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
"Some and now none of you"
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.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
There's a place your mother goes
When everybody else is soundly sleeping
Through the lights of beacon street
And if you listen you can hear her weeping
She's weeping
'Cause the gentlemen are calling
And the snow is softly falling
On her petticoats
And she's standing in the harbor
And she's waiting for the sailors
In the jolly boat
See how they approach?
With dirty hands and trousers torn
They grapple 'til she's safe within their keeping
A gag is placed between her lips
To keep her sorry tongue from any speaking
Or screamin'
And they row her out to packets
Where the sailor's sorry racket
Calls for maidenhead
And she's scarce above the gunwales
When her clothes fall to a bundle
And she's laid in bed
On the upper deck
And so she goes from ship to ship
Her ankles clasped, her arms so rudely pinioned
'Til at last she's satisfied
The lot of the marina's teeming minions
In their opinions
And they tell her not to say a thing
To cousin, kindred, kith or kin
Or she'll end up dead
And they throw her thirty dollars
And return her to the harbor
Where she goes to bed
And this is how your fed
So be kind to your mother
Though she may seem an awful bother
And the next time she tries to feed you collard greens
Remember what she does when you're asleep
Remember what she does when you're asleep
When everybody else is soundly sleeping
Through the lights of beacon street
And if you listen you can hear her weeping
She's weeping
'Cause the gentlemen are calling
And the snow is softly falling
On her petticoats
And she's standing in the harbor
And she's waiting for the sailors
In the jolly boat
See how they approach?
With dirty hands and trousers torn
They grapple 'til she's safe within their keeping
A gag is placed between her lips
To keep her sorry tongue from any speaking
Or screamin'
And they row her out to packets
Where the sailor's sorry racket
Calls for maidenhead
And she's scarce above the gunwales
When her clothes fall to a bundle
And she's laid in bed
On the upper deck
And so she goes from ship to ship
Her ankles clasped, her arms so rudely pinioned
'Til at last she's satisfied
The lot of the marina's teeming minions
In their opinions
And they tell her not to say a thing
To cousin, kindred, kith or kin
Or she'll end up dead
And they throw her thirty dollars
And return her to the harbor
Where she goes to bed
And this is how your fed
So be kind to your mother
Though she may seem an awful bother
And the next time she tries to feed you collard greens
Remember what she does when you're asleep
Remember what she does when you're asleep
Lyrics submitted by Hunter, edited by antiaverage, AbuDun
A Cautionary Song Lyrics as written by Colin Meloy
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song is much more tongue-in-cheek than a lot of people seem to think. I see it much more as an elaborate lie told by maybe a nanny or a grandmother or something to get a young child to appreciate the food they're given better. I think the more graphic the more effective it would be in this case, and this song is graphic to the point that it's over-the-top. It's obviously being told to a child (who else would be so upset about their mother telling them to eat collard greens). It's more than likely false due to the fact that she only does it when everyone's sleeping and she's told not to tell anyone she knows what she does (stipulations which would silence questions about why she hadn't mentioned any of this before). I personally love the song.
I agree, the lyrics and rhythmic timing seem to me to be invested with an aura of fantasy; I can't say that there's any certainty this is a lie told by a nanny ... but look at the title "A Cautionary Song" ... as there are also "Cautionary Tales".<br /> <br /> But maybe the genius of the song is neither in what someone above called the courage to speak plainly about rape and prostitution, nor in the brilliant fabrication to scare / guilt a child into compliance.<br /> <br /> We all, at some point, do (and feel compelled to do) things we'd rather not. Whether it's an alarm clock at 330am or getting dressed up for an event we'd rather miss ... we prostitute ourselves, sooner or later, in bigger or smaller ways. And we tend to think quite highly of ourselves, a bit of holy aura over our 'victimization' and of the suffering we accept "for the greater good."<br /> <br /> Perhaps the comedy of this song is buried a little deeper -- a gently mockery, a reminder we should not take our own suffering too seriously or pat ourselves on the back too generously ...<br /> <br /> I found the song brilliant, one of the thirty or so best I've heard this decade.
I agree. Except for the line about collard greens, this really sounds to me like one big, elaborate yo-mamma joke. I love it, but it definitely sounds like more of a joke song than some of their other stuff. The rhyme scheme definitely lends itself to the joking air, I think. Despite the language and the connotation of it all, it's got sort of a Dr. Seuss feel in how it rhymes, in sort of a weird way.
@n00t I think your right because it is especially evident when he says "and this is how you're fed..." Talk about a guilt trip
I love the little bait-and-switches:
she's safe - within their keeping
she's satisfied - the lot of the marina's teaming minions
Of course she is not safe or satisfied at all.
"Backed by the incessant thumping of an accordion, an age-old Bostonian tale of harlotry and self-renunciation is woven. The story begins with a down-and-out mother standing in the harbor, awaiting the rowboat that will take her to the 'jolly boat' where she is paid to please the ruttish sailors. There is an exceptional drawing in the liner notes of the mother coyly looking off to the side as a burly brute of a man rows her out. She is bound and gagged before she is hoisted upon the ship, where the men are itching for virginal satisfaction. She is passed along from boat to boat until--not she, but they--are content. They toss her a paltry wad of money and admonish her before dumping her back at the harbor. The meaning behind the song's title is made known in the final lines urging meticulous young children to be appreciative of their guardians’ breadwinning."
stylusmagazine.com/feature.php
I think you guys might be taking the song a little bit too seriously.
Forgive me for sounding insensitive, but I interpret songs like this, as well as they're latest "The Mariner's Revenge Song" as an emulation and depiction of music and subject matter of 18th century-esque pirate and 'sea-dog' music.
I just got a light hearted 'story teller' vibe from these songs, and I can't help but giggle at this song when he says "Remember what she does when you're asleep".
Right, MorrisStephenson, but the whole point I think is to draw attention to the bizarre contrast between what sounds like a light-hearted song with its pretty nauseating subject matter. You laugh at the end because that's where the point is made most cuttingly. I'm talking about people laughing at the graphic rape scenes, which only makes sense if you are an actual pirate.
I don't think rape is the subject, especially given the point at the end that she is making money for a reason, namely to feed herself and her family, and the elements that make one think of rape, are just bluntly descriptive elements to what she has to do to make that money.
I think it is about alot of things. Prostitution, Motherly Love, Mans need to Dominate, and Humiliation. She makes money buy selling her body. The gag and tie part is not rape it is just showing males need to dominate to prove they are better. that also goes along with humiliation. Then the motherly love is her willingness to do anything to provide for her children. That is what i see at least.
'So be kind to your mother Though she may seem an awful bother And the next time she tries to feed you collard greens Remember what she does when you're asleep'
The long pause between 'collard greens' and the next line is wonderful.
Every time I hear that last line I giggle to myself.
the song's basically like "your mom gets raped to feed you so don't complain about eating vegetables."
fffuuuuuuuuuuhhhh. . .
this song is about prostitution, a little obvious. it's got an appropriate accordian part that adds very nicely to the song. props to the decemberists for being so bold as to sing about this time frame and so on. it's a cool song, either you love it or you don't
What is it he whispers at the end of the song? Is it sleeping or last key or something else?