The song begins with the words ‘Picture a bright blue ball, just spinning free, dizzy with eternity, paint it with a sin of sky, brush in some clouds and sea..’ The focus of the song begins at a global level, precisely cosmic level, asking mankind to picture a peaceful planet where everything is free and untainted.  At the end of the first stanza, the singer says ‘But afraid, we may find our home to waste.’ This means that humans are about to shatter the peaceful planet by throwing stones and destroying the earth.  By throwing stones, one gets the idea of wars and destruction which humans do and thus may the home to become waste.

In times of war, there is bound to be a lot of pollution due to the emission of smoke and noise.  The earth continues to spin, but down here, the humans are destroying the peace, and all that remain is‘ ashes, ashes, all fall down.’ Ashes come from fire, and therefore there is a feeling of burning and destruction.  This means that ashes come from buildings and plants, all which make up the environment and if they are destroyed, then the earth is laid waste, without the beauty that it begins with.  If we continue throwing stones, the singer says that ‘if the game is lost, then we’re all the same, no one left to place or take the blame.  ‘We will leave this place an empty stone, or that shining ball of blue we can call our home.’

References

Throwing Stones – Live on 12/31/8 five at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland CA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0wCPXpRoWQ