Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: power-pop
Song Meaning of “People of the Sky” by Sloan
People of the sky
Are living in a isolated way
Fooling around and wondering why
They still must obey
This song speaks to the sense of alienation that many people experience when living in a world that seems beyond their control. The narrator reflects on those who have come to terms with this isolation and have accepted their limited capacity to affect the world around them. They choose to simply “fool around and wonder why” they must still follow society’s sometimes arbitrary rules. The phrase “people of the sky” speaks to a degree of detachment from mainstream society, as if they are merely observers in the lives they exist in.
The chorus continues to emphasize this idea of helplessness. The narrator begs those same people of the sky to “take my hand/you know that I can’t understand.” There’s a real sense of desperation in the narrator’s plea, an acknowledgment of their need for help in coming to terms with an indifferent and confusing reality.
Overall, this song provides a powerful reminder of that basic human urge for understanding and connection in a chaotic and sometimes random world. While the chorus speaks to a moment of reckoning, the verse provides a landscape of those who have already found a way to come to that conclusion.