Song Meaning
The lyrics paint a portrait of a figure called "Tomorrow's Child," presented as a "Princess of the sun." This character seems to embody a hopeful, almost divine, future, looking down with a smile that masks inner sorrow. There's an immediate tension between her outward appearance and her hidden grief, suggesting a complex inner life despite her radiant exterior. The repeated insistence that "You've got to trust her" and "You've got to love her" implies a need for faith in this entity, even as she possesses an unnerving ability to perceive others' true selves: "She'll see right through you."
The central conflict appears to be the transition from an old order to a new one, embodied by this child. She turns away from the present, seeking wisdom "Beyond the pylon gates," which suggests moving past established structures or limitations. The chorus, with its "new world's in her eyes" and "dreams on the sunrise," reinforces this theme of nascent hope and future potential. The repetition of "Tomorrow's Child" acts as an invocation, emphasizing her role as a harbinger of change.
The most striking craft element is the juxtaposition of the "Princess" imagery with the starker, almost industrial, "pylon gates." This contrast highlights the blend of the ethereal and the grounded, the mythic and the practical, that defines this figure. Later, the lyrics introduce the idea that "seeds of long ago / Are sown before they'll grow," a cyclical notion that implies the future is built upon forgotten pasts, adding a layer of historical depth to the child's seemingly forward-looking nature. This suggests that the "new world" isn't entirely unprecedented but rather a re-emergence.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of these lyrics lies in their creation of an enigmatic, aspirational figure. The narrator urges belief in "Tomorrow's Child" not just as a symbol of hope, but as an active agent of change capable of seeing through deception. The blend of vulnerability (weeping, keeping secrets) and prescience (seeing through you, wisdom waiting) makes her compelling, positioning her as a necessary, albeit mysterious, guide into an uncertain future.