Take Ecstasy With Me

First off, great song from one of the greatest albums ever recorded. While Merritt's vocals on this track will be the memory that persists for the rest of my life, I also must say that the version featuring Susan Anway as lead singer (Oh, Merge! and Obscurities compilations) is equally haunting.

Now, as for the topics that have been discussed here so far... It's far more than just an account of homophobic violence (and, while it almost certainly does tell the story of a homosexual relationship, there are ways to look at it from the perspective of a heterosexual relationship that is deemed by others as being wrong or unfounded; in this way I feel it's somewhat non-specific and lends itself to any lovers that are persecuted). The lines pertaining to the violence -- "A vodka bottle gave you those raccoon eyes. / We got beat up just for holding hands." -- make up only a part of the whole story told, not the focal point. Rather, the focus of the song is much broader, on their relationship in its entirety. As many of you have pointed out, that is one instance that made them stronger, both through enduring something so traumatic together, and through being singled out and set apart from the rest of the world in a place all their own.

As to the image of "raccoon eyes" specifically, in its most literal form this phrase refers to periorbital ecchymosis. I don't want to bore you with the details, which you can gleam from a very simple google search, but basically it's a sign of head injury which in this situation implies that the subject was beaten violently with a vodka bottle. There are other interpretations, however, of "raccoon eyes" that could fit easily into this line and so I'm guessing the genius that is Stephin Merritt used this term intentionally. For instance, it could be the droopy, dark circles symptomatic of a hangover. It could be the outcome of a drunken fight that led to two black eyes of the usual kind (the medical "raccoon eyes" is a very different kind of black eye). It could be the visual effect of mascara smearing and running after a drunken argument between lovers. In all likelihood, this phrase was chosen by Merritt for its multiple inferrable meanings as well as its specific literal meaning.

As a