Out of the blue
Gilmour (David) Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Out of the blue on the wings of a dove
A messenger comes, with the beating of drums
It's not a message of love

Our children are born, and we keep them warm
They must have the right, to live in the light
To be safe from the storm
Out of the blue, with wings on his heels
A messenger comes, bearing regrets
For the time that he steals

But steal it he will, my children's and mine
Against our desires, against all our needs
Our blood spilled like wine

Over and over we call, no one hears
And further and further and further we fall
And though we pray that we soon will awake
It is clear, that it's no dream at all
Our lives are at stake

I cannot believe, nor even pretend
That the thunder I hear, will just disappear
And the nightmare will end

So hold back the fire, because this music is true




When all's said and done, the ending will come
From out of the blue

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to David Gilmour's song "Out of the Blue" tell a story of a messenger who arrives unexpectedly with a message that is not one of love. It is a warning to protect our children and to keep them safe from harm. The messenger is a reminder that time is precious and that we must cherish every moment with our loved ones. The lyrics are a call to action, urging listeners to hold back the fire and to remember the truth of the music.


The song begins with the image of a messenger arriving on wings, with the beating of drums. This symbolizes the urgency of the message and the need to take action. The next verse speaks to the importance of protecting our children and allowing them to live in the light, safe from the storm. The messenger warns that time is precious and that it will be stolen from us, despite our desires and needs. This is a harsh reality, but one that we must face.


The chorus repeats the phrase "Out of the blue," emphasizing the unexpected nature of the messenger's arrival and the urgency of the message. The lyrics also describe the feeling of helplessness that we experience when we call out for help and no one answers. Despite our prayers, it is clear that our lives are at stake.


In the final verse, Gilmour sings about the need to hold back the fire, because the music is true. This is a reference to the power of music to spread a message and to inspire action. The ending will come, but it will be unexpected, like the messenger's arrival.


Line by Line Meaning

Out of the blue on the wings of a dove
Without warning, a messenger arrives with a message.


A messenger comes, with the beating of drums
The messenger's arrival is like a war drummer, implying a serious message.


It's not a message of love
The message is not a pleasant one, perhaps about danger or loss.


Our children are born, and we keep them warm
The love and protection parents have for their children is highlighted.


They must have the right, to live in the light
Children deserve a safe and happy environment to thrive in.


To be safe from the storm
Protection from life's hardships, whether physical or emotional.


Out of the blue, with wings on his heels
Another unexpected arrival, this time with a sense of urgency.


A messenger comes, bearing regrets
The messenger has a sense of remorse or regret about something.


For the time that he steals
The message may be about the shortness of time, a warning to cherish what we have.


But steal it he will, my children's and mine
Time is limited and cannot be stopped, even if it hurts us and those we care for.


Against our desires, against all our needs
We cannot control or alter the passing of time, despite what we want or need in life.


Our blood spilled like wine
A graphic metaphor for the cost or sacrifice of time, especially in dangerous or violent situations.


Over and over we call, no one hears
We may cry out or hope for help, but often our calls go unanswered.


And further and further and further we fall
As time passes or events unfold, we may feel more and more helpless or lost.


And though we pray that we soon will awake
We may hope or pray for a change or better outcome, but the reality is not a dream.


It is clear, that it's no dream at all
The situation is real and not imaginary.


Our lives are at stake
The message may involve serious consequences for ourselves and others if action is not taken.


I cannot believe, nor even pretend
The singer is honest about their disbelief or denial of the situation.


That the thunder I hear, will just disappear
Even if the situation is scary, it cannot be ignored or wished away.


And the nightmare will end
There may be hope for a resolution or ending to the hardship or danger.


So hold back the fire, because this music is true
The artist may be urging caution or calm in the face of danger, because the message is important and real.


When all's said and done, the ending will come
The situation will eventually be resolved or come to an end, one way or another.


From out of the blue
Once again, something unexpected or surprising will bring closure or resolution.




Lyrics © IMAGEM U.S. LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVID JON GILMOUR

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@iDONTdoFacebook

In response to those blaming Roger and David both for the recent negative statements put out by Roger... It takes two sides participating in the negativism, whining, complaining, and accusing to be an “argument”. This isn’t an argument. Roger is the ONLY ONE participating in the negativism, whining, complaining, and accusing. David just soldiers on being his honest, humble, family-and-fan appreciative self, refusing to let Roger draw him into “ROGER’S WORLD” which is a LIFETIME full of negativism, pessimism, complaining, whining, accusing, bullying and belittling (misery loves company eh, Roger?).

