The song starts with the speaker trying to find some inspiration. He's so far gone that he can't capture the music. He has tried many different tactics to give him some sustenance in life, but they just end up becoming baggage and don't serve as music (music as a metaphor, and music as literally). He's concerned that he won't be remembered the way he wants to be because he can't write from the heart. It's a performer's nightmare.
In the next stanza, he explains that when he goes through life, he puts on a protective shield. This is the only way he can enjoy, love, or get through it. His head tells him how to act and when to do things, like something rhythmic or recited. He sings (or talks) with music about wanting these things to be different--about love, truth, and what music means to him. (Yes, this is a love song about music.) All he needs is music because it is the only thing he can be truly himself with, even as he struggles to write about something real.
He wants to dedicate a song to something happy. A bed of roses is an idiom about living a peaceful life. Despite the fact that he is struggling thought life on a bed of nails, his music is the happiest aspect where he is concerned. He wants to be as close to music as inspiration (the Holy Ghost). He literally wants to inspire music.
He then goes on to say that he's so far away from peacefulness/inspiration that every time he writes a song, he knows that it can't be more of a lie. Everything he had done was to get closer to this feeling, despite the fact that it led him farther away. Despite all the time he has spent, there is never enough to do music properly, or he still can't get through to the feeling. Then, the bird (or inspiration--Holy Dove) comes on a whim, making music and inspiration one again. This feeling of awe or love is true again, he realizes--music is great.
In the next verse, he realizes that he can't hide from who he is any longer. The blond girl (perhaps revealed to be the bartender), is a fake. His life has been built on lies, and he realizes that this is why he had a struggle with his art after inspiration ran dry. The lies are still tempting but he mocks them because life is short and there's no time left for them.
When inspiration leaves him, he's be thinking about it and his music. Lies and fame will take over his attention again while he goes back and forth between performing and writing. He will be around fans, but he'll be lonely without inspiration or feeling when he plays his music. He has learned that he no longer has to prove himself to them and can just enjoy what he is playing. Now, he'd die to defend his music because it is true.
All in all, this is a great song from what I believe to be about the struggle between inspiration, loving music, writing, and buying into the lies that make money. Bon's vocals are heaven and I applaud him for having such a glorious combination of melody, lyrics, and voice.
The song starts with the speaker trying to find some inspiration. He's so far gone that he can't capture the music. He has tried many different tactics to give him some sustenance in life, but they just end up becoming baggage and don't serve as music (music as a metaphor, and music as literally). He's concerned that he won't be remembered the way he wants to be because he can't write from the heart. It's a performer's nightmare.
In the next stanza, he explains that when he goes through life, he puts on a protective shield. This is the only way he can enjoy, love, or get through it. His head tells him how to act and when to do things, like something rhythmic or recited. He sings (or talks) with music about wanting these things to be different--about love, truth, and what music means to him. (Yes, this is a love song about music.) All he needs is music because it is the only thing he can be truly himself with, even as he struggles to write about something real.
He wants to dedicate a song to something happy. A bed of roses is an idiom about living a peaceful life. Despite the fact that he is struggling thought life on a bed of nails, his music is the happiest aspect where he is concerned. He wants to be as close to music as inspiration (the Holy Ghost). He literally wants to inspire music.
He then goes on to say that he's so far away from peacefulness/inspiration that every time he writes a song, he knows that it can't be more of a lie. Everything he had done was to get closer to this feeling, despite the fact that it led him farther away. Despite all the time he has spent, there is never enough to do music properly, or he still can't get through to the feeling. Then, the bird (or inspiration--Holy Dove) comes on a whim, making music and inspiration one again. This feeling of awe or love is true again, he realizes--music is great.
In the next verse, he realizes that he can't hide from who he is any longer. The blond girl (perhaps revealed to be the bartender), is a fake. His life has been built on lies, and he realizes that this is why he had a struggle with his art after inspiration ran dry. The lies are still tempting but he mocks them because life is short and there's no time left for them.
When inspiration leaves him, he's be thinking about it and his music. Lies and fame will take over his attention again while he goes back and forth between performing and writing. He will be around fans, but he'll be lonely without inspiration or feeling when he plays his music. He has learned that he no longer has to prove himself to them and can just enjoy what he is playing. Now, he'd die to defend his music because it is true.
All in all, this is a great song from what I believe to be about the struggle between inspiration, loving music, writing, and buying into the lies that make money. Bon's vocals are heaven and I applaud him for having such a glorious combination of melody, lyrics, and voice.