Helium by Glass Animals Lyrics Meaning – Unveiling the Layers of Longing and Reality
Lyrics
You gonna call it or am I?
One more time
This puppy love is out of line
One more slide
And then we’re back to real life
Ooh and I’m falling now but it’s so wrong
You talk like a man and taste like the sun
Ooh and you lift your eyes up from the dust
I knew just then I knew it was done
I guess I want you more than I thought I did
Now that I know that part of you’s at home with him
I guess I want you more than I thought I did
Now that I know that part of you’s not part of this
Soft blue sky
Helium balloons float up away
Broad daylight
But we’re sunflowers in the rain
My momma said their used to be white pyramids
They float above the sand they’re slowly sinking in
Are our foundations destined to keep crumbling
Just ’cause we started this with zero innocence?
I just can’t build on something that begins like this
It’s a blood diamond, flawless but for that one thing
You just want backstreets, you don’t want me
You’re just gonna play it back the wrong way
You just want backstreets, you don’t want me
You’re just gonna play it back the wrong way
(Hello? David)
(Hello?)
(Are you talking to me?)
In the vast constellation of modern music, Glass Animals shine with a peculiar luminescence, a blend of psychedelic pop and indie rock garnished with electronic elements. Their song ‘Helium’ from the album ‘Dreamland’ encapsulates a sonic journey through the thematic universe of love, loss, and the inevitable disillusionment that tethers us to our own humanity.
Peeling back the layers of ‘Helium’, we find a tapestry of poetic imagery and evocative metaphors the band is known for. The song hovers in a liminal space between elation and despondence, examining the complex interplay of desire and reality within the throes of an unwinnable romance.
The Push and Pull of Romance: Anatomy of ‘Helium’
The track opens to the sound of a wistful countenance, an invitation for either party to decide the fate of a fraught relationship. ‘Helium’s puppy love teeters on the brink, with the dichotomy of ‘one more time’ and ‘real life’ setting the stage for an exploration of a connection that escapes the bounds of simplicity.
Musically, the song’s ebb and flow, much like the oscillations of an uncertain relationship, create an auditory canvass that perfectly marries the message to the medium. Simple, elegant, and yet housing a turbulent storm of emotions, ‘Helium’ promptly sets up its audience for a dive into relational depths.
Sunlight and Shadows: The Song’s Hidden Meaning
‘Helium’ isn’t just about romantic love – it is a treatise on the very nature of desire itself, the yearning for something palpably out of reach. Lines such as ‘I guess I want you more than I thought I did’ capture the all-consuming nature of this want, particularly when the object of affection is divided between realities, partially belonging to another.
This song paints a bittersweet tableau: one where characters ‘lift their eyes from the dust’ in hope, but with a looming awareness that things have irrevocably changed. The omnipresent comparison to ‘sunflowers in the rain’ effectively conveys a sense of misplaced optimism, a beauty struggling to persist amidst adverse conditions.
An Oasis of Desire Amidst Emotional Deserts
With the mention of ‘white pyramids’, ‘Helium’ invites a symbolic conversation about the monuments we build – both in relationships and in our lives. Just as these wonders of the ancient world teeter between the magnificent and the entropic, so too does the solid ground of ‘Helium’s narrative.
The song suggests an inherent flaw in the foundations of the portrayed relationship, comparing it to a ‘blood diamond, flawless but for that one thing’. It is an exquisite form of heartbreak Glass Animals lays bare: the torment of loving amidst a flawed premise.
Metaphors and Melodies: How ‘Helium’ Speaks Through Its Music
Glass Animals employ a musical arrangement in ‘Helium’ that serves as a vehicle for its emotional odyssey. The restless undercurrent of the synthesized beats against the serene vocals underscores the duality present within the song’s narrative.
The aesthetics of ‘Helium’ echo the ephemerality of the emotions it conveys – the music, like the helium balloons referenced in the lyrics, rises and drifts away, hinting at the transient nature of the joy and pain that come with deeply felt love.
Echoes of Yesterday: Unpacking the Memorable Lines of ‘Helium’
Lyrics like ‘You just want backstreets, you don’t want me’ encapsulate the recurring theme of evasion and detachment that is echoed throughout the song. It is a revelation of one person’s realization that sometimes, what we yearn for simply cannot coincide with what we have.
The final whispered lines of the song, a disconnected voice asking if they are being spoken to, further stir the poignancy of ‘Helium’. It suggests a break in communication, a final drift into the stratosphere where words no longer hold weight, and the connection once strived for now feels untethered, floating into oblivion.
