Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izzy_Stradlin
Studio albums
117° (1998)
Ride On (1999)
River (2001)
On Down the Road (2002)
Like a Dog (2005)
Miami (2007)
Fire, the Acoustic Album (2007)
Concrete (2008)
Smoke (2009)
Wave of Heat (2010)
Far Below Me Now
Izzy Stradlin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Looking out the window here
I can see that it's all far below me now
It's so far below me now
Just a short elevator down
And I really do not care
Looking out the window here
And I see you looking there
Taking in the big view here
45 floors are so far below us now
Well, it's so far below me now
It's just a short elevator down
And as quickly as you go up
It just comes back down
I can see that it's so far below me now
Yes, those city lights they glare
Shining through the window here
I can see the traffic far below me now
And the colors are so red
In the headlights sit and stare
I can see that it's all far below me now
It's so far below me now
Just a short elevator down
And as quickly it goes up
It just comes back down
I can see that it's so far below me now
It's so far below me now
It's so far below me now
It's so far below me now
It is so far below me
now that it's insignificant to the singer. The singer is sitting in a chair, looking out the window, probably in a skyscraper, and they see everything below them as distant and unimportant. The city lights shine through the window, and the sight of the traffic and the headlights merely reinforces the idea that everything happening below is not relevant. The singer sees himself and the person he's with as high above the rest, looking down on everyone.
The singer mentions how it is just a short elevator down, pointing out the fleeting nature of the high status they perceive themselves to have. It's as though the singer is acknowledging that the distance between him and those below him is not as vast as it seems, and the situation could change at any moment. However, the singer doesn't care and seems to enjoy the feeling of being above it all.
The song expresses the importance of perspective, and it correlates the pride that people take in appearing to be better than others. It has a sort of melancholic tone as it presents the realization of the insignificance of the singer's status. It is a warning against letting oneself be consumed by the desire for status and the dangers that come with it.
Line by Line Meaning
As I sit inside this chair
As I am sitting down in this chair
Looking out the window here
I am looking out of the window
I can see that it's all far below me now
I can perceive that everything is so far below me now
It's so far below me now
Everything appears really far below me
Just a short elevator down
But it's only a short ride on the elevator to get down there
And I really do not care
I really don't care
'Cause I see that it's so far below me now
Because all of it appears so far beneath me now
And I see you looking there
I notice that you are gazing outside too
Taking in the big view here
Oblivious of how massive the scenery seems
45 floors are so far below us now
We are so far up, forty-five floors beneath us
Well, it's so far below me now
Indeed, everything appears so far underneath me
And as quickly as you go up
Although you went up very quickly
It just comes back down
The ride back down is just as fast
I can see that it's so far below me now
I am aware that everything appears so far below me
Yes, those city lights they glare
The city lights shine so brightly
Shining through the window here
And through this window, they reflect magnificently
I can see the traffic far below me now
I can perceive the traffic way too far below me now
And the colors are so red
The colors of the lights are so red
In the headlights sit and stare
Vehicles sit and stare in the headlight
I can see that it's all far below me now
I can perceive that it's all so far beneath me now
It's so far below me now
Everything appears so far below me
It just comes back down
The ride back down is just as quick
It's so far below me now
All of it seems so far below me now
It's so far below me now
Everything appears so far beneath me
It's so far below me now
Everything seems so far beneath me
It is so far below me
All of it is so far below me
Contributed by Brayden D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.