Maybe that it would do me good
If I believed there were a god
Cut in the starry firmament
But as it is that's just a lie
And I'm here eating up the boredom
On an island of cement
Give me your ecstasy I'll feel it
Open window and I'll steal it
Baby like it's heaven sent
This ain't no love that's guiding me
Some days i'm bursting at the seams
With all my half remembered dreams
And then it shoots me down again
I feel the dampness as it creeps
I hear you coughing in your sleep
Beneath a broken window pane
Tomorrow girl i'll buy you chips
A lollipop to stain your lips
And it'll all be right as rain
This ain't no love that's guiding me
This ain't no love that's guiding me
No it ain't no love guiding me
No it ain't no love guiding me
No it ain't no love guiding me
This ain't no love that's guiding me
This ain't no love that's guiding me
On winter trees the fruit of rain
Is hanging trembling in the branches
Like a thousand diamond buds
And waiting there in every pause
That old familiar fear that claws you
Tells you nothing ain't no good
Then pulling back you see it all
Down here so laughable and small
Hardly a quiver in the dirt
Verse 1
DG is expressing his belief that there is no God, though he acknowledges it might do him good to believe in one. He sees the ecstasy people experience from having a faith, and if he had the chance ("open window") he would steal this experience.
"This ain't no love that's guiding me"
- the experiences of life are not being guided by a loving God, they are just random events.
Verse 2
Some days he experiences happiness as he did when he was younger, but soon remembers that his happiness was couched in a belief that there was a divine purpose, and when he thinks on these events in the light of his current belief then "it shoots me down [to earth] again". He compares the problems in life to a cough caused by the dampness coming in through his cracked window (the frame through which he once viewed his life). He can seek temporary resolutions (chips, lollipop) which yield results, but these are in fact only fleeting rewards... the sarcastic reference to being "as right as rain" emphasizes the temporary nature of these rewards.
Verse 3
After a rain shower the water glistens on the trees like diamonds. But soon the drops fall to the ground and their existence is finished, hardly a mark left on the ground to show these glistening jewels ever existed. This is how DG sees the experience of life as an atheist; a shining life ends when a person dies, and there is no enduring spirit. In the moment before the drop falls from the tree, it seems to pause slightly, and he equates this to a moment of fear as you realize your own mortality, and the futility of life - "nothing ain't no good"
The song is certainly beautiful, but it's not an uplifting song by any means. DG's sarcasm ring through the lyrics as he considers how people delude themselves with "a lie" about a higher power, a higher love. DG has no doubt that there ain't no higher love guiding his life, and when it ends it'll be over.
Ironically, with songs like these, DG's ripple in the dirt will last longer than most!
When i first heard this song- i really had no idea what it meant.
But i loved it, or rather i loved the sound of his voice.
And now when i read the lyrics.
Im only a little bit less confused.
Some parts make sense. Well really only the first verse.
But oh well- GREAT SONG :D
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