out, even though he loves her. "its not hard to fall when you float like a cannonball" seems to be the only area of certainty cos if you float like a cannonball then youre on the floor, and its not hard to fall if youre already on the floor! It sort of makes me think hes trying not to raise his expectations that the relationship will work out to protect himself from hurt. similarly, "courage teach me to be shy" is where hes feeling confident about the relationship but again he wants to pull back from that incase it doesnt work out and he gets hurt. you get hurt less if your expectations are lower.