Lyric Deconstruction

Landslide is about being afraid of the change that you go through in life and that when you get to the end of it and look back, you can be proud of the changes you made. But also accepting and acknowledge all the difficulties you faced to get to that proud moment, as well as being okay with the fact it’s scary to change.

I took my love, and I took it down. I climbed a mountain and I turned around. – Refers to how you’ve got to take things back to basics, and struggle over that mountain blocking your way, along with any obstacles, the way you were born – alone. You can’t be prepared for the changes that surround you, and only when you do that can you begin to come to terms with the relationships you have because over the mountain your vision becomes clearer.

I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills, where the landslide brought me down – the snow refers to the purity and innocence, and you realize that you’re changing and growing, and you won’t remain the person you are. It may be easily seen or accepted, but the landslide will bring you back to reality because it’s unravelling.

Can the child within my heart, rise above? – You realize that as you grow up, you’ll become stronger because you’ve got to develop your own independence. So the child inside you has to grow up at some point. You can’t remain true to the innocence inside of you whilst giving your love to someone, and things change and you can’t control it.

Can I sail through the changing ocean tides, can I handle the seasons of my life? – You don’t know whether you can, and you ask if you can change whilst remaining true to yourself.

Well I’ve been afraid of changing, ‘cause I built my life around you - about being in love with someone, and realizing that without them, you may struggle to manage your own life because they’ve always been there. It’s referring to when you give up a part of yourself for that person, you let go of something personal, and you will become fearful of what you’ve lost when things change.

But time makes you bolder, children get older and I’m getting older too – realization that time makes you bolder, and that it’s finally reached that point where you need to look in the mirror and decide who you want to be in life. About finding the courage to make changes and leave behind a love that may not be giving you what you need. It won’t be until later in life that you’ll find joy in your heart at having found the courage to do that. But you know that as you grow up, you’ll be stronger without the child-like innocence you once possessed.

If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills, well the landslide will bring it down ­– is talking about how she hopes to look back to still find that person she gave up, and maybe that person will embrace the love she still has, because the landslide will bring it down.