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Miina Hyrkas
This song is about his loss of innocence and the guilt he feels (usually at night when lying in his bed).... Angels of the silences are those moments at night when it's too quiet and you are forced to think and reflect about our " sins "; for Adams and many of us, this is painful. These inner angsts(subconcious and conscious) also manifest themselves in dreams where the angels again appear to further torment us. Guilt is a central theme here -A wickedly spiritual and awesome song!!
The chorus "Only good for/Waiting for you" shows that nothing in life interests him anymore and he is merely waiting for his own turn to die so that he can be with the person again; "All my sins...I would pay for them if I could come back to you" - seems to me that he doesn't mind going through purgatory just so he could go to heaven and be with that person. I think his "angels of the silences" are not so much to do with guilt but tempting him to the other side, by telling him that they are still waiting for him and offering him their arms (to go with them). The dreams of Michelangelo refers to how he is seeing angels on the ceiling, like those in the Sistine Chapel, every time he sleeps - in other words he is dreaming of death.
Anyway, there is no doubt that is this a truly awesome song. Of course I'm not saying that my interpretation is the only one possible, the best thing about counting crows is how Adam doesn't write lyrics but poetry, so everyone can interpret it however he or she likes. Just thought I'd drop in my 2 cents because I love this song so much and can't stop thinking about it.
Every night these silhouettes appear above my head,
Little angels of the silences that climb into my bed and whisper,
Every time I fall asleep, every time I dream,
Did you come? Would you lie?
Why'd you leave us 'til we're only good for.
The lyrics "casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there counting crows" refer to the superstition that counting the number of crows in a murder (a group of crows) can foretell the future. This may symbolize the protagonist's hope that their love can change the future and lead to a happy ending. However, the song ultimately ends with the repetition of the word "change", implying that the protagonist may need to accept that things may not change and that they need to move on from this unrequited love.
It all finishes with \u201CA Murder of One\u201D which is upbeat and kind of a driving rocker, but still with feeling. It was the leading set closer for the band in 1994 and you can just imagine it. It also is one of the few songs that I can think of where a band will use their own band name as a lyric. \u201CI dreamt I saw you walking up a hillside in the snow, casting shadows on the winter sky as you stood there counting crows.\u201D