My hat’s off to David. Much respect to you Mr. Gilmour. You handle things with much dignity and a generally genial nature! And you make MUCH better music than Roger does. Roger is a great poet who is a wannabe musician. David on the other hand is a worldclass gifted composer/musician who humbly and honestly admits that he can’t hold a candle to Roger in the prose/poet/lyrics writing department (Polly has done a wonderful job filling Roger’s shoes as the band’s primary lyricist though). If I want to immerse myself in prose and poetry, I’d go looking for a book of such by Roger Waters, or Polly Samson Gilmour. If I want to be moved by music washing over and through me, I’m going to buy record albums by David Gilmour and buy concert tickets to any group of folks he’s performing with.

Witness the contrast in personalities here...
Roger has in the past disparaged David and David’s OBVIOUS musical gift. Roger has actually insinuated that David lacks talent and isn’t really all that great in the music department. While David on the other hand, after all the BULLSCHIFF Roger has in vileness hurled at Dave and put him through, David has NEVER disparaged Roger’s OBVIOUS talent for words and has ALWAYS recognized and verbally acknowledged Roger’s great poetic gift. I’ve watched MANY interviews David has participated in and WITHOUT VARIATION he has CONSISTENTLY talked honestly and positively of Roger.

DAVID is Humble and Honest, and a WONDERFULLY GIFTED musician.

ROGER, on the other hand, is Arrogant and not so honest sometimes -and a truly gifted poet/writer of prose who is also a wannabe musician but isn’t.

With all due respect to Roger as one of the 4 (then 3 by his choice) who together created some of the most special timeless classic pieces of music the world has ever ‘experienced’, it was Roger who dragged the others to court for years to try and shut them down as Pink Floyd when Roger decided he was done with it. The others didn’t want that but were FORCED to SUFFER it under ROGER’S decision to drag them through it. It was traumatic for them (especially to David) and as is obvious even to this day after all the years, that long ago decision of ROGER’S to put the others through that had created wounds that have unfortunately never fully healed. Dave is no unfeeling cold robot that isn’t impacted by emotional pain and trauma. He is a deeply feeling human being who was once wounded by Roger’s past cold arrogance. He hasn’t wanted to have to deal with the negative emotions that stem from that experience and he has tried to turn his back on them in forgiveness, and to a great degree he has been successful at that and has good feelings for Roger and has always admitted a respect for Roger’s talent, but, as David is human, there is to some degree vestiges of the old wound that remain as a scar. I honestly believe he would like the scar gone and to be fully free of it, but to some degree he is still haunted by the pain that he experienced through all of that.
Again, with due respect to Roger and myself wishing none of this would have ever come between the two of them, I feel to point out that the decision that ultimately put this thing between Roger and David and caused a wound in David that is felt to THIS DAY, was a decision made by ROGER and ROGER ALONE. I believe the only thing that could possibly finally erase the scar (and I’m not truly sure it could) would be for Roger to FULLY accept and OWN IT, not blaming Dave in the least. Regarding the subject we are addressing here, ROGER IS IN THE BED HE HIMSELF HAS MADE. From the outside looking in I think Dave has done remarkably well with it. But alas, he is still human and not an unfeeling robot who can simply have a switch flipped to turn off the final residue of emotional scarring that remains. And Roger’s vestiges of defensiveness for a past action that he cannot defend probably has something to do with that.

Love and respect to Roger. We are all human beings, with flaws and some unpolished edges. None of us are perfect, but we are all valuable and worthwhile. Roger has some gifts David isn’t as strong in. David has gifts Roger doesn’t. David admits all this and always has. The same unfortunately can’t be said of Roger. And as we see in Roger’s recent whining vids, some things - and some people - never change.



@marloncastillo7450

Out of the blue on the wings of a dove
A messenger comes, with the beating of drums
It's not a message of love
Our children are born, and we keep them warm
They must have the right, to live in the light
To be safe from the storm
Out of the blue, with wings on his heels
A messenger comes, bearing regrets
For the time that he steals
But steal it he will, my children's and mine
Against our desires, against all our needs
Our blood spilled like wine
Over and over we call, no one hears
And further and further and further we fall
And though we pray that we soon will awake
It is clear, that it's no dream at all
Our lives are at stake
I cannot believe, nor even pretend
That the thunder I hear, will just disappear
And the nightmare will end
So hold back the fire, because this music is true
When all's said and done, the ending will come
From out of the blue



@iDONTdoFacebook

Roger Frederic Zimmermann

It takes TWO participating in an egotistical shoving match to qualify for TWO to be accused of it as you just did here. In the case of Roger vs David, ONLY ONE was playing the egotistical card, shoving and accusing and disparaging the other. And it wasn’t David. David takes Roger’s compulsive abuse quietly like a man and just soldiers on being his honest, humble, family-and-fan appreciative self refusing to let Roger draw him into “ROGER’S WORLD” which is a LIFETIME full of negativism, pessimism, complaining, whining, accusing, bullying and belittling (misery loves company eh, Roger?).

