Sometimes at night fireflies light up; and so we catch them and put them in… Read Full Bio ↴Sometimes at night fireflies light up; and so we catch them and put them in a jar. Living beings they are, and lamps they become until they burn out and die. They serve one purpose--to entertain. A song holds within itself a certain power of the same measure. When it is created, it holds captive the thoughts and ideas, emotions and inner turmoil of its creator...over time the song grows and evolves, and though it may mean different things to different people, its final end is to give the listener pleasure. And so, here you are---my jar of fireflies.

"Invisible War" is my first jar...a collection of some of the first fireflies I ever caught; mostly they were just sprouting their wings in that time, learning all about life, exploring the world, and frolicking about with me in fascinating places like Mongolia, where I lived until I was eight. Really I caught the first specimen in this particular jar when I was fifteen--"Song of the Open Road"--based on the Whitman poem of the same name.

Now, at 20, I'm always chasing around a few fireflies at a time, attempting to master the art of capturing the most elaborate creatures. The idea is that the better the creature, the longer it will stay alive and the brighter its light will shine. We need bright light, see, because it's dark sometimes, very dark.

I have dreams about how the world should be. Indeed we live in a place which was meant to be beautiful; though we oftentimes ruin it ourselves by default. In science there is the idea of entropy--the tendency of things toward disorder. If a vase is sitting on a little table, it's quite probable that it could fall off and shatter into a hundred pieces, if not rather unlikely that all those pieces would jump back together again and shape themselves once again into a beautiful vase--unless of course someone worked very hard to glue it all back together into something new and different.

Unfortunately the implications of this in real life are much more complicated than a single vase shattering to the ground. We see natural disasters that destroy and reshape lives; wars, rumors of wars that create tension and dissension between people groups; poverty, disease, starvation, and everything that lies between.

These are the things which burden my heart, and the things which I've always felt compelled to express through my music. If all I do in life is shine a little light into the dark spaces of the world, my time on earth will certainly not have been wasted.

So I catch firefies.

The Falling Sparrow
Merry Ellen Kirk Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Time, like an arrow
Floats in our minds
Down, the falling sparrow
Do you see how he flies?
So do I

Time, like a river
Flows from your veins

And life, like an iceberg
Still remains the same

There was a time when life was young
Since then we've fought a thousand wars
The happy daggers sing their song
And they complain that life is short

Gone, like the marrow

That seeps from your bones
Down, the falling sparrow
Weeps and he groans

There was a time when life was young
Since then we've fought a thousand wars
The fallen martyrs sing their song
They cry in vain that life is short

Time, like an arrow
Floats in our minds
Down, the falling sparrow

Do you see how he flies?
So do I

Overall Meaning

The Falling Sparrow is a deeply contemplative and metaphorical song by Merry Ellen Kirk that speaks about the fleeting nature of life, the passage of time and the inevitability of death. The lyrics employ a series of metaphors that demonstrate the fleetingness of time, such as "Time, like an arrow, floats in our minds", "Time, like a river, flows from your veins", and "Gone, like the marrow, that seeps from your bones". The falling sparrow is also used here as a symbol of the briefness of life, longing to fly but ultimately destined to fall.

The song suggests that life is short and that we should cherish every moment of it. We cannot change the speed of time nor can we evade our mortality, but what we have is this very moment, and we need to make the most of it. The lyrics hint at the inevitability of death and how it affects our lives, reminding us of the fights we have fought, the wars we have waged, and the enormous cost we have paid.

The Falling Sparrow is a hauntingly beautiful song that addresses the deepest questions of human existence by evocatively combining imagery and metaphor. The song invites us to look at our lives and remember the brevity of our time on earth. It urges us to make our lives meaningful and to live with purpose, love, and kindness.

Line by Line Meaning

Time, like an arrow
Time passes quickly and inevitably, much like an arrow which flies straight and true towards its target.

Floats in our minds
Our perception of time is subjective and influenced by our thoughts and memories, as if time is an intangible object that can be visualized.

Down, the falling sparrow
The sparrow symbolizes the fragility and transience of life, as it falls downwards from the sky towards its eventual demise.

Do you see how he flies?
The imagery of a falling sparrow is juxtaposed with the idea of flight, emphasizing the contrast between life and death.

So do I
The artist identifies with the sparrow and sees the beauty and tragedy in its descent.

Time, like a river
Time is dynamic and constantly flowing, much like how a river ebbs and flows in a never-ending cycle.

Flows from your veins
Life is a precious and finite resource that sustains us, much like how blood flows through our veins to keep us alive.

And life, like an iceberg
Only a small portion of our lives is visible on the surface, while the majority of it remains hidden and unseen beneath the waterline.

Still remains the same
Despite the constant changes and challenges we face, the essence of who we are and what we value remains unchanged.

Gone, like the marrow
Life can be drained from us just as easily as the marrow can be extracted from our bones, emphasizing the fleeting and fragile nature of existence.

That seeps from your bones
Our physical bodies are mortal and vulnerable, and life can slip away from us like a slow trickle that seeps out of our bones.

Weeps and he groans
The sparrow represents the pain and suffering that we experience in life, as it cries out in sadness and anguish.

The fallen martyrs sing their song
Those who have sacrificed their lives for a greater cause are honored and remembered through their legacy and the stories that are passed down about them.

They cry in vain that life is short
The fallen martyrs lament that despite their efforts and sacrifices, life is still painfully short and precious moments are often missed or forgotten.

The happy daggers sing their song
Those who take pleasure in harming others through deceit or manipulation revel in their power and glory, despite the harm they cause.

And they complain that life is short
Despite their pleasures and successes in life, the happy daggers still feel a sense of emptiness and dissatisfaction because life is fleeting and transient.

Contributed by Makayla R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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