Firefly
Garnet Rogers Lyrics

Two miles south of Mendocino
Garnet Rogers gives us a sense of location for the scene that is to unfold in the lyrics to come

Harbour bell upon the breeze
The gentle breeze carries the sound of a bell from the nearby harbour

Curled like dry beseeching hands
The bell's sound is like a hand reaching out for someone or something

There comes a gust of leaves
The wind picks up, and we hear the rustling sound of leaves

Poplar gives a shiver
The leaves of the poplar tree shiver in the wind

Casts its gold coins to wind
The tree drops some of its golden leaves, which are carried away by the wind

The setting moon is like a fingernail
The moon is low on the horizon and appears like a sliver of light, resembling a nail on a finger

Hanging pale and thin
The moon's light is weak and thin, suggesting it is close to setting completely

The sun is red behind the eastern hills
The sun is beginning to rise and casts a red light over the hills in the east

He can see the morning glow
The red light from the sun is casting a glow across the sky in the direction he is facing towards

Red as winter cardinals
The glow is a bright red color, which reminds him of the bright red feathers of winter cardinals

Writing haiku in the snow
The idea of the red glow reminds him of winter, when snow is on the ground, and he imagines cardinals writing haikus in the snow

He shrugs on his shirt, he lights a fire
He's starting his day and getting dressed, as well as lighting a fire

He begins another day
The man is going about his routine, starting a new day

His heart and love fly eastward
He thinks about someone he loves who is three thousand miles away from him

Three thousand miles away
The person he loves is quite far away from him, across a distance of three thousand miles

He keeps a picture of a little girl
The man has a photograph of a little girl that he cherishes and keeps with him

In a faded Huntsville shirt
The little girl in the photograph is wearing a shirt from Huntsville, which has since become faded with time

Mid-stride in her baggy pants
The little girl is caught in the photograph while running, wearing comfortable baggy pants

Her knees stained with grass and dirt
The little girl was out playing before the photo was taken, and her knees are stained with grass and dirt from the ground

She’s turning by a haystack
In the photograph, the little girl is turning as she runs by a haystack

Hair bleached by wind and sun
The little girl's hair is bleached from the sun and wind of playing outside

Looking backwards at a scruffy dog
The little girl is looking back at a dog who is following her as she runs

She’s laughing as she runs
The little girl is enjoying her time outside and is caught with a smile on her face while running

He holds that faded photo
The man cherishes the old photograph and keeps it with him

Of that happy skinny child
The photograph is of a happy and cheerful child who appears skinny

He smiles at it and thinks about her
The man smiles when he looks at the photograph and thinks about the little girl in it

Running free and wild
The man imagines the little girl from the photograph continuing to grow up and enjoying the freedom and wildness of youth

Through distant sunlit fields of wonder
As the little girl may have grown up, he imagines her running in fields far away in the sunlight, possibly experiencing new things or adventures

Flitting fast and far
The man imagines the little girl moving fast and far, likely while exploring

Bright and busy as a firefly
He imagines the little girl as something that is bright, busy, and just as enchanting as a firefly

With a tadpole in a jar
He thinks she may have even been catching tadpoles in jars while playing outside

So it was some twenty years ago
The man thinks back to twenty years ago, possibly when the photograph was taken

As winter turned to spring
The season he is reminiscing about is winter transitioning to spring

That child grown to a woman now
The little girl in the photograph has grown into a woman since then

Stood gazing at a ring
The woman is now standing and looking at a ring, possibly an engagement ring

Her golden hair fell forward
As she looked at the ring, her golden hair falls forward over time during the moment

As she held it to her breast
She clutches the ring to her chest after accepting a proposal

She changed his life forever
Accepting the proposal has now changed his life forever

As she quietly said ‘yes’
The woman has agreed to marry him after saying yes

Well the sea rolls in from China
The scene changes to the sound of waves rolling in from China, with rhythmic repetition

Breaks against the distant head
The waves crash against a head, an area of land extending from the shoreline into the water

That cracked and faded photo
In the present day, the man still keeps the old photograph, which has since cracked and faded due to time

Is still beside him on the bed
He still keeps the photograph next to him on his bed even after all this time

They will have no child to call their own
The couple cannot have children to call their own

But to him it’s all the same
Despite the absence of children, the man still loves the woman and their life together

He will love the woman that she is
He loves the woman for who she is, regardless of whether or not they have children together

And the child that she remains
The man still sees the little girl from the old photograph in his heart, and that is enough for him