What does Northern Downpour mean?

Panic! At The Disco: Northern Downpour Meaning

Tagged: Rain [suggest]
Album cover for Northern Downpour album cover

Song Released: 2008


Northern Downpour Lyrics

If all our life is but a dream
Fantastic posing greed
Then we should feed our jewelery to the sea
For diamonds do appear to be
Just like broken glass to me

And then she said she can't believe
Genius only comes along
In storms of fabled...

  1. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 22nd 2009 !⃝

    I totally agree along the lines of your interpretation. I wanted to add mine
    for the "weathervanes my one and lonely" part. Here I think weathervanes could possibly be used a made-up verb; i.e. To point in the direction of.. and then his/her one and only..?

  2. Kaila
    click a star to vote
    Aug 29th 2009 !⃝

    If all our life is but a dream, Fantastic posing greed
    Then we should feed our jewelry to the sea

    (If life is just a dream, there is no need to be greedy or hold on to material possessions if you can have everything you want...as you can in a dream.)

    For diamonds do appear to be just like broken glass to me

    (Diamonds are of little importance to him…he may even be implying to be cautious of them. This could also be a reference to sea glass.)

    And then she said she can’t believe

    Genius only comes along in storms of fabled foreign tongues

    (Geniuses are often called gifted…getting a gift of such brilliance by chance only happens in fairy tales…which are all derived from foreign stories.)

    Tripping eyes and flooded lungs the northern downpour sends its love

    (Tripping eyes = a visionary experience, flooded lungs = she’s holding her breath or she’s waiting to exhale. Rain or some other poor weather brought him her way or vice versa.)

    Hey moon, please forget to fall down
    Hey moon don’t you go down

    (The moon falling would insinuate that the day is over and since he doesn’t want it to be over…he asks it not to. The begging shows how desperate he is, since he knows this could never happen.)

    Sugar cane in the easy morning
    Weather-vanes my one and lonely

    (Sugarcane grows in the south, the easiest morning is Sunday…being with her is so simple and relaxing like a weekend in the country…weather-vanes show which way the wind is blowing, so weather vanes my one and lonely would imply that the weather dictates his loneliness.)

    The ink is running toward the page
    It’s chasing off the days

    (The ink is running toward the page, so he’s writing…it’s chasing off the days, when you chase something you’re in pursuit of it. He can’t forget about her so he relives her by writing about her.)

    Look back at both feet and that winding me

    (Looking at both feet would mean your head was down, winding not speaking directly or rambling…the way this line is sung makes me think that he isn’t satisfied with how he spoke to her.)

    I missed your skin when you were east

    You clicked your heels and wished for me

    (He missed her while she was away, she missed him also so she wished for his presence...and since he said missed I would guess that her wish came true.)

    Through playful lips made of yarn, that fragile Capricorn

    (Playful lips she was very affectionate, yarn tends to be soft so her lips were soft. Capricorn is a negative sign, negative signs tend to talk less, listen more and be more sensitive or fragile.)

    Unraveled words like moths upon old scarves

    (Unraveled words like moths upon old scarves is a simile…going along with the Capricorn thing, although she doesn’t tend to speak much it was easy for her to talk to him just as it would be easy for moths to devour old scarves…unraveled, her lips were made of yarn…she opened up to him.)

    I know the worlds a broken bone

    (For anyone who has broken a bone they know that when you break a bone that it is extremely painful and all you want is the pain to go away…the worlds a broken bone, life is going to hurt sometimes…)

    But melt your headaches call it home

    (With a broken bone comes pain relief…melt your headaches call it home…with these lines I think he was saying that he understands her pain because he too goes through the same thing and that together they will be free from pain…melt your headaches…somewhere you always feel safe and secure…home.)

    Hey moon, please forget to fall down
    Hey moon don’t you go down

    Sugarcane in the easy morning
    Weather-vanes my one and lonely

    Sugarcane in the easy morning
    Weather-vanes my one and lonely (Ryan)

    Sugarcane in the easy morning
    Weather-vanes my one and lonely [x3]
    Sugarcane in the easy morning (Hey moon please forget to fall down)
    Weather-vanes my one and lonely (Hey moon don’t you go down)
    Sugarcane in the easy morning (You are at the top of my lungs)
    Weather-vanes my one and lonely (Drawn to the ones who never yawn)
    Sugarcane in the easy morning (Hey moon please forget to fall down)
    Weather-vanes my one and lonely (Hey moon don’t you go down)
    Sugarcane in the easy morning (You are at the top of my lungs)
    (At the top of my lungs is an idiom, giving it all you have or with all your might…you are at the top of my lungs…you are all of me.)
    Weather-vanes my one and lonely (Drawn to the ones who never yawn)
    (Drawn to the ones who never yawn…I couldn’t really wrap my head around this one, I see the clear connection between night and sleep but I wanted more. So after some research, I like to think that, with no intent to disrespect the poet or his poetry, this was contribution from the singer who happens to fall under a rather energetic and lively astrological sign and he is drawn to people like himself…ones who never yawn.)

