Angelina
The Greatest Show on Earth Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

When she gives her sign to a passerby
Has her hopes someday one will stay
And she lives alone in the old folk's home
And I guess she'll end that way
Angelina tries but she fails again

Then she found she can
Touch the postman's hands
As the letters go through the box
To see the milkman smile
Makes it all worthwhile just sit an wait for
the knocks
Angelina tries but she fails again

Angelina remembers the pleasant days
When she was young
But doesn't seem realized these pleasant days
are gone
'Cause each breaks up her personal life
But she breaks up her shock
And stops Angelina from seeing that
she's failing once more

Should she feel inside that she's off to hide
In the shelter of her room
Then her cards hang on to a false someone
And hope he comes along
Angelina tries





Angelina tries
Angelina tries but she fails again

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Angelina by The Greatest Show on Earth tell the story of a woman named Angelina who lives alone in an old folk's home. She longs for companionship and hopes that someone will stay when she gives them a sign, but it seems that each attempt ends in failure. Despite her disappointment and loneliness, Angelina remains resilient and finds small ways to bring happiness into her life. She takes pleasure in interacting with the postman and the milkman, and she keeps hope alive by holding onto false connections through cards.


The lyrics paint a picture of a woman who is stuck in the past and is struggling to accept that her present is vastly different. Her memories of happier times, when she was young, haunt her and she doesn't seem to realize that those days are gone. Her personal life is in shambles, but she is in denial and fails to see the reality of her situation.


The song is a poignant reminder of the struggles that older people face in society, including loneliness and isolation. It also emphasizes the importance of human connection and the impact it can have on someone's life. The lyrics show that even the smallest interactions, like a smile or a touch, can make a big difference to someone who is struggling.


Line by Line Meaning

When she gives her sign to a passerby
Angelina hopes to find someone who will stay with her forever and gives hints to express her feelings to the passerby.


Has her hopes someday one will stay
Angelina has a desire to find someone who will stay with her forever and keep her company in old age.


And she lives alone in the old folk's home
Angelina is living alone in an old folk's home, feeling lonely and alone.


And I guess she'll end that way
The singer thinks Angelina will continue living alone and lonely, with no hope of finding company.


Then she found she can
Angelina finally realizes that she has the power to change her life for the better.


Touch the postman's hands
She sees that small gestures like touching the postman's hands can bring her happiness and make her feel alive.


As the letters go through the box
As letters go through the mailbox, Angelina finds solace in waiting for them to arrive, looking for something or someone to brighten up her life.


To see the milkman smile
Seeing the milkman smile is a source of happiness and satisfaction for Angelina as she waits for someone to knock on her door.


Makes it all worthwhile just sit an wait for the knocks
Waiting and hoping for someone to come knock on her door gives Angelina a sense of purpose and makes her feel wanted in the world.


Angelina remembers the pleasant days
Angelina recalls happier and more joyful times in her past, when she was young and life was full of promise.


When she was young
In her younger days, Angelina had high hopes and big dreams for her life, which now seem unattainable.


But doesn't seem realized these pleasant days are gone
Angelina fails to recognize that her pleasant days are gone and she needs to focus on finding happiness in new things.


'Cause each breaks up her personal life
Her desire to hold onto the past and the memories it brings is preventing her from moving forward and finding new sources of joy.


But she breaks up her shock
Angelina must overcome her shock at the changes that life has brought and embrace the present instead of being stuck in the past.


And stops Angelina from seeing that she's failing once more
Angelina must realize that she is stuck in a cycle of failed attempts at finding happiness and needs to change her approach.


Should she feel inside that she's off to hide
Angelina sometimes feels the need to retreat from the world and hide away in her room when life gets too difficult or painful.


In the shelter of her room
Her room is a safe and familiar place where Angelina can retreat from the world when she feels overwhelmed or lost.


Then her cards hang on to a false someone
Angelina sometimes creates false notions of companionship and false hopes from people in her mind as a way of coping with loneliness.


