Harlequin
PFM Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Harlequin came at night
bowing to the ghosts of freedom square
stretching a silver rope
jester of frozen minds

And everyone of us
junkees and ghosts of freedom square
spoke through his waving hands
wept on his brother face
whispered through painted lips
rusty phrases forgotten lines

Thinking of arrows lost
shooting them past the pain

And everyone of us
losers and lost sad underdogs
just scraps of our younger minds
we danced all around the square
jumped to his see-through horn
screaming shouting forgotten lines

Shooting our rage again
like arrows far past the pain

And when the dogs fast arrived
baying across the town
we were there
all of us
a million harlequins

And the town
bloomed alive
like a beautiful night fair
and we were there




all of us
to be the rite of may....

Overall Meaning

The song "Harlequin" by PFM portrays the story of a jester named Harlequin who shows up at night and bows to the ghosts of Freedom Square while stretching a silver rope. He is the jester of frozen minds and everyone, including the junkees, ghosts, losers, underdogs, and forgotten minds in the square, speaks through his waving hands. They weep on his brother's face and whisper their rusty phrases and forgotten lines through painted lips.


The people in the square think of their lost arrows and shoot them past their pain. The losers and lost underdogs dance all around the square, jump to his see-through horn, and scream their forgotten lines, shooting their rage like arrows far past the pain. When the dogs fast arrived, baying across the town, these people become a million harlequins. And the town, bloomed alive, like a beautiful night fair as they became a rite of May.


The song portrays the idea of freedom, forgetting the past's pain and hurt, and releasing our emotions. It encourages us to live in the moment and enjoy life without worrying about what happened in the past.


Line by Line Meaning

Harlequin came at night
The character of Harlequin made an appearance during the night.


bowing to the ghosts of freedom square
The Harlequin showed respect to the spirits of Freedom Square by bowing.


stretching a silver rope
The Harlequin extended a silver rope.


jester of frozen minds
The Harlequin was a jester for people who felt stuck and unable to move forward.


And everyone of us
All of the people in the area were affected by Harlequin's actions.


junkees and ghosts of freedom square
The people who were affected included both drug addicts and the spirits that reside in Freedom Square.


spoke through his waving hands
The Harlequin used hand gestures to communicate messages.


wept on his brother face
People there cried on each other's faces.


whispered through painted lips
People spoke softly while wearing makeup like the Harlequin.


rusty phrases forgotten lines
People used old phrases and lines they had forgotten.


Thinking of arrows lost
People were preoccupied with thoughts of arrows that couldn't be found.


shooting them past the pain
They thought about shooting the arrows, past the hurt they've experienced.


losers and lost sad underdogs
Everyone there was considered a failure, lost, and not successful.


just scraps of our younger minds
They felt like they were just pieces or memories of their past selves.


we danced all around the square
Everyone at the gathering danced around the square together.


jumped to his see-through horn
People jumped towards the Harlequin's invisible horn.


screaming shouting forgotten lines
They shouted out lines they had previously forgotten.


Shooting our rage again
People took out their anger once more.


like arrows far past the pain
They aimed their anger at things outside of what hurt them.


And when the dogs fast arrived
Dogs arrived quickly at the scene.


baying across the town
The dogs made loud, persistent sounds throughout the town.


we were there
Everyone there remained despite the dogs' arrival.


all of us
Everyone who had come earlier remained despite the chaos.


a million harlequins
Everyone there became like the Harlequin.


And the town
The incident affected the entire town.


bloomed alive
The town became lively.


like a beautiful night fair
It was like a stunning carnival that night.


to be the rite of may....
The gathering became the new tradition for the month of May.




Contributed by Blake D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Comments from YouTube:

Manuel Exposito

En 1975, cuando todo el rock sinfónico estaba monopolizado por los ingleses, descubrí a PFM, para mi una auténtica revelación latina, que entró en mi vida como un soplo de aire fresco.

sidefish

I love that section between 1:58 and 2:07 and they only play it once in the entire track, Sublime.

Luciano Catarin

Grandissima canzone della band, eccezionali musicisti, straordinaria voce di Bernardo lanzetti

javier actis perino

Uno de los mejores temas del rock progresivo y tengo el disco en vinilo! Únicos! Me recuerda cuando lo escuche por primera vez y no lo podía creer. Gracias por compartirlo.

Luciano Catarin

Trovo veramente che sia uno dei più bei pezzi pop rock di tutti i tempi,quindi non solo italiano

ZenerSmytok

This is totally awesome. I love the whole Chocolate Kings album. I saw PFM in Edinburgh, Scotland on Thurs 29 April 1976. The whole band made a huge impression on me. They were also the loudest band that I have ever heard. My hearing was affected for a few days afterwards. Even now, I would class Chocolate Kings as one of my "desert island discs".

Burt472

Thanks from Italy for your kind comment

Burt472

Credo che Harlequin sia uno dei loro pezzi migliori in assoluto

Vanni 56

Tira pure via il CREDO... 🤣 🤣 👍

roberto riccardi

Grande album.Lanzetti una voce strepitosa...

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