People
Forty Feet Tall Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yeah well it all just melts away
One two keep in line they say
Yeah well it all just fades away
She whispers look at me
Looking across the sea
Take me back
Skin and salt stay too long
Wrap her up for me
Keep her long, no you won't
Do you forget?
Oh she belongs to the sea
She whispers look at me
Looking across the sea
Take me back
Hey hey
She whispers look at me
Looking across the sea
She whispers look at me
Take me back
Ooh ooh
Ooh ooh
Hey hey
As she looks across the sea
I said take me back
Take me back
Take me back
Take me back
The lyrics of Forty Feet Tall's song People paint a picture of a woman gazing across the sea, lost in thought and longing to return to the sea. The words 'hey hey' seem to function as a sort of refrain or emotional refrain that appears throughout the song. The woman's beauty and the mere act of her looking causes everything around her to melt away, giving the impression of a certain power that she holds over others. This is emphasised with the phrase 'one two keep in line they say, yeah well it all just fades away', which speaks to the woman's ability to make people obey her and her inner self.
However, there is also a sense of sadness within the lyrics. The woman seems to be longing for something that is impossible for her to fully attain or might be lost beyond her grasp. She belongs to the sea, with 'skin and salt stay too long', making her impossible to capture, thus her lover will always have the feeling of her slipping away from them, being unable to keep her or remember. The repetition of 'take me back' adds to the melancholy of the song, emphasising the woman's unfulfilled desire.
Overall, the song People is a melancholy ode to the sea and the impossibility of capturing it or holding onto a fleeting moment. Its lyrics convey a sense of power, beauty, and longing, highlighting the frustration of being unable to hold onto something that we desire.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey hey every time she looks
Whenever she looks, something happens
Yeah well it all just melts away
Whatever she sees just disappears
One two keep in line they say
Orders are being given to maintain order
Yeah well it all just fades away
Whatever she hears disappears into the background
She whispers look at me
She wants attention
Looking across the sea
She's staring out at the ocean
Take me back
She wants to go back to a previous time
Skin and salt stay too long
Her skin and the salt from the sea are staying on her body for too long
Wrap her up for me
Wrap her up in something to protect her from the elements
Keep her long, no you won't
She wants to be kept, but knows that won't happen
Do you forget?
She's asking if someone forgets about her
Oh she belongs to the sea
She feels like the ocean is a part of her
Hey hey
A repeated vocalization to get someone's attention
Ooh ooh
A vocalization expressing emotion
As she looks across the sea
She's still staring at the ocean
I said take me back
A request to go back in time
Take me back
A repeated request to go back in time
Contributed by Alexander M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.