Boy With a Coin
Iron %26 Wine Lyrics

The lyrics of "Boy with a Coin" by Iron & Wine paints a surrealistic picture of a world where gods can leave the ground to circle the earth, where boys toss coins in the sea to make a wish, and where girls have birds under their gowns. The boy found a coin in the weeds, and he keeps it with pages of trade magazines and bullets, suggesting that he might be a soldier or a mercenary who deals with the trade of weapons. He is close to a car that flipped on the turn, which could be a symbol of an accident or a turning point in his life. The repetition of the line, "when God left the ground to circle the world," signals that something momentous is happening, and that the characters in the song are aware of it.

The girl in the next verse is holding a bird that she found in the snow. She then flew up her gown, which could mean that she took off the outer layer of clothing that covers her sensitive parts, to reveal that she has been touched by something divine. The line, "God made her eyes for crying at birth" could be a reference to the notion that tears are a sign of emotional depth, empathy, and human connection. The last line of the verse, "then left the ground to circle the Earth," emphasizes the idea that divinity is not fixed in one place or form but can appear in unpredictable, fleeting moments.

The last verse features the boy again, who crammed a coin in his jeans and made a wish by tossing it in the sea. He then walked to a town that all of us burned, which is another metaphor for a place where people have been wounded, destroyed, or traumatized. The boy seems to be on a quest for something or someone, and he is willing to take risks and rely on luck to find it. The repetition of the lines, "when God left the ground to circle the world," and "hey, hey, hey, ah, ah," create an atmosphere of urgency, mystery, and excitement.

Overall, the song "Boy with a Coin" is a poetic meditation on the fragility and ambiguity of life, the ways in which people search for meaning, and the unexpected ways in which the divine can manifest itself. The lyrics are rich in symbolism, and they invite the listener to interpret them in their own way, depending on their mood, experience, and imagination.