And hope he comes along
Angelina holds hope that she will find someone to be with her, to make her life worthwhile and fill the void of loneliness.


Angelina tries
Angelina is making an effort to find happiness and companionship, but often finds herself falling short of her goal.


Angelina tries but she fails again
Despite trying her hardest, Angelina often fails to find the companionship and joy that she so desperately seeks.




Contributed by Jake D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@Bro-cx2jc

I know what you mean, but realistically Marty would actually be fine, and perfectly able to save Doc even if that attempt had failed and Doc died.

Think the theoretical scene through: he would see Doc getting shot from far away (but actually die this time), then his past self would go back to the past and vanish from the timeline while the assault bus crashes and the men are knocked out / killed, Marty runs to Doc and finds that he's truly gone, maybe cries for a bit...

...then turns around and sees the extra plutonium Doc had sitting by in the big white van. Marty snatches a spare radiation suit, grabs a couple tubes, runs back toward the abandoned DeLorean, maybe gets a gas can and grabs some spare fuel along the way if gas was part of the reason the car died (the regular engine part still ran on gasoline, the plutonium only powered the temporal field capacitor), and gets to the DeLorean.

Worst case scenario, and likely in fact, it's surrounded by police now who are examining the damaged building and the car, and it gets towed away to a tow yard while the cops begin looking for the driver. Marty, hiding nearby, now realizes the new dilemma he faces, and tracks the car down to the tow yard. He manages to break into the facility after hours to find and steal the keys for the car, then breaks a window on the DeLorean. He puts the gas into the car, starts it up, drives it somewhere quiet and safe, then puts on the radiation suit, takes a plutonium tube out of the sealed pocket, inserts it into the car.

Bam. Time travel back to earlier that day while his past self is at school. Marty won't be missing the school day as his past copy is there doing everything normally, so he's free to go to Doc's house in the daytime and warn Doc about that night.

Except, oops, Doc isn't there----he's been gone all week, Marty realizes. So, best case scenario, Marty finds some notes from Doc that describe where he's going to be during that week, and Marty finds the number for the location (if there is one, as the question of where Doc disappeared to for a week never does get answered), or he finds out how to get there himself. He goes there, avoiding being spotted by passerby to the best of his ability, and tells Doc the news.

Worst case, he can't find anything that tells him where Doc is, and it's already past the time he talked to Doc on the phone that morning----and even then, Doc gave Marty no clue as to his physical location, just told Marty where to meet him.

So Marty decides what he needs to do in the end is actually rather simple: wait in Doc's garage through the day while his past self finishes the school day, goes home, goes through that night with his family, yada yada.

And then when it's about the time Doc said to meet Marty, just go to the parking lot of twin pines mall (Marty knows his past self will get there after Doc's already been there a few minutes on his own----remember Marty arrived there while Doc's van was already out in the parking lot) and meet Doc just as the man shows up. Marty has a few minutes before his past self originally arrives, and he quickly tells the Doc what's going on.

There's no way Doc wouldn't believe Marty, as he has, of course, built the time machine by now and wanted to show Marty, and seeing how frantic Marty is would easily convince him.

Marty tells him "we need to get out of here right now, Doc! Quick, let's get back to your house!"

Doc starts up the van, Marty throws his skateboard into the backseat, they roar off. A minute later, Past Marty shows up and realizes Doc isn't there.

Best case, Marty instantly heads for Doc's house, as he suspects maybe Doc is late or on his way and he might either catch up with him, or see him on the way to the mall. Therefore he won't be there when the terrorists show up.

Worst case, Marty thinks Doc is late but doesn't leave, instead he waits for Doc. The terrorists show up and Marty doesn't realize what they're there for or who they are. They see Marty while rushing into the parking lot.

Luckily, they don't realize Marty is associated in any way with Doc, and they probably drive with tires screeching right past him and exit the lot on the other side while Marty stands there confused. And then probably heads for Doc's house anyway.

