What's the meaning of "pillars of salt and pillars of sand"? Is it a metaphor?

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

These lyrics are actually quite interesting. Based on context cues involving "castles," we can deduce that "pillars of salt and pillars of sand" here means that the singer's lofty castles, in the end, turned out to unstable and meaningless (as salt and sand are soft materials that cannot support much). Overall, he is lamenting that his hopes and dreams ended up being meaningless insubstantial in the end. It is not a commonly used expression, but a metaphorical expression that is used to convey the singer's feelings. Ex: The castle I built up in the sky ended up disintegrating amongst pillars of sand. Ex: I used pillars of sand to create a sand castle.

How do native speakers use this expression?

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Popular Q&As

11/04

1
What does “lay low” mean?
To lay low means to keep a low profile (stay quiet) or to not draw attention to oneself. A similar expression is "stay lowkey." Ex: I got into a fight with my parents, so I'm going to stay lowkey for a while. Ex: The police put out an arrest warrant for the criminal, so he decided to lay low for the time being.

2
What does "this thing" in the lyrics refer to?
"This thing" can refer to a habit one has, usually shown in past experiences. So here, she's saying that she has this constant habit, proven by past experience and situations, where she gets older but not wiser! Ex: I have this thing where I bite my nails when I'm nervous. Ex: She has this thing where she doesn't respond to anyone when she's overwhelmed.

3
Why "say" is present form in here?
"Say" is in the present tense here because the entire sentence is in the present progressive tense with the verb "twist" + ing. Since he is talking about something which has happened and continues to happen, he can use the present tense form "say", even though he has already "said" something.

4
Well I guess "[noun]+free" is used quite often to refer something doesn't contain any [noun], right? Could you give me some other examples?
Yes, that's right! This is mostly used with foods. Some other common ones are "colorant-free," "sugar-free," "dairy-free," "wheat-free," and "egg-free." Ex: This custard is egg-free since you have an egg allergy. Ex: I'm dairy intolerant. Is this dairy-free?

5
Who does "as" refer to?
"As" in this case is a continuation of the previous sentence and is not beginning a new sentence, there is just a pause in between. So the full sentence here is "they are best known for their traditional role as fire dogs." "As" here is referring to the Dalmations being fire dogs.

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