Grey Street
Dave Matthews Lyrics

Oh, just sitting while she listens
The singer is seated while a woman nearby talks to him.

She says I don't need this place
The woman voices her dissatisfaction with someplace she is at.

It seems a million years she's stuck here
The woman has been in this unsatisfactory situation for what seems like a long time.

But says nothing of what she thinks
The woman keeps her true thoughts to herself.

She thinks, 'Hey,
The woman has an internal thought.

How did I come to this?
The woman wonders how she ended up in her current situation.

I dreamt like anybody else one night
The woman had normal aspirations like anyone else.

I would be a beautiful princess.'
The woman wanted to be a fairytale princess.

But then the roads in the park fall
Something went wrong, and her dream faded.

And then she rode the line in
The woman chose to go a certain path.

And the colors mix together to grey
The result of her choices led to a bleak outcome.

And break me out
The dreary situation is painfully depressing.

Oh, when I'm indifferent
The singer feels detached.

She prays to God most every night
The woman is religious and asks for help religiously.

Although she swears He doesn't listen
She claims that her prayers are going unheard.

There's hope in her that He just might
Despite doubts, she has a small glimmer of hope that God might bring change.

She says, 'I pray
The woman describes an action she takes.

But then my prayer fall on deaf ears
The woman feels ignored by her god.

I'm supposed to take it all myself
No one else is supposed to solve her problems.

To get out of this place.'
She wants to escape her current situation.

She feels the lumps in the heart fall
The woman feels increasingly ill at ease.

And she rose up in the back
The woman rises defiantly in spite of her situation.

She hears the cars scream out from outside
She hears the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

And she whispers sometimes about this
She quietly voices her thoughts on the matter.

But the colors mix together to grey
Her perception of the world grows ever bleaker.

And wake me up
She wants to be woken up to reality.

Oh, he grows up living
The singer now jumps to discussing another person.

He says take what you can from your dreams
This person advises others to turn their dreams into actionable goals.

Make them real as anything
The artist encourages moving on from idle dreaming to make them a reality.

It takes the work out of the courage
Turning dreams into reality requires more than just bravery but hard work too.

She said, 'Please,
Now we return abruptly to the woman who speaks again.

There's a crazy man standing outside my door
The woman is dealing with a dangerous situation.

I live on the corner of a dead-end street
The woman feels trapped with nowhere to go.

At the end of the world.'
At the height of her despair, she feels despondent.

Oh, and the rocks out in the heart fall
Heartache is weighing heavily on the woman's heart.

And she dreams her way to life
Daydream has become an escape for the woman.

And she knows no one will lift her
She feels as though she can only rely on herself.

So she might as well do it herself
She decides to take action and rely on herself to escape her situation.

And then bummed out and worried
The woman felt downtrodden and anxious.

Of leaving city life
She contemplates the possibilities of a new and different life.

But all the colors mix together to grey
Her current circumstances overshadow any potential for a brighter future.

On Grey Street
Grey Street serves as an allegory for the bleak present.

On Grey Street
The song repeats the phrase to create a musical refrain.

To Grey Street
Back to the main metaphor, Grey Street represents a gloomy life.

Oh, when it comes down in your loving
The artist now offers some uplifting and encouraging words.

Oh, well then, baby, it's right
If you feel love, it is enough to be right.

You say you think you are nothing
The singer acknowledges that people may feel hopeless at times.

No one else will do it for you
It is not other people's job to bring happiness.

Reach up and grab hold of the sunlight
The singer encourages people to be proactive and capture moments of joy.

When you are waiting for what's right
Always look for opportunities to find what is good.

You're holding on your Heaven
Realize that your happiness and joy are within you.

Won't leave you, yeah, yeah...
Happiness and joy will stay with you forever.

And the colors mix together to grey
The bitterness of reality can mix together to form the bleakness of grey.

Wake me up, wake me up, wake me up
The repetition of this phrase emphasizes the need to wake up from the bleakness of reality.