According to Harrison biographer Simon Leng, the lyrics reflect "life's ephemeral character" and the "transitory" nature of love.
And the grid does have an emotional character, serving as a metaphor for human thought as well as activity; for the impressive yet transitory quality of industry; for the growth and decline of its sprawl and machinery.
Transitory though their show of character may have been, he said, it encouraged him in reaching a private resolve, for as he kept watch above the cave complex, Eriksson told me, he was suddenly seized with the overwhelming realization that unless he took it upon himself to speak out, the fact of Mao's death would remain a secret.
After this transitory period, the full quality is achieved again.
And although he usually discusses (virtuous) motives rather than virtues, it is clear that his motives are not transitory inner states but admirable states of character, such as compassion, benevolence and caring.
Here, Takahata appears to press his own passivity and indecision on to his character; for a narrative about life's transitory nature, it doesn't half start to drag.
As can be seen from our chordate examples, most of the characters that define the chordate body plan are transitory and are only present during a brief portion of the embryonic period.
His characters float through that worldscape like apparitions, as diaphanous and transitory as the directorial eye.
It is as if he, like his characters, cannot quite pin down what he wants to say about ageing, loss, and life's transitory nature.