By the time Past Marty has gotten there, present Marty has told Doc everything that he needs to do, and now present Marty is hiding in the house while Past Marty shows up confused on the doorstop. Doc lets him into the house and explains to him (longer than this, but I've shortened it to the basic idea): "Marty! You need to get into my time machine here and go back to 1955! Remember this: you need to make sure you avoid your parents, and simply talk to my past self, and tell him about the lightning strike so you can get back home, and make sure you remember this: on your way back to the present, return a few hours earlier so you can catch me at Twin Pines Mall at the exact moment I arrive, and tell me that I'm going to be shot by terrorists and we need to leave immediately----"

"Shot by terrorists?! Jesus Christ, Doc!"

"Don't interrupt me you little shit, my life is at stake!!! Sorry Marty, it's the crazy talking. Anyways, I know all this seems unnecessary, but you need to do it exactly as I say to avoid anything terrible happening or the timeline shifting any more than it has! Oh, and it wouldn't hurt for you to also teach your father in the past to toughen up a little bit, just don't mess up his meeting with your mother! Do you understand?! Sometimes people are meant to be hit by cars from time to time Marty, for God's sake, don't be a hero!"

"Doc, what the hell are you talking----"

"Marty, DO NOT PLAY THE GUITAR AT THAT DANCE! Chuck Berry can figure out his own goddamned shit, you'll be screwing up things enough as it is by interacting too much with your father!"

"Doc, I don't underst----"

"I've written all this down precisely (PRECISELY!!!) on this notepad so you can read it any time you need to refresh yourself on the exact instructions and the order in which you must carry them out!"

"Doc, it says here that you aren't a fan of Johnny B. Goode anyway, what's that all about----"

"Don't think too hard about the comments I've written in the margins, Marty!"

"But who the hell is Johnny B. Goode?!"

"Great Scott, somehow all of this has already happened and that song no longer exists! Marty, trust me, just do exactly as I've said! Here, get in this car out here now, remember to hit 88 miles per hour, DO NOT HIT THE STEERING WHEEL WITH YOUR HEAD AT ANY TIME UNLESS THE CAR IS OFF AND WON'T START, I've wired a deliberate short circuit to jump start the battery from the top of the steering wheel, so IF YOU HIT THAT WHILE THE CAR IS RUNNING THEN IT'LL PROBABLY EXPLODE! FOR GOD'S SAKE MARTY, DON'T BE A FUCKING DAREDEVIL!!!"

"Doc, I was never even going to hit any----"

"MARTY, THE TIME MACHINE IS NOT TO BE USED FOR FINANCIAL GAIN!!! DON'T TOUCH THE ALMANAC, NO MATTER WHAT!"

"What almanac?!"

"Sorry, I must be remembering the original draft, that's not until we go to the future----GREAT SCOTT, HOW DO I EVEN KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THAT ALREADY?! WHICH DOC BROWN AM I?!?!??!!! Never mind, it's probably all your fault anyways Marty, god dammit, get into the car and hit 88 miles per hour before I turn into a fucking pickle!"

"I'm gonna go drive to the pharmacy first and pick you up some meds, Doc----"

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE MARTY JUST DO AS I SAY!!!"



@johnnehrich9601

I grew up in the '50's and when I watched this when it first came out, I was stunned by all the nuances they got right about all the things alien to the people in '55 meeting someone from '85. (Of course, the people making the movie also had lived to some degree in that past - not like it would be if the movie was being made now.)

What sort of blew my mind was seeing things I remembered from my childhood and yet by '85, I had not really thought about the vast changes that had occurred slowly enough to not see. This movie could be shown in a history class and every line in '55 could warrant a discussion of changes. (And also, many viewers today don't get.)

The astonishment of Doc hearing Reagan had become president would have been universal at the time, as in '55, he was a grade B movie star, that few paid attention to outside the film industry. (And Doc suggesting Jerry Lewis and Jack Benny would be an equal joke, for VP and Treasury Secretary.)

