For me this song is (like much Floyd) about missed opportunities.
Do you really think that right now you can tell the difference between something that will be good in the long run and something short term?
Do you really think that you can tell what the difference is between this job and that one?
Do you think that you really know if this girl will be better in 5 years, or that one.
Can you tell Heaven from Hell? Can you tell what will work out well from a nightmare?
Blue skies from pain? Something "good" from something "bad"
And repeat (in a good way, I love the song)
What it says to me is that you can never tell, at least about your own life (your too close), what is good and what is bad. Look at all of history, the life story of every great artist, the history of every war. Things that seem great one second are just pain the next, and possibly more importantly, things that seem great now can be the undoing of everything.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions and often the road to enlightenment is paved with painful mistakes and lessons.
The song grinds this message home. Then expresses loss in the titular line.
That loss seems to be for someone, but is equally for all the missed opportunities and chances.
It is the loss of all the lives that could have been.
All the dreams left unfulfilled.
The chances not taken.
Because we could not tell heaven from hell, blue skies from pain.
Because we could not see beyond the end of our (temporal) noses.
The final segment makes it all the more personal.
A relationship that is not working.
Two people, neither grasping their dreams, both plodding along in the same routines.
Day after day, in the same old way, they bang their heads against the same barriers, never breaking through.
Never quite telling that today's blue skies are eternities' pain.
Never quite getting to the point where they have to break free or break down.
Just bumping of the bowl year after year, running over the same ground.
So for me this is a song about the nature of humanity and it's limited capability to see it's own position in the world, or individually in their own life. It is about the lack of vision of most of man, the limited horizons and the pain that that causes.
And I know that I suffer from all those flaws, and that I am trapped in that position, and that is why I had to listen to this song tonight when I came home.
Many other Floyd songs express similar feelings to me, particularly Time which puts a ticking clock next to the weighing scales of wish you were here. Balance each decision, but don't run out of time.
I think I have failed on both counts.
Ho humm, welcome to the machine.
Jarak, I joined this site so I could tell you how profound your interpretation is. I hope someday you come back to this thread and see what your words have meant. I knew, of course, that the song was about Roger's missing Syd, and I really liked the instrumental introduction. Dave was amazing playing it at Live8. But it never dawned on me that I was the "you" the song was referring to. Now it makes so much sense.
Jarak, I joined this site so I could tell you how profound your interpretation is. I hope someday you come back to this thread and see what your words have meant. I knew, of course, that the song was about Roger's missing Syd, and I really liked the instrumental introduction. Dave was amazing playing it at Live8. But it never dawned on me that I was the "you" the song was referring to. Now it makes so much sense.
Wow, I just got an e-mail letting me know that someone had commented on my post. A post that I had no recollection of making on a site that if you had asked me yesterday I would have said I have never heard of. Having come here and read the post from me in the past, I have to say I like my style and still agree with what I said. I am just struggling with the strange situation of reading your own words as if for the first time.
Wow, I just got an e-mail letting me know that someone had commented on my post. A post that I had no recollection of making on a site that if you had asked me yesterday I would have said I have never heard of. Having come here and read the post from me in the past, I have to say I like my style and still agree with what I said. I am just struggling with the strange situation of reading your own words as if for the first time.
Thanks to all those who have commented, I am sure that there are times over the past 5 years (!) that I could have done with seeing those.
As it stands at the moment I have put down my little black book, but still have a bag with a toothbrush and a comb in.
@Jarak This is the best explanation of the song, I feel my life as a set of missed opportunities,good or bad, and also you noticed a big truth..how can you know what to decide in certain situations and wonder if it is the right,correct decision. Like you, Time raises the same feelings in me...I'm thinking so much of this song lately...Thanx
@Jarak This is the best explanation of the song, I feel my life as a set of missed opportunities,good or bad, and also you noticed a big truth..how can you know what to decide in certain situations and wonder if it is the right,correct decision. Like you, Time raises the same feelings in me...I'm thinking so much of this song lately...Thanx
@Jarak just thought I would ask if you still read the comments, and also if you found your blue skies, or if you only see the cold steel rail? God gave us dreams, so that we would want to make them a reality. The only thing most people never realize is that we can't fulfill those dreams without God's help. Unless we take the opposite path to get there, and then we end up empty and life is a shell with no substance filling us.
@Jarak just thought I would ask if you still read the comments, and also if you found your blue skies, or if you only see the cold steel rail? God gave us dreams, so that we would want to make them a reality. The only thing most people never realize is that we can't fulfill those dreams without God's help. Unless we take the opposite path to get there, and then we end up empty and life is a shell with no substance filling us.
@Jarak wow, in 2021 I read this and looked to my own life while eating cup noodles and hearing my son playing video game, while the baby is upstairs with my wife, that makes me think the good and bad my choices gave me, and how limited is my vision to try to see something about my life even in near future, and all options I put away. You said is so true. Peace.
@Jarak wow, in 2021 I read this and looked to my own life while eating cup noodles and hearing my son playing video game, while the baby is upstairs with my wife, that makes me think the good and bad my choices gave me, and how limited is my vision to try to see something about my life even in near future, and all options I put away. You said is so true. Peace.
For me this song is (like much Floyd) about missed opportunities. Do you really think that right now you can tell the difference between something that will be good in the long run and something short term? Do you really think that you can tell what the difference is between this job and that one? Do you think that you really know if this girl will be better in 5 years, or that one.
