Pianist/singer/songwriter Eleisha Eagle, it seems, is out to change this.
Eagle was on a scholarship in St. Louis, Missouri majoring in marketing and advertising graphic design in 2002 when she realized how much she missed performing. So Eagle persuaded her parents and Washington University's Dean of Students to allow her to take a year off in Nashville, to pursue her dream of a music career.
The Eagle's baby sister Alexandra came from Lake Charles to Nashville for an all-too-brief visit one not-so-special summer. When she left, Eagle channeled the ache of missing Alexandra into a poignant rock song, pouring her sorrow into straightforward big-sisterly promises and warnings set to hard-driving chords and a purring bass line. From that first song, Eagle says, she never looked back. Just three short years later, the former nanny and waitress has created a substantial body of better than good work, booked her own solo tours across the United States, and grown savvier about the business -- which she followed to Los Angeles.
Eagle's recording studio blurb describes her music as what you get when you let "Ben Folds [eat] a Fiona Apple and [give] birth to a show tune about a postmodern Catholic school girl." Now that's a colorful pronouncement, but I can assure you, between Folds and Apple is a nice spot to be in, out there among the alternative scene and rock herd. And it's a place in which Eagle and her artfully crafted lyrics will most surely thrive.
Never Coming Down
Eleisha Eagle Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From the Nether-land, I flew
The Neverland of Netherworlds
That led me back to you
On and on I told myself
The pain is at my heels
And if I'd only grow up
Then the pain I wouldn′t feel
And with a crown of clouds
And slippers of air
I'm not coming down
I've already been there
I have already been there
My, how different things appear
When you see them from up here
The blues and greens are blending
My poor heartstrings are mending
And I am never coming down from here
There′s no turning back now
Lest myself I compromise
I′m running from the places where my dreams all go to die
Places I don't dwell on
Filled with people I don′t hear
Who walk the streets I fell on
Year after year after year
My, how different things appear
When you see them from up here
The blues and greens are blending
My poor heartstrings are mending
And I am never coming down
I am never coming down, down, down
I am never coming down
From here
Never coming down
Oh-ooh-oh, oh-ooh-oh-ooh
With a crown of clouds
And slippers of air
I'm not coming down
I′ve already been there
My, how different things appear
When you see them from up here
The blues and greens are blending
My poor heartstrings are mending
And I, I, I, I
I am never coming down
I'm never coming down, down, down
Never coming
Down
From here
The lyrics to Eleisha Eagle's song "Never Coming Down" speak to a desire for escape and a longing to rise above the challenges of life. The singer talks about flying away from the "Nether-land" and into the "Neverland of Netherworlds" in order to find herself and connect with someone else. The pain of life is at her heels, but if she could only grow up, she believes she wouldn't feel it anymore. The imagery of flying with a crown of clouds and slippers of air underscores this surreal journey, where reality is altered by her new vantage point. From high above, everything appears different, and the blues and greens blend together, making the pain easier to bear. She declares that she is never coming down from this place, where her heart can finally mend.
The second verse speaks to the idea of turning away from the negativity that surrounds us and running towards a more positive future. The singer is determined to avoid the places where her dreams go to die and the people she can't connect with. She wants to leave behind the streets she's fallen on year after year, and rise above it all. From up high, she finds the perspective to see the world with new eyes and the strength to stay there. The repetition of the line "My, how different things appear/ When you see them from up here" reinforces the transformative power of this perspective shift. The last chorus builds to a final declaration that the singer is never coming down from this place of renewal and hope.
Overall, the song speaks to the longing we all have to escape the pain and challenges of life and find a new perspective. It's a call to rise above negativity and find a better future, where our hearts can finally mend.
Line by Line Meaning
Straight ahead ′til morning
I will continue on my journey until I reach my destination, no matter how far away it is.
From the Nether-land, I flew
I traveled from a place beyond this world, untethered from reality.
The Neverland of Netherworlds
A land beyond the furthest reaches of what is familiar and comprehensible.
That led me back to you
My journey ultimately brought me back to where I started.
On and on I told myself
The pain is at my heels
And if I'd only grow up
Then the pain I wouldn′t feel
I convinced myself that the reason for my pain was my own immaturity, and that I could overcome it by growing up.
And with a crown of clouds
And slippers of air
I'm not coming down
I've already been there
I have already been there
I am far above where I started, and I will never return to it again.
My, how different things appear
When you see them from up here
The blues and greens are blending
My poor heartstrings are mending
And I am never coming down from here
From my lofty perspective, everything looks different and my emotions are being healed. I do not plan to come back down to reduced clarity.
There′s no turning back now
Lest myself I compromise
I′m running from the places where my dreams all go to die
Places I don't dwell on
Filled with people I don′t hear
Who walk the streets I fell on
Year after year after year
I won't go back because doing so would be giving up on my dreams and facing a life full of pain and regrets. I choose not to associate with those who would try to bring me down and prevent me from following my dreams.
And I, I, I, I
I am never coming down
I'm never coming down, down, down
Never coming
Down
From here
I will not let anyone or anything stop me from pursuing my dreams, and I will never return to my old life again.
Writer(s): Eleisha Eagle
Contributed by Gabriel M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.