In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
And here I dreamt I was a soldier
And I marched the streets of Birkenau
And I recall in spring
The perfume that the air would bring
To the indolent town
Where the barkers call the moon down
The carnival was ringing loudly now
And just to lay with you
There's nothing that I wouldn't do
Save lay my rifle down
And try one, and try two
I guess it always comes down to
Alright, it's okay
Guess it's better to turn this way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And I am nothing of a builder
But here I dreamt I was an architect
And I built this balustrade
To keep you home, to keep you safe
From the outside world
But the angles and the corners
Even though my work is unparalleled
They never seemed to meet
This structure fell about our feet
And we were free to go
And try one, and try two
Guess it always comes down to
Alright, okay
Guess it's better to turn this way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And here in Spain I am a Spaniard
I will be buried with my marionettes
Countess and courtesan
Have fallen 'neath my tender hand
When their husbands were not around
But you, my soiled teenage girlfriend
Oh, while you furrow like the lioness
And we are vagabonds
We travel without seat belts on
To live this close to death
And try one, and try two
I guess it always comes down to
Alright, it's okay
Guess it's better to turn this
But I won, so you lose
Guess it always comes down to
Alright, it's okay
Guess it's better to turn this way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And I marched the streets of Birkenau
And I recall in spring
The perfume that the air would bring
To the indolent town
Where the barkers call the moon down
The carnival was ringing loudly now
And just to lay with you
There's nothing that I wouldn't do
Save lay my rifle down
And try one, and try two
I guess it always comes down to
Alright, it's okay
Guess it's better to turn this way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And I am nothing of a builder
But here I dreamt I was an architect
And I built this balustrade
To keep you home, to keep you safe
From the outside world
But the angles and the corners
Even though my work is unparalleled
They never seemed to meet
This structure fell about our feet
And we were free to go
And try one, and try two
Guess it always comes down to
Alright, okay
Guess it's better to turn this way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And here in Spain I am a Spaniard
I will be buried with my marionettes
Countess and courtesan
Have fallen 'neath my tender hand
When their husbands were not around
But you, my soiled teenage girlfriend
Oh, while you furrow like the lioness
And we are vagabonds
We travel without seat belts on
To live this close to death
And try one, and try two
I guess it always comes down to
Alright, it's okay
Guess it's better to turn this
But I won, so you lose
Guess it always comes down to
Alright, it's okay
Guess it's better to turn this way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Lyrics submitted by sarahsavedlatin
Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect Lyrics as written by Colin Meloy
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
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Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
There's a lot of ways to look at the song.
I see it being about relationships. The first verse is about a man who is in love but can't stop fighting. It's a common relationship problem, the man is jealous or can't stop himself from defending his girlfriend.
In the second I see it as being a relationship where they try to put up too many rules and limits. He tries to keep his girlfriend/wife safe by keeping her away from everything, and seeing it never work, their love crumbles and they go their separate ways.
The third is how he is currently. He stops dreaming. He's a womanizer, his relationships mean very little and he has a pregnant teenage girlfriend. The line "And we are vagabonds/we travel without seat belts on/we live this close to death" means, to me, that their relationship is on the edge.
Then again, it's such a mysterious song which is what I really love about it. This is just how I like to look at it.