Her world collapsed early Sunday morning She got up from the kitchen table Folded the newspaper and silenced the radio Those creatures jumped the barricades And have headed for the sea, sea
Those creatures jumped the barricades and have headed for the sea She began to breathe To breathe at the thought of such freedom Stood and whispered to her child, belong She held the child and whispered With calm, calm; belong
Stood and whispered to her child, belong She held the child and whispered With calm, calm; belong
These barricades can only hold for so long Her world collapsed early Sunday morning She took the child held tight Opened the window A breath, this song, how long and knew, knew; belong
(It's) about a mother and child, especially the strong bond that exists between them. The voice is neither hers nor the child's, however. It's someone else commenting on the sense that the bond between a mother and a child is the most powerful love of all... I think it's significant to state that it's not a song about defenestration. I took great pains to clarify that in the vocal. There's an event that's occured somewhere far away that has come to the attention of the woman who's the protagonist of the song, and she realises how significant that thing is to her child and herself, and she goes to the window to take a breath. I think that when I first wrote the song, it did seem like the woman hurled herself and the child out the window, but that's not what occurs. Michael Stipe
With (Lifes Rich Pageant) we had a sonic clarity that was technologically miles ahead of anything we'd done before. It made it so you could hear what I was singing. Actually, I keep trying to get away from that. The vocal on 'Belong', I sang that directly into a Walkman. I don't like the clarity, because it doesn't allow me as much latitude to just flail, to just be a melody and let the words, the meaning, flow out. Michael Stipe 1992
Quotes collected from 'R.E.M. - In Their Own Words' by Peter Hogan
Lyrics are based on fans interpretations and are not official.
All R.E.M. originals written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.
MY FAVOURITE SONG ON THE ALBUM. IT'S THE KIND OF SONG THAT MAKES YOU REALIZE THAT THERE AREN'T MANY BANDS LIKE R.E.M. IN THIS WORLD.A VERY TOUCHING AND TENDER SONG
By george e
A good one, on a good album. However, I'd have to go with Coountry Feedback of Half a World Away as my favorite.
By Doug
My wife had a wonderful thought about this song. She thinks it could mean the agression of the German Army during WW-II. They jumped the "barricades" of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France and headed for the "sea" of the Atlantic Ocean. In this scenario, the woman has a husband or brother in the armed forces who is very likely going to die trying to get back what was taken.