    I took the astrological approach to this song since weather is important factor in astrology. Anyway I think this song was written about a girl, who like the songwriter is a negative sign, which in turn could be a reason why they got along so easily. Or it could be about a dream where he meets the perfect girl and he doesn't want the moon to go down because he doesn't want to stop dreaming.

  3. LoveMusic
    click a star to vote
    Jun 16th 2009 !⃝

    "If all our life is but a dream fantastic posing greed then we should feed our jewelery to the sea, for diamonds to appear to be just like broken glass to me"

    I think this is talking about the american dream, the perfect life with money and wealth and fame. I think he is saying that he is living that life and it's not all it's cracked up to be, that all the wealth doesn't mean anything to him because it doesn't really make you happy.

    "I missed your skin when you were east, you clicked your heels and wished for me"

    I think he is talking about his girlfriend he misses who is far away, that she misses him too. The reference to the heel clicking from the wizard of oz, Dorothy says "there's no place like home", I think this is saying that she thinks of him as her home.

    "Through playful lips made of yarn that fragile capricorn unraveled words like moths upon old scarves"

    They talk on the phone to keep in touch.

    "I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home"

    I think this could have one of two meanings: One: he feels like he is a broken man, he's too far away to make her happy, but he is still her world the one she feels is her home so they both work through the hardship to be together. Or: Two: The world is hard and it sucks but it's all we have so make the best of it.

    "Hey moon, please forget to fall down"

    He spent a night with his girlfriend when they could be together and he never wants it to end.

    "You are at the top of my lungs, drawn to the ones who never yawn"

    When you breathe you don't fill your lungs all the way to the top, but when you yawn you fill all of your lungs. If she is at the top and he never yawns he can never reach her. She is drawn to men that are far away or hard to reach.

    So that's what I get out of it, reminding you I'm not an expert, I am merely a very intuitive and introspective fan.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 5th 2009 !⃝

    i know this for sure because she said so on her blog, but this song is about ryan's (songwriter) now ex-girlfriend, keltie colleen. she is "moon" (also in another one of their songs, when the day met the night which is about ryan and keltie falling in love).
    "and then she says she can't believe genius only comes along in storm of fabled foreign tounges. tripping eyes and flooded lungs. northern downpour sends its love" "she" is keltie, on her blog she said "I remember having that "winding knee" and speaking my mind about "tripping eyes and flooded lungs"
    also "i missed your skin when you were east, you clicked your heels and wished for me" i think refers to the fact that she lives in new york (or at least did) and they missed each other
    theres a bit more you could guess, but i'm not totally sure so i won't discuss it. :]

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 22nd 2009 !⃝

    "Weathervanes my one and lonely..."

    I think this meant that since they are so far apart, the weathervane is pointing to the one who is all alone...

  6. hurtgirl
    click a star to vote
    Feb 9th 2009 !⃝

    Just wanted to say thank you for that interpretation. I just broke up with my boyfriend who toke me to see these guys live as a random surprise....i have loved this song since the first time I heard it and it fits my fucked up life to a tea!! I needed an outsiders opinion on the song because I thought it was just me getting that stuff from the song but I wasn't. I'm not crazy YAY just thank you

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 22nd 2008 !⃝

    Ryan Ross said that Northern Downpour was "about touring and girlfriends and love and everything that's been important to us in the past few years."

    If all our life is but a dream
    Fantastic posing greed
    Then we should feed our jewelry to the sea
    For diamonds do appear to be
    Just like broken glass to me

    The first line references fame, for no one can really believe it when they're famous, and it feels like a dream. I think the rest of the verse conveys that fame doesn't matter, and it is more dangerous that it's worth ("like broken glass"). It's also about scorning materialistic values, for jewelry and diamonds should be thrown in the sea.