In '55, people were just starting to get tv's, with a vast change in just a few years. But the idea at the time that anyone would have two tv's would have been almost unthinkable, even though people now can't grasp how that idea was still so radical.

On the other hand, as with all notions of time travel, predicting future changes flops really bad, as you will see in the sequel where they go to an envisioned 2015. Including just as it was astonishing to the '55 people that a black man could become mayor in a general election in 30 years, to us in the 1985, that a black man could be president in a mere 30 years seemed like an unrealistic goal when the movie was made.



@k.delpino1124

Truly a phenomenon.

1 of 2 films that starred a Michael J. Fox in the same year while doing the tv series, Family Ties.
Christopher Lloyd's most iconic role (still) among many roles.

Huey Lewis and The News with their 2 songs are still great.
No.1 film of 1985 and Oscar-winner for Best Sound Effects Editing.

Wendie Jo Sperber (Marty's sister) passed away in 2005.

By all means, please react to the sequels as they are perfection too.



@nostyx

Definitely one of my absolute favorite films of all time.
Everything is so perfect.
I'm an 80s baby, first time I saw this was on home video in probably 1987 or 1988.

BTTF is one of those films that I can never get tired of watching, no matter how many times I've seen it..
And growing up, I've watched it plenty.. probably seen it close to 100 times already and I never tire of it lol

Loved watching your reactions too, and Christopher Lloyd totally steals the movie in his role of Doc.
He's an absolute riot
LOL



@anderspemer358

I so adore seeing young people today watch BTTF for the first time. You all seem to love it just as much to this day. Sharing your experience was really sweet!

I was 17 in 1985, just as Marty and Jennifer, so for me this trilogy has been sort of the love story of my life.

It opened July 3 in the US, ant not until the week before Christmas in Sweden, where I live. But the word was out, and I watched it on opening night December 18. My birthday happens to be October 21, and it's possible you will se something about that date in some sequel. So this franchise means amazingly much to me.

I could wish I had always counted how many times I've seen the first one. I suspect that it can be way over 1,000 times. But maybe it's just around 700. Now I'll never know. 😊❤

I wish you just as much pleasure when you continue with parts II and III. ❤



All comments from YouTube:

@ANGELINAA

Start saving with Rocket Money! Managing your finances starts here: http://rocketmoney.com/angelina #rocketmoney #personalfinance

@piuphew9709

we love rocket money!

@jessetorres8738

There's a fan theory that Doc was actually suicidal & he was gonna take Marty with him. Long story short, prior to the time machine Doc Brown had been down on his luck as his house had burned down, many of his previous inventions weren't successful, & he was living in a garage (these & other subtle details were shown in the opening). So, the Time Machine was Doc's last attempt to create something successful, but he was worried it wouldn't, so he figured he'd kill himself should it fail, but he didn't want to die alone which is why he & Marty stood infront of the thing when they tested it in the mall parking lot. If it worked, Doc, Marty, & Einstein would have lived, if it didn't, then the car would have crashed into them at 88 miles per hour & killed them. It's a very depressing yet possible fan theory.

@jessetorres8738

Back To The Future is my favorite movie trilogy, & in my opinion it's the most consistent film trilogy (at least in terms of quality). I hope you react to Part 2 & Part 3 as well ANGELINAA.

@academyofshem

It's "make like a tree and leaf (leave)."

@noneya3635

Wait wait wait, how does Loraine know what kissing her brother is like? How many years have been overlooking the creepiness of that line?

12 More Replies...

@zbfajack

Every moment is a set up, a payoff, or an integral part of a character arc, or an Iconic joke. A perfect script in every way.

@SchulzEricT

Another Zemeckis gem - IMO even better than BttF - is "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Definitely should be on your radar, I highly recommend you check it out after you finish the BttF trilogy.

@KS-xk2so

They literally use this in script writing classes as a perfect example. Not an ounce of fat on this script.

@billfrantz1638

80’s scripts hit different, The Last Starfighter (1984) is another example (in my opinion) of a near perfect film.

More Comments

More Versions