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Wed 5 Oct, 2005 10:42 am
Can anyone here explain these lyrics to me ? what does this song refer to?
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain
Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel that's turning
Running rings around the moon
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes of it's face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind
Like a tunnel that you follow
To a tunnel of it's own
Down a hollow to a cavern
Where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving
In a half-forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble
Someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping
Past the minutes of it's face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind
Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head
Why did summer go so quickly?
Was it something that you said?
Lovers walk along a shore
And leave their footprints in the sand
Is the sound of distant drumming
Just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway
And the fragment of a song
Half-remembered names and faces
But to whom do they belong?
When you knew that it was over
You were suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning
To the colour of her hair
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
As the images unwind
Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind
"The windmills of your mind"
From the soundtrack to the movie "The Thomas Crown Affair"
Words and music by Alan Bergman and Michel Jean Legrand
Wow, haven't heard that song in a long time.
I really love it.
To me, it's saying time is endless, life is endless, it's all about the great cosmic wheel of life, and we are a part of it all.
Francis wrote:"The windmills of your mind"
From the soundtrack to the movie "The Thomas Crown Affair"
Words and music by Alan Bergman and Michel Jean Legrand
I know who composed/wrote it Francis the question is what does the lyric mean? What does it refer to?
Don, do you want a line by line paraphrase, or a precis
Letty explanation in English will suffice thank you, I may be gone for a while I'm going for a chinese take away
Funny, Don. I'll do what I see is the precis, Brit.
Chai gave you a good interp; Francis gave you the background; and this ought to add to it.
The entire song seems to be a metaphor for endless memories of one individual, but yet encompasses all of us.
The circle; the windmill; the wheel in the wheel, etc.
The song then becomes a simile that compares our memories to concrete things such as tunnels and caverns, and perhaps ripples. the lyrics then follow through with sounds--keys that jingle and moves on to traces, such as footprints.
The entire idea seems to be the things we remember of old loves that incorporate all our senses.
I recall the late Raymond Burr reading this on some variety show years back...and I have the Ed Ames version on a record around here somewheres.
As to meaning that will always be open to interpretation by each individual. What I see however is as follows:
Verse one:...LIfe and thoughts are continual and unending and constantly moving and changing.
Verse two:...We go through life searching and traveling on often with little in the way of knowing just what it is we are searching for but still moving forward relentlessly even when there is little guidance (light) to help us find our way and this in turn helps keep our thoughts moving endlessly.
Verse three:...Our past is always with us and in our minds sometimes like a familiar sound sometimes virtually haunting us but all in all helping us along the road of life and keeping us moving continuously in the same manner that a windmill turns without stop when there is a breeze or wind. Substitute mind for windmill and think of the things going on around us(the breeze of thoughts and ideas), as what keeps our mind (windmill) moving.
Gosh I love that song!
Excellent, Sturgis. You did that so well, and with the compression that I lacked.
mmmm, I'm not sure that Letty or Sturgis has explained what this song is about, any more tries people? I really would like to know.
Or perhaps I'm just not an art person
You have been given some ideas Don1, as I indicated in my earlier post song meanings are subject to individual interpretation. Listen to the song yourself, read through the words, make your own determination as to its meaning.
That is the Derrida position which I must say I don't entirely agree with.
spendius wrote:That is the Derrida position which I must say I don't entirely agree with.
Derrida position? What does that mean spendius?
Don-
Jacques Derrida.French philosopher.Deconstructionism.Google him up.
He died fairly recently.
I think the point of the song is that if we look at the world as a whole, there is constant motion within motion in patterns we can recognize, (circle in a spiral, wheel within a wheel). Each thing affects the other, though it is all too complex for us to precisely sort it all out.
In the same sense, our memories have their own motion within the constant motion of our lives. Our lives and our memories affect each other, but once again, the relationship is too complex for us to ever fully understand.
The song is simply beautiful. Below is my humble interpretation.
Verse 1:
Life is like a circle; never ending and keeps repeating.
Verse 2:
Not knowing what lies ahead only to continue living so as to search for the true meaning of life.
Verse 3:
Experiences and memories are our life companion and they serve as our guidances.
Interpreting the lyrics as a whole, it gives a completely different meaning which I summarises below:
A lost love and life henceforth like a circle; trapped and blocked from the light to freedom.
Ill bet Shatner could really do this song justice.
Its a nice counterplay of sounds, internal rhythms and trite attempts at poetry. Its part of the great "mind ****" generation that HJ Thompson spoke of when he mentioned Dylan.
In order to get the full meaning of this song requires an investment in lots of C sativa. accompanioed by a nice Chardonnay and endless bowls of UTZ potato chips (crisps to those who speak the foreign version of English)
@farmerman,
I beg to differ.
Telling us this song is such, is only your opinion and, in this case, an irrelevant one..
You probably are not used to poetry.
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