    I'm stumped on the rest of the song, though I know the line "I missed your skin when you were east" is referencing Ryan Ross' girlfriend, because she lives in New York and he lives in Vegas.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 3rd 2008 !⃝

    Now I'm no lyrical genius but I will tell you this.... This song is NOT about twilight that's for sure. About movies, highly doubtful, although it makes references such as "clicked your heels" it is simply creative wording, not the whole meaning. I think the song has deeper meaning than that. One of the most important lines in the song (in my opinion) is "I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches call it home" means, The world is messed up, but you need to accept that and realize that's just the way it is. And as far as, "Hey moon, please forget to fall down
    Hey moon, don't you go down" my guess would be he does not want the night to end, for the reason of fearing what may come in the day that follows.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 26th 2008 !⃝

    It is about a person telling stories & they don't want to stop telling them. "hey moon please forget to fall down" the stories are classics.
    titanic: throw jewelry into sea because they look just like broken glass to me
    wizard of oz: i missed you when you were east, you clicked your heels and wiched for me .
    Those are some of the stories that I have found...

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 29th 2008 !⃝

    I only understand bits and pieces.. which is the same with all panic songs, (except behind the sea which I don't understand any part lol)
    But weather vanes always point in the direction of the wind, so in this case in the direction of the object of desire.. don't know how sugarcane fits in there but doubt it has to do with literal summer as I don't really think literally is their thing.

    Storms of fabled foreign tongue is referring to the fact that genius' are usually scientists like Einstein that speak in a totally foreign language to most people that aren't a physicist, she believes that genius's must come from other things as well

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 23rd 2008 !⃝

    ValyntinBrightside:I think its what evades my one and lonely, not weathervanes, so I think the girl had to go somewhere cold maybe? And now he's missing her in the summer?

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 17th 2008 !⃝

    "I know the world's a broken bone
    But melt you headaches call it home"
    I think this is saying that even though the world is messed up it's your home.

  13. ValentynBrightside
    click a star to vote
    Jul 8th 2008 !⃝

    Personally, I think this song is about taking life for granted, a lost love, and a few other random topics.

    'If all our life is but a dream
    Fantastic posing greed
    Then we should feed our jewelery to the sea
    For diamonds do appear to be
    Just like broken glass to me'

    If our lives are nothing but a dream that we will one day wake up from, we shouldn't worry about all the things we find valuable. We wouldn't be greedy if we knew that gold, diamonds, etc. were worthless. So we should just throw those aside because they are of equal value to broken glass.

    'And then she said she can't believe
    Genius only comes along
    In storms of fabled foreign tongues
    Tripping eyes, and flooded lungs
    Northern downpour sends its love'

    This girl is the type of girl who has been hurt a lot in her past. So much that she is able to tell if a guy is fake with her or not. Now, she meets someone who she thinks cares a lot about her, but the only problem is that he is not from around where the girl lives. Now that she realizes that she can never truly love this guy, she pretty much cries her eyes out.

    'Hey moon, please forget to fall down
    Hey moon, don't you go down'

    Back to the whole life is a dream idea, it is saying that the person doesn't want to wake up. They want to keep on living.

    'The ink is running toward the page
    It's chasin' off the days
    Look back at boat feet
    And that winding knee
    I missed your skin when you were east
    You clicked your heels and wished for me'

    Days have turned into weeks and weeks into months. Time has gone by since the two lovers separated, and they are looking back on that. The girl thinks of all the good times they shared and she just wishes that the boy would return to her.

    'Through playful lips made of yarn
    That fragile Capricorn
    Unraveled words like moths upon old scarves
    I know the world's a broken bone
    But melt your headaches, call it home'

    This verse was a little harder to figure out. I did some research on Capricorn, and I found out that it is a negative feminine sign, and it symbolizes th start of Winter in the northern hemisphere. So maybe the guy told her many things such as his love for her. As for the rest of the lyric, I guess she thought how much it sucked that he had to leave her, but she understood that there was no hope for them so she had to move on and accept it.

    'Sugarcane in the easy mornin'
    Weathervanes my one and lonely '

    This was also a hard lyric to figure out. I was thinking that the boy maybe left the girl behind in the summer. Since sugarcane is usually grown in very warm climates, I guess it symbolizes that the boy would practically die without the girl. So when the summer comes, he will "wake up" from his life. Weathervanes... I'm not too sure about that.

    'Hey moon, please forget to fall down
    Hey moon, don't you go down
    You are at the top of my lungs
    Drawn to the ones who never yawn'

    The boy doesn't want life to end even though it is a living hell without the girl. He is singing this song about her, telling her that he still loves her more than anything, but living without her, is bringing him more and more closer to his death.

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