Little By Little
Sharon Finn/Neil Finn
I’m a walking machine
See the world flashing by
I’m a black balloon
Floating high in the sky
And I rise above it all
And I get so fanciful
As I’m going nowhere
On the western shore
There’s a faint strip of light
On the harbor bridge
Traffic all backed up for miles
On this occasion, I think you could be right
You’re still my baby, I’m holding on too tight
When the kids fall in love again
Little by little turning into men
In the reign of kings
Only one rule is allowed
You can be anything
Just make your mother proud
On this occasion, I think you could be right
You’re still my baby, I could be holding on too tight
When the kids fall in love again
Little by little turning into men
Now you’ve made it
You don’t have to read a map
After lightning
Always comes a thunderclap
On this occasion, I think you could be right
Don’t keep me waiting, tell me what you feel inside
When the kids fall in love again
Little by little turning into men
I’m a walking machine
With the world flashing by
I’m a black balloon
Floating high in the sky
And I found a place for us
We can make the whole thing up as we’re going
When the kids fall in love again
Little by little turning into men
When the kids fall in love again
Little by little turning into men
Song appears on:
7 Worlds Collide - The Sun Came Out (1CD and 2CD albums, 2009)
7 Worlds Collide - The Sun Came Out (DVD, 2012)
“’Little By Little’ had been half-written by Sharon and I before the project. We started jamming last year because we had more time on our hands after our boys, Liam and Elroy, had left home. I would play drums and she would play bass, so we were both about as good as each other. We found those pretty solid grooves, and ‘Little By Little’ came out of one of those. We knew that the song was dedicated to the idea of letting go of family and parenthood. The origin of the opening lines, ‘I’m a walking machine / See the world flashing by / I’m a black balloon / Floating high in the sky,’ came from the fact that we have a walking machine, even though I always thought that they were ridiculous things. But it was a rainy day and I was on the machine, looking out of the window, where I saw a black balloon in the sky. This led me to speculate about what it would look like from up there, and about the free-floating nature of our youngsters going out in the world and letting them go.””