The Circle Game
Embracing Life's Carousel: A Poetic Journey Through Time
Lyrics
Yesterday a child came out to wonder
Reflects on the innocence and curiosity of childhood
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Symbolizes capturing and preserving fleeting moments
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
Describes fear in the face of natural forces
And tearful at the falling of a star
Expresses sorrow at the impermanence of beauty
And the seasons, they go round and round
Highlights the cyclical nature of seasons and life
And the painted ponies go up and down
Metaphorically represents life's ups and downs
We're captive on a carousel of time
Describes life as a carousel, emphasizing its inevitability
We can't return, we can only look, behind from where we came
Conveys the impossibility of returning to the past
And go round and round and round in the circle game
Emphasizes the repetitive nature of life in the "circle game"
Then the child moved ten times round the seasons
Tracks the child's journey through the years
Skated over ten year frozen streams
Describes the passage of time with the metaphor of frozen streams
Words like ‘when you're older' must appease him
Addresses the consolation offered to the child about growing older
And promises of ‘someday' make his dreams
Points to the allure of future promises and dreams
And the seasons they go round and round
Reiterates the cyclical pattern of seasons
And the painted ponies go up and down
Continues the metaphor of life's fluctuations
We're captive on the carousel of time
Reaffirms the concept of being trapped in the passage of time
We can't return we can only look behind from where we came
Underlines the inability to change the past
And go round and round and round in the circle game
Repeats the idea of life going in circles in the "circle game"
Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Marks the passing of sixteen springs and summers
Cart wheels cross to car wheels through the town
Describes the continued cyclical nature of life
And you tell him take your time it won't be long now
Advises patience in the face of life's inevitable changes
Till you drag your feet to slow those circles down
Suggests resistance to the natural progression of time
So the boy who dreamed tomorrow now is twenty
Observes the maturation of the dreaming child
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur, coming true
Acknowledges the compromise in realizing dreams
There'll be new dreams maybe better dreams a plenty
Anticipates the possibility of new and improved dreams
Before the last revolving year is through
Foresees the emergence of fresh dreams within a year
And the seasons they go round and round
Repeats the theme of the circular progression of seasons
And the painted ponies go up and down
Continues the imagery of the carousel and its motions
We're captive on the carousel of time
Restates the idea of being captive to time's relentless flow
We can't return we can only look behind from where we came
Reiterates the impossibility of revisiting the past
And go round and round and round in the circle again
Concludes with the cyclical nature of life in the "circle game"
Comment