My hat’s off to David. Much respect to you Mr. Gilmour. You handle things with much dignity and a generally genial nature! And you make MUCH better music than Roger does. Roger is a great poet who is a wannabe musician. David on the other hand is a worldclass gifted composer/musician who humbly and honestly admits that he can’t hold a candle to Roger in the prose/poet/lyrics writing department (Polly has done a wonderful job filling Roger’s shoes as the band’s lyricist though). If I want to immerse myself in prose and poetry, I’d go looking for a book of such by Roger Waters, or Polly Samson Gilmour. If I want to be moved by music washing over and through me, I’m going to buy record albums by David Gilmour and buy concert tickets to any group of folks he’s performing with.

Witness the contrast in personalities here...
Roger has in the past disparaged David and David’s OBVIOUS musical gift. Roger has actually insinuated that David lacks talent and isn’t really all that great in the music department. While David on the other hand, after all the BULLSCHIFF Roger has in vileness hurled at Dave and put him through, David has NEVER disparaged Roger’s OBVIOUS talent for words and has ALWAYS recognized and verbally acknowledged Roger’s great poetic gift. I’ve watched MANY interviews David has participated in and WITHOUT VARIATION he has CONSISTENTLY talked honestly and positively of Roger.

DAVID is Humble and Honest (and a WONDERFULLY GIFTED musician)

ROGER is Arrogant and not so honest (and a truly gifted poet/writer of prose who is also a wannabe musician but isn’t).

With all due respect to you Roger as one of the 5 (then 4) (then 3 by your choice) who together created some of the most special timeless classic pieces of music the world has ever ‘experienced’, it was YOU Roger who dragged the others to court for years to try and shut them down as Pink Floyd when you decided you were done with it. They didn’t want that but were FORCED to SUFFER it under YOUR decision to drag them through it. It was traumatic for them (especially to David) and as is obvious even to this day after all the years, that long ago decision of YOURS to put them through that had created wounds that have unfortunately never fully healed. Dave is no unfeeling cold robot that isn’t impacted by emotional pain and trauma. He is a deeply feeling human being who was once very deeply wounded by your past cold arrogance. He hasn’t wanted to have to deal with the negative emotions that stem from that trauma, he has tried to turn his back on them in forgiveness, and to a great degree he has been successful at that and has good feelings for you and a respect for your talent, but, as he is human, there is to some degree vestiges of the old wound that remain as a scar. I honestly believe he would like the scar gone and to be fully free of it, but to some degree he is still haunted by the pain that he experienced through all of that.
Again, with respect to you Roger and myself wishing none of this would have ever come between you, I feel to point out that the decision that ultimately put this thing between you and David and caused a wound in him that is felt to THIS DAY, was a decision made by YOU and you alone. It is YOUR doing Roger. I believe the only thing that could possibly finally erase the scar (and I’m not truly sure it could) would be for you to FULLY accept and OWN IT, not blaming Dave in the least. Regarding the subject we are addressing here, YOU ARE IN THE BED THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE MADE. From the outside looking in I think Dave has done remarkably well with it. But alas, he is still human and not an unfeeling robot who can simply have a switch flipped to turn off the final residue of emotional scarring that remains. Your vestiges of defensiveness for a past action that you cannot defend probably has something to do with that Roger.

Love and respect to you Roger. We are all human beings, with flaws and some unpolished edges. None of us are perfect, but we are all valuable and worthwhile.



All comments from YouTube:

@markbailey8252

Probably Gilmour's greatest ever vocal performance. What a wonderful song.

@flops0317

I think it's a real shame David doesn't play anything off this record live these days. This song to me is monumental.

@samuelluria4744

I feel this way about both his first two solo albums, as well as a few cuts from AMLOR and DB.....I've spent a lot of time in the last 40 years of being a fan, fantasizing about cool playlists...🤣

@kevingardner8

I agree 👍

@jefferywhidby2407

It was 1983. And at that time I was 18 and in the Navy. He was my guitar hero then and still is now. Now I make a living singing and playing guitar. And I play his songs.

@geraldoxavier5581

In the navy, come on, protect the motherland/ In the navy....

@andrewkift6746

Never changing, ever fresh.
David Gilmour is a man of presence.
Simple sophistication.
Class act

@niltonjunior6534

It's incredible that with so many artists in the world and you are still very relevant...Great David Gilmour!!!!

@faith5940

My Alpha Englishman... lol!! Just still so in love with David and his music - even today he's talking to you and me through his sound and lyrics. I'm his American girlfriend who goes back to 73' when I was in 9th grade at one of the Top 10 Universities in the U.S, The very first song I ever heard from the Floyd was Money and it just went on and on from there. This is one of those bands that saved my life - mentally = growing up. While our gov'ts and parents were trying to indoctrinate us, David and Roger were undoing throughout the Floyd days. David understands all this. Thank God he's still part of the solution. Thank you David and we just love you so much - from the U.S.A.

@Vaniwta

Could not agree more... he and I are the same age.

More Comments

More Versions