After The Gold Rush
Michael Hedges Lyrics


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Well, I dreamed I saw the knights
In armor coming
Saying something about a queen
There were peasants singing and
Drummers drumming
And the archer split the tree

There was a fanfare blowing
To the sun
That was floating on the breeze
Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the 1970s
Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the 1970s

I was lying in a burned out basement
With the full moon in my eyes
I was hoping for replacement
When the sun burst through the sky
There was a band playing in my head
And I felt like getting high

I was thinking about what a friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie
Thinking about what a friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie

Well, I dreamed I saw the silver
Spaceships flying
In the yellow haze of the sun
There were children crying
And colors flying
All around the chosen ones

All in a dream, all in a dream
The loading had begun
Flying Mother Nature's
Silver seed to a new home in the sun




Flying Mother Nature's
Silver seed to a new home

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "After the Gold Rush" by Michael Hedges are quite ambiguous and open to interpretation. The first verse talks about a dream in which the knights in armor are coming and talking about a queen, while peasants sing and drummers drum. The last line of the verse "And the archer split the tree" symbolizes a breaking or shattering of traditional beliefs or ideas, similar to how an archer would split a tree with an arrow.


The second verse seems to be a continuation of the dream with a sense of hopelessness and wanting to escape reality. The desire to get high and the hope that the friend's statement is not true, portrays the singer's inability to face the harsh reality. The bridge of the song talks about spaceships flying in the yellow haze of the sun, with children crying and colors flying all around the chosen ones, emphasizing an underlying theme of hope for a new beginning or a new home.


Overall, the song can be interpreted in different ways, but one common interpretation is that it talks about the pain and struggle of the time period of 1970s, where there were various social changes happening, wars, and environmental issues. The dream-like nature of the lyrics emphasizes the surreal nature of those times.


Line by Line Meaning

Well, I dreamed I saw the knights
The singer had a dream where he saw knights in armor coming


In armor coming
The knights were approaching while wearing armor


Saying something about a queen
The knights were mentioning something about a queen


There were peasants singing and
In the dream, there were peasants singing while


Drummers drumming
Drummers were playing their drums


And the archer split the tree
The archer successfully shot an arrow and split a tree in the dream


There was a fanfare blowing
A fanfare was being played


To the sun
The fanfare was played as an homage to the sun


That was floating on the breeze
The sun was floating on the breeze


Look at Mother Nature on the run
The artist is calling attention to how Mother Nature is running away


In the 1970s
This is happening in the decade of the 1970s


I was lying in a burned out basement
The artist was laying down in a basement that had been burned out


With the full moon in my eyes
The singer had a clear view of the full moon while laying in the burned out basement


I was hoping for replacement
The singer was hoping for something to replace what had been lost in the basement


When the sun burst through the sky
Suddenly, the sun appeared in the sky


There was a band playing in my head
The artist's thoughts were like a band playing in his head


And I felt like getting high
As a result, the artist felt like getting high


I was thinking about what a friend had said
The singer was thinking about something a friend had said


I was hoping it was a lie
The singer didn't want to believe what the friend had said was true


Well, I dreamed I saw the silver
In another dream, the artist saw silver spaceships flying


Spaceships flying
The spaceships were flying through the air


In the yellow haze of the sun
The sun was causing a yellow haze that the spaceships were flying through


There were children crying
In the dream, there were children crying


And colors flying
Colors were flying through the air


All around the chosen ones
The colors were around the chosen ones in the dream


All in a dream, all in a dream
The entire thing was a dream, reflecting the surreal nature of the lyrics


The loading had begun
The process of loading something had started


Flying Mother Nature's
The silver seed being flown was a product of Mother Nature


Silver seed to a new home in the sun
The silver seed was being taken to a new home in the sun




Writer(s): Neil Young

Contributed by Christian A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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