Cascade
Ivey Lyrics

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The shoes of the people cascade Down the stairs
Like a waterfall
Moving so quickly that
They will not have time
To catch your fall
And the Greek Trireme is Floating up ahead
It's not really there
It's just the fear

Inside your head

You say, that that you won't
You say, that that you won't

I stare at the place
Where I am there waiting
For you
With a lovely face
I hope that you
Will pull through
And the unmanned bike
Is riding up ahead
It's not really there
It's just the wonder
Inside your head

You say, that that you won't
You say, that that you won't

But I know that you will
But I know that you will

But I know that you will
But I know that you will

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Ivey's song "Cascade" appear to paint a vivid picture of someone who is perhaps on the verge of facing some kind of danger or harm. The opening lines make this quite clear: "The shoes of the people cascade down the stairs, like a waterfall, moving so quickly that they will not have time to catch your fall." The image of cascading shoes is a powerful one, suggesting a sudden and chaotic rush of activity that could potentially be dangerous.

The song also touches on the idea of fear and the way it can distort our perceptions. The line, "And the Greek Trireme is floating up ahead, it's not really there, it's just the fear inside your head," suggests that the singer is seeing things that aren't really there due to their own anxiety and paranoia. This is echoed later in the song with the phrase "it's just the wonder inside your head," reinforcing the idea that our minds can play tricks on us.

Ultimately, the chorus of the song seems to be about denial. The lyrics "You say that you won't" are repeated twice, which could be interpreted as someone trying to convince themselves that they won't succumb to the danger they perceive. However, the final line of the song "But I know that you will" suggests that perhaps this denial is not going to be enough to keep them safe.

Line by Line Meaning

The shoes of the people cascade Down the stairs
The sound of footsteps echo throughout the stairway like a cascading waterfall.

Like a waterfall
The continuous sound of footsteps resembles the flow of a waterfall.

Moving so quickly that They will not have time To catch your fall
The people are moving down the stairs so fast that if you were to fall, they wouldn't be able to help you in time.

And the Greek Trireme is Floating up ahead
The image of a Greek trireme is appearing ahead, possibly as a hallucination.

It's not really there
The trireme is not physically present, it's just a figment of the mind.

It's just the fear Inside your head
The trireme may represent a fear or anxiety that exists within the mind of the person described in the song.

You say, that that you won't You say, that that you won't
The repetition of this line may refer to a promise or commitment that the person is making.

I stare at the place Where I am there waiting For you
The artist is waiting for someone special and is fixated on the spot where they will meet.

With a lovely face I hope that you Will pull through
The person being waited for may be going through a difficult time and the artist hopes they will overcome it.

And the unmanned bike Is riding up ahead
The image of an uncontrolled bicycle appears ahead, possibly also a hallucination.

It's just the wonder Inside your head
The bicycle may represent a sense of curiosity or wonder within the mind of the person described in the song.

But I know that you will But I know that you will But I know that you will But I know that you will
The repetition here suggests that despite the person's claim that they won't do something, the artist believes otherwise.

Contributed by Cole E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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