The Night Sky
Star of Ash Lyrics
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And all the dead lie down;
It was not night, for all the bells
Put out their tongues, for noon.
It was not frost, for on my flesh
I felt siroccos crawl,
Nor fire, for just my marble feet
And yet it tasted like them all;
The figures I have seen
Set orderly, for burial,
Reminded me of mine,
As if my life were shaven
And fitted to a frame,
And could not breathe without a key;
And I was like midnight, some,
Heaven above my head
bleeds into utter blackness -
making all invisible
When everything that ticked has stopped
And space stares all around,
Or grisly frosts, first autumn morns,
Repeal the beating ground;
But most like chaos, stopless, cool,
Without a chance, or spar,
Or even a report of land
To justify despair.
Poem: Emily Dickinson
The lyrics to Star of Ash's song The night sky are actually a poetic work by the renowned American poet, Emily Dickinson. The poem speaks of mystery and uncertainty about a particular experience that the singer had. The opening lines suggest that the singer has not experienced death or the darkness of night, yet something inexplicable happened that made them feel like they were in a state of transformation. The use of the word "noon" in the second line helps to create a sense of discomfort and strangeness since noon is the brightest part of the day, evoking a sense of contrast with the mysterious experience.
In the subsequent lines, the singer describes various sensations that evoke experiences of death, night, frost, and fire, but none of the descriptions quite fit. The reference to the "marble feet" in line 5 possibly hints of the connotations of death as it is used in reference to tombs and also highlights a sharp contrast between the cool marble and the heat of fire. The following lines reveal that the experience tasted like all descriptions, which creates a sense of confusion and uncertainty. The last four stanzas further explore the mystery of the experience, using imagery to express the feelings of being trapped and powerless, with the ending lines portraying an overriding sense of emptiness and despair with the phrase "to justify despair."
In essence, the poem is a meditation on something that is beyond the singer's comprehension, but which has left them with a sense of deep-seated unease and uncertainty. The poem is open-ended, with no clear resolution or explanation, leaving the reader's imagination to fill in the gaps.
Line by Line Meaning
It was not death, for I stood up,
I did not die because I am still standing up and alive.
And all the dead lie down;
I am surrounded by dead bodies who are lying down.
It was not night, for all the bells
It is not nighttime because all the bells are ringing as if it is noon.
Put out their tongues, for noon.
The bells are ringing at noon and it seems as if they are putting their tongues out.
It was not frost, for on my flesh
The feeling on my flesh is not caused by frost but by creeper wind called siroccos.
I felt siroccos crawl,
I felt moving wind called siroccos crawling on my skin.
Nor fire, for just my marble feet
I am not standing on fire because my feet, made of marble, are cool.
Could keep a chancel cool.
Even though the air is hot, the coolness of my feet is enough to keep me cool.
And yet it tasted like them all;
Despite not being death, night, frost, or fire, the feeling I have is similar to them all.
The figures I have seen
The sight of figures around me.
Set orderly, for burial,
They are lined up in an organized manner, as if for a funeral procession.
Reminded me of mine,
Seeing them reminds me of my own death.
As if my life were shaven
It feels like my life was shaved and trimmed to fit into a certain pattern.
And fitted to a frame,
My life was made to fit into a predetermined frame.
And could not breathe without a key;
My life feels like it cannot survive without unlocking something.
And I was like midnight, some,
I feel like I am similar to midnight in some way.
Heaven above my head
The sky is above my head.
bleeds into utter blackness -
The sky becomes completely black, as if something is bleeding into it.
making all invisible
Everything becomes invisible in the darkness.
When everything that ticked has stopped
When everything that was once moving has stopped.
And space stares all around,
Space feels like it is staring and surrounding me.
Or grisly frosts, first autumn morns,
Or in the morning when the first frost of autumn covers everything.
Repeal the beating ground;
The frost takes over and everything feels lifeless.
But most like chaos, stopless, cool,
But the feeling is most similar to chaos - endless, cool, and hopeless.
Without a chance, or spar,
There is no opportunity or hope in this chaos.
Or even a report of land
There is not even a confirmation of land, or stability.
To justify despair.
There is nothing to validate or justify the feeling of hopelessness.
Contributed by Zachary L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@user-lk9re6qy8h
Tonight there's no denying
No there's no denying
There's something magic in the air
Emotional disorder
Came from out of nowhere
And took me unaware
The patterns of the oceans
Lost in her emotions
You know that I don't care
And on nights when the north wind blows through your heart
Dream of a new age
And on nights when the north wind blows through your heart
All I can do is wait
There's a star in the night sky
The kind of star we would be hoping for
There's a star in the night sky
The kind of star we would be dreaming of
Cool evening is falling
I can hear her calling
Cross the serpentine
Dark and chaotic
Slow and hypnotic
She comes into my mind
And tonight nothing matters
No it doesn't matter
Everything will be fine
And on nights when the north wind blows through your heart
Dream of a new age
And on nights when the north wind blows through your heart
All I can do is wait
There's a star in the night sky
The kind of star we would be hoping for
There's a star in the night sky
The kind of star we would be dreaming of
There's a star in the night sky
The kind of star we would be wishing for
There's a star in the night sky
The kind of star we would be hoping for
There's a star in the night sky
The kind of star we would be dreaming of
There's a star in the night sky
The kind of star we would be wishing for
There's a star in the night sky
@charliechaz1982
Saw Ash live several times. One of the best live acts of the time. Brixton Academy Dec 2001 is still to this day one of my favorite ever gigs. There was something magic in the air that night, the band were riding the crest of a wave and had just released this song. I was down the front. I love Ash's punk ethic but mixed with these delightful soft centred melodies. Poptastic genius. So underrated now.
@billytobing5774
Cruising freeway's inner circle, to the airport, and finally goes to a cliff side only to hear this song over and over again. Just me and old car, hhmmm how missed those young and golden era. From Indonesia with respect, thanks for the great memories Ash.
@cinitanestiti1315
Haloh! Indonesian here too! #gariskerASH :D
@seth5229
It doesn't matter if you like this song or not, there's something hypnotic about it that stops you from changing the song.
@christianbarnes5063
Beautifully put Olivia!.xxx.
@seth5229
Thanks Christian Barnes :)
@chuckabbate5924
Beautiful chords with a minor hook, and string section is great, epic sound
@jamsee1
Ash were so underrated post-punk greats in the 1990s. Always like their music! One of the best 90s bands there was imo.
@cascade3769
Yet 2 of their best albums were in 2001 and 2004.
@b6rky
This is epic and would be a worthy 'Bond' Theme tune