Hourglass

Producers

Jul. 19871 viewer20.6K views

Hourglass Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I feel like I'm pounding on a big door
No one can hear me knocking
I feel like I'm falling flat to the floor
No one can catch me from falling

[Pre-Chorus 1]
The hourglass has no more grains of sand
My watch has stopped, no more turning hands
The crew have abandoned the ship
The lights are on but no one is in

[Chorus]
Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard
See if it can swim, back up to the shore
No one's in the house, everyone is out
All the lights are on and the blinds are down
Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard
See if it can swim, back up to the shore
No one's in the house, everyone is out
All the lights are on and the blinds are down

[Verse 2]
I feel like I'm calling on a telephone
No one can hear the ringing
I feel like I'm running up a steep hill
No one can stop me from running

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[Pre-Chorus 2]
The hourglass has no more grains of sand
My watch has stopped, no more turning hands
The little hand shakes its fist
The face is hanging out on a spring

[Chorus]
Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard
See if it can swim, back up to the shore
No one's in the house, everyone is out
All the lights are on and the blinds are down
Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard
See if it can swim, back up to the shore
No one's in the house, everyone is out
All the lights are on and the blinds are down
Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard
See if it can swim, back up to the shore
No one's in the house, everyone is out
All the lights are on and the blinds are down
Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard
See if it can swim, back up to the shore
No one's in the house, everyone is out
All the lights are on and the blinds are down

[Saxophone Solo]

[Bridge]
The hourglass has no more grains of sand
Little red grains of sand
My watch has stopped, no more turning hands
Little green neon hands

[Chorus]
Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard
See if it can swim, back up to the shore
No one's in the house, everyone is out
All the lights are on and the blinds are down
Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard
See if it can swim, back up to the shore
No one's in the house, everyone is out
All the lights are on and the blinds are down

[Outro]
Feel like I'm calling back to the shore
No one can hear me calling
Feel like I'm falling back to the floor
No one can catch me from falling

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About

This song bio is unreviewed

Genius Annotation

Hourglass is the first track and the first single from Squeeze’s 1987 album Babylon and On (a play on the phrase “babble on and on.”)

The song’s music video received frequent airplay on MTV, and the song became Squeeze’s highest-charting song in the US, charting at #15 on the Billboard Top 100, whilst charting at #16 on the UK Singles Chat.

The music video features an appearance by Jools Holland, the original keyboardist for the band. However, he was not involved with the album itself.

Songwriter Chris Difford said of the song:

We were touring quite a lot in those days. You know, it wasn’t anything other than, Okay, I’ve got to write a bunch of songs, and I don’t know seriously where they came from. But they just arrived.
This was the first time we wrote together in the same room, which was Glenn’s idea. I’d always thought of writing as a bit like masturbation: something you do on your own, not in the same room as another bloke. However, I went to Glenn’s house and within an hour we’d written ‘Hourglass.’ Lyrically it doesn’t mean much but we had some fun writing it."