Can you tell Heaven from Hell? Can you tell what will work out well from a nightmare? Blue skies from pain? Something "good" from something "bad"
And repeat (in a good way, I love the song)
What it says to me is that you can never tell, at least about your own life (your too close), what is good and what is bad. Look at all of history, the life story of every great artist, the history of every war. Things that seem great one second are just pain the next, and possibly more importantly, things that seem great now can be the undoing of everything.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions and often the road to enlightenment is paved with painful mistakes and lessons.
The song grinds this message home. Then expresses loss in the titular line.
That loss seems to be for someone, but is equally for all the missed opportunities and chances. It is the loss of all the lives that could have been. All the dreams left unfulfilled. The chances not taken. Because we could not tell heaven from hell, blue skies from pain. Because we could not see beyond the end of our (temporal) noses.
The final segment makes it all the more personal. A relationship that is not working. Two people, neither grasping their dreams, both plodding along in the same routines. Day after day, in the same old way, they bang their heads against the same barriers, never breaking through. Never quite telling that today's blue skies are eternities' pain. Never quite getting to the point where they have to break free or break down. Just bumping of the bowl year after year, running over the same ground.
So for me this is a song about the nature of humanity and it's limited capability to see it's own position in the world, or individually in their own life. It is about the lack of vision of most of man, the limited horizons and the pain that that causes.
And I know that I suffer from all those flaws, and that I am trapped in that position, and that is why I had to listen to this song tonight when I came home.
Many other Floyd songs express similar feelings to me, particularly Time which puts a ticking clock next to the weighing scales of wish you were here. Balance each decision, but don't run out of time.
I think I have failed on both counts. Ho humm, welcome to the machine.
Dude.... fuckin' aye, you just nailed the song. Hope things turn out better for you man.
Dude.... fuckin' aye, you just nailed the song. Hope things turn out better for you man.
Peace.
Peace.
Wow! Perhaps the most eloquently delivered analysis I've ever read. Well done, Sir.
Wow! Perhaps the most eloquently delivered analysis I've ever read. Well done, Sir.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Jarak, I joined this site so I could tell you how profound your interpretation is. I hope someday you come back to this thread and see what your words have meant. I knew, of course, that the song was about Roger's missing Syd, and I really liked the instrumental introduction. Dave was amazing playing it at Live8. But it never dawned on me that I was the "you" the song was referring to. Now it makes so much sense.
Jarak, I joined this site so I could tell you how profound your interpretation is. I hope someday you come back to this thread and see what your words have meant. I knew, of course, that the song was about Roger's missing Syd, and I really liked the instrumental introduction. Dave was amazing playing it at Live8. But it never dawned on me that I was the "you" the song was referring to. Now it makes so much sense.
Great... just great
Great... just great
Wow, I just got an e-mail letting me know that someone had commented on my post. A post that I had no recollection of making on a site that if you had asked me yesterday I would have said I have never heard of. Having come here and read the post from me in the past, I have to say I like my style and still agree with what I said. I am just struggling with the strange situation of reading your own words as if for the first time.
Wow, I just got an e-mail letting me know that someone had commented on my post. A post that I had no recollection of making on a site that if you had asked me yesterday I would have said I have never heard of. Having come here and read the post from me in the past, I have to say I like my style and still agree with what I said. I am just struggling with the strange situation of reading your own words as if for the first time.
Thanks to all those who have commented, I am sure that there are times over the past 5 years (!) that I could have done with seeing those.
As it stands at the moment I have put down my little black book, but still have a bag with a toothbrush and a comb in.
@Jarak This is the best explanation of the song, I feel my life as a set of missed opportunities,good or bad, and also you noticed a big truth..how can you know what to decide in certain situations and wonder if it is the right,correct decision. Like you, Time raises the same feelings in me...I'm thinking so much of this song lately...Thanx
@Jarak This is the best explanation of the song, I feel my life as a set of missed opportunities,good or bad, and also you noticed a big truth..how can you know what to decide in certain situations and wonder if it is the right,correct decision. Like you, Time raises the same feelings in me...I'm thinking so much of this song lately...Thanx
@Jarak just thought I would ask if you still read the comments, and also if you found your blue skies, or if you only see the cold steel rail? God gave us dreams, so that we would want to make them a reality. The only thing most people never realize is that we can't fulfill those dreams without God's help. Unless we take the opposite path to get there, and then we end up empty and life is a shell with no substance filling us.
@Jarak just thought I would ask if you still read the comments, and also if you found your blue skies, or if you only see the cold steel rail? God gave us dreams, so that we would want to make them a reality. The only thing most people never realize is that we can't fulfill those dreams without God's help. Unless we take the opposite path to get there, and then we end up empty and life is a shell with no substance filling us.
@Jarak Yes, Loving someone that is out of reach. The dreams that will never be
@Jarak Yes, Loving someone that is out of reach. The dreams that will never be
@Jarak wow, in 2021 I read this and looked to my own life while eating cup noodles and hearing my son playing video game, while the baby is upstairs with my wife, that makes me think the good and bad my choices gave me, and how limited is my vision to try to see something about my life even in near future, and all options I put away. You said is so true. Peace.
@Jarak wow, in 2021 I read this and looked to my own life while eating cup noodles and hearing my son playing video game, while the baby is upstairs with my wife, that makes me think the good and bad my choices gave me, and how limited is my vision to try to see something about my life even in near future, and all options I put away. You said is so true. Peace.
@Jarak It's December 2023 and I signed up to thank you for this. And I might have something for you. The courage to see... is the courage to be.
@Jarak It's December 2023 and I signed up to thank you for this. And I might have something for you. The courage to see... is the courage to be.