Seize the Day Lyrics
I don't care to be bad, I prefer to think twice
All I know is it's quite a show, but it's still alright to be nice
Yankee toes and Eskimos can turn to frozen ice
[Chorus]
When the cold days come and the old ways fade away
There'll be no more sun, and we'll wish that we had
Held on to the day
Seize the day
[Verse 2]
I don't mean to be wrong
I don't need to be right
I'm okay on a sunny day
When the world deserves to be bright
Dinosaurs and Santa Claus
Will stay indoors tonight
[Chorus]
When the cold days come
And the old ways fade away
Therе'll be no more sun
And we'll wish that wе had
Held on to the day
Seize the day
Seize the day
I bless the day
When you came into my life
And I could finally roll back the blind
You helped me to realize
Love was the greatest prize
I only had to open my mind
Seize the day
Seize the day
Seize the day
Seize the day
Seize the day
[Verse 1]
I don't care to be bad, I prefer to think twice
All I know is it's quite a show, but it's still alright to be nice
Yankee toes and Eskimos can turn to frozen ice
[Chorus]
When the cold days come
And the old ways fade away
There'll be no more sun
And we'll wish that we had
Held on to the day
Seize the day
Seize the day
About
The message of “Seize the Day” is exactly what its title suggests; Paul tells his listeners to live every moment and hang on to the good times, especially during the troubling coronavirus pandemic. Its optimistic tone is reflected in the music, which uses bright-sounding guitars and vocal melodies. When writing the song, Paul was initially worried that it sounded too “Beatle-y”, as he told Chris Rock:
I’m saying, “Should I, like, not go down this route? It’s gonna be too like a Beatles song.” Have a little mini argument with yourself. You say, “Look, just write it.“ […] See, I was talking to someone about it the other day. And I said, “I’ve gotta admit it’s what I do. It’s the way I write songs.” If I like something that’s going a bit Beatle-y, I’m just gonna let it be.
The #12DaysofPaul painting for the song appeared on a wall in Chicago on 12 December, 2020.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
I started that on the piano, at home on the farm and was just letting the words spill out so I didn’t know what the song was going to be about, but I eventually got to this line ‘Yankee toes and Eskimos can turn to frozen ice’. I thought ‘what is that about?’ But it’s best not to question too deeply a lyric. So instead of it making an amazing amount of sense it becomes a little bit surrealistic. Anyway, that lead to the chorus which is about the cold cold days and so then I thought ‘well when the cold days come we’ll wish that we’d enjoyed today’ so that became ‘Seize The Day’ which is basically English for carpe diem."
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- 7.Slidin’
- 9.Seize the Day
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