Big Parade
The Lumineers Lyrics

Lovely girl, won't you stay, won't you stay, stay with me?
The singer is asking a woman to stay with him and not leave.

All my life I was blind, I was blind, now I see
The singer is saying that he didn't see the reality of things before but now he does.

Fleet of black, fleet of black limousines
A group of black limousines are coming.

Oh tinted machines, here comes the cavalcade
The dark windows on the cars hide the people inside. A parade is coming.

With the armored cars, armored cars like Barettas
The cars in the parade have heavy duty armor to protect important people.

Flags on antennas designed to keep me safe, keep me safe
Flags hanging from the antennas signal that important officials are inside and need protection.

And oh my my, oh hey hey
Expressing excitement and anticipation to see what's coming next.

Here he comes, the candidate
The person they were waiting for has arrived. He's a political candidate.

Blue-eyed boy, United States
The candidate is young and good-looking. He might represent the whole country someday.

Vote for him, the candidate
The song is calling for votes to be cast in support of this particular candidate.

Diamonds cut, diamonds cut for the carats
The diamonds are being cut for the specific amount of carats they contain.

Plaster of Paris, the floats fill up the street
The floats in the parade are made of Plaster of Paris, a type of sculpture material.

And the beauty queens, beauty queens with the white gloves
The parade features women dressed up as beauty queens, waving white gloves.

All sick from the nightclubs, they wave with pageantry, pageantry
The women are probably exhausted from dancing at nightclubs but still wave to the crowd with style and grace.

Marching bands and barricades
The parade includes marching bands playing music and barricades holding the crowd back.

Make way, for the big parade
The song is telling the people to move aside for the parade.

Canvas covered, canvas covered in resin
The canvas is being coated in resin to make it stronger and more weather-resistant.

Violent men dance the blood ballet
Aggressive and dangerous men are dancing to music in a way that suggests it's a fight.

And the bookies say, bookies say it's the third round
Gambling bookmakers are betting money on how long a boxer will last in his fight.

Oh when Louie will go down
The song is speculating about when the boxer named Louie will lose the fight.

If he don't there's hell to pay, hell to raise
If Louie doesn't lose, there will be consequences or trouble.

Catholic priest, Catholic priest in a crisis
A Catholic priest is going through a difficult situation or period of time.

Torn between romance and Jesus, who will win the civil war?
The priest is conflicted between his love interest and his devotion to God, which side will be victorious in his mind?

And he says I'm in love, I'm in love with a woman
The priest admits that he's in love with a woman, which goes against his vows.

Yeah, this is my confession, I'm leaving, I can't be a priest anymore, anymore
The priest confesses that he can no longer be a priest and leaves the church because of his love for this woman.

TV cameras, TV cameras, and stagehands
Television cameras and people working backstage are visible.

American Bandstand, electric guitars
The performance is similar to the American Bandstand music show, with electric guitar playing.

And he's singin' songs, singin' songs for the lonely
The singer is singing songs to crowd of people who might be feeling lonely or disconnected from society.

Well the girls with the room keys
The girls who work at the hotel or in the nearby area are present.

They know all his words by heart, by heart, and they all sing
The women who work in the hotels know all the singer's songs and sing along to them with passion.

Here she comes by saving grace
A person or situation is coming that will provide relief or a positive change.

Burn the car and save the plates
The singer is suggesting that the car should be set on fire to save valuable artwork or artifacts that might be inside or connected to the vehicle.

She's arrived, my saving grace
The person they were waiting for has arrived, bringing salvation or hope.