Bright Eyes - From A Balance Beam Lyrics






There is a man holding a megaphone, so he must have been the voice of God.
The bystanders claimed they saw angels flying up and down the block.
Well, they must have been attached to wires. I saw one laying in the lawn with a broken arm,
so I called 911. So that is one less founded opinion. One more cause for a dispute.
So the street filled, like a basin, up with cameras and their crews
and they washed away the rumors leaving just the concrete truth. It was a spectacle.
No, I mean a miracle. So then I fell like that girl from a balance beam.
A gymnasium of eyes were all holding on to me. I lifted one foot to cross the other
and I felt myself slipping. It was a small mistake. Sometimes that is all it takes.
Now I'm staring at my wrist, hoping that the timing is right. When the planets will align.
There will be no planets to align. Just the carcass of the sun
and those little painted marbles spinning senseless through an endless black sky.
(and so it never started and it will never stop just like I am and you are)
It was in a foreign hotel's bathtub I baptized myself in change.
And one by one I drowned all of the people I had been.
I emerged to find the parallels were fewer. I was cleansed. I looked in the mirror
and someone new was there. Still, I was as helpless as a chess piece
when I was lifted up by someone's hand and delivered from the corner my enemies had got me in.
But in all of my salvation I still felt imprisoned inside that holding cell that is myself.
So I wait for the day when I'll hear the key as it turns in the lock
and the guard will say to me, "Oh my patient prisoner you have waited for this day
and finally you are free! You are free! You are freezing."
Now I'm staring at the sun, waiting for it to explode. Because a day is gonna come,
don't know when but it will come and then we will finally know the way out of here.
And I will throw away this wrinkled map and my chart of stars and compass, cracked.
And I'll climb out that tree all wet with sap to avoid the hungry beasts below.
I'll cut out my lover's tongue and sing of a graveyard gray and a garden green
and we won't have to worry no more. No we won't have to wonder again about
how this song or story ends about how this song and story will end.





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Bright Eyes From A Balance Beam Comments
  1. A.... ....

    the song is obviously about born again christianity... but people will deny it

  2. O.... S....

    You are free! You are free! You are

    freezing.

  3. J.... R....

    This is such a great song! 💜

    J.... R....

    J Rock
    word!! 💜

  4. T.... ....

    I love when he writes like this... How he can take the entire world, and wrap it up in a tight little lyrical package like this is unreal. <3

  5. J.... S....

    Oh my God I remember this when I was a kid

  6. c.... ....

    this and messanger bird are so great. theres something mystical and beautiful about them.

  7. C.... O....

    Oh fuck. Beautiful O.O

  8. G.... ....

    One of my favorite bright eyes songs made

  9. T.... ....

    i feel like bright eyes plays the music of my soul

  10. l.... ....

    @ohmyupoorchild I absolutely agree. I listen to the line "It was in a foreign hotel's bathtub I baptized myself in change; and one by one I drowned all of the people I had been. I emerged to find the parallels were fewer - I was cleansed. I looked in the mirror, and someone new was there," and can apply it to myself. I stop pretending to be someone I'm not, and in the end become more like my true self

  11. o.... ....

    "Now I'm staring at my wrist, hoping that the timing is right. When the planets will align. There will be no planets to align. Just the carcass of the sun and those little painted marbles spinning senseless through an endless black sky." This song is amazing. I think it's more about salvation and him changing or wanting to change himself, rather than suicide.

  12. M.... G....

    @AustinAsphyxiation You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.

  13. A.... B....

    @joey999 i thought i was the only one.

  14. G.... L....

    nothing needs to be this good.

  15. 3.... ....

    This EP is overwhelmingly great.

  16. i.... ....

    It takes immense talent to write lyrics like that.

  17. l.... ....

    The first song I ever heard from them, still love this song.

  18. J.... O....

    Here's some to suicide interpretations:
    Narrator thinking of jumping down from a building, where policemen are talking to him down with a megaphone. Maybe he decided not to, but fell accidentally like a girl from a balance beam.

    When he is "staring at his wrist" waiting for the right time to slit them and end the world. He dips himself into his tub (to die). But he doesnt die quite yet so he stares into the mirror. He feels like a different person, but still trapped in a body.

  19. A.... A....

    @arkangelzero lol what? logical fallacy much? I dont remember writing what i wrote, but i do believe that this song is not about suicide.

  20. A.... A....

    @arkangelzero they dont keep bibles in motels for suicide commiters, this song has nothing to do with suicide, it has everything to do with rebirth, shut up.

  21. J.... D....

    I often find myself staring at the sun waiting for it to explode.

  22. M.... ....

    Funny how a song that is both pessimistic and optimistic, filled with conflicting emotions and philosophies on religion and life instantly makes me happy without a thought every time it starts up. I learned and analyzed the lyrics a loooong time ago, but the melody always makes me happy, and this songs actually reminds me of some of the happiest times of my life. :]

  23. Z.... A....

    The theme of suicide in this song, especially in the context of the entire album, is too strong to overlook. He alludes to it also in the final song "Let's Not S**** Oursleves (To Love and to Be Loved)" where he sings of waking up in a Chicago hospital, apparently from a suicide attempt by overdose. But a major theme of the album is losing one's religion, of skepticism about belief, and how that can be liberating. Thus I doubt he would imply reading the Bible saved him from committing suicide.

  24. M.... ....

    This is probably my favorite Bright Eyes song besides A Perfect Sonnet. The lyrics are complex and absolutely beautiful, and the melody is mystical, yet optimistic and heartwarming at the same time. It's just one of those songs where all the notes compliment each other, and the lyrics intertwine smoothly, and....ah. That's the beauty of music :]

  25. O.... M....

    one of my favourite bright eyes songs ;p

  26. L.... H....

    I dont think its about suicide and i think your english teacher needs to go back to school. IMO strichtly of course. Also IMO the cover on here looks like the Movie 9 a Tim burton film coming out, look up the trailer and see for yourself look at the ten minute one u will deffinatly see that he read the book it relates to or whoever made this cover did.

  27. H.... ....

    continued.

    IMO You should have your beliefs but one day were all going to know the truth, whatever it may be, so just live life peaceful with one another.

  28. H.... ....

    I think its about how hes skeptical about the existence of god or any other religion. "it was a spectacle.. no, I-I mean a miracle." He later says that, well, eventually were all going to die so we wont have to wonder or worry about what happens afterward. "...and well finally know the way out of here." Then he throws away his search for religion/belief because itll be standing in front of him. "throw away this wrinkled map..."

  29. V.... P....

    "Rationalizing theories and finding out the concrete truth"

    Isn't that just describing the reilgion of Scientology?

  30. G.... ....

    your english teacher is cool if they listen to bright eyes but i don't think this is about suicide
    it actually sounds a little religious
    no that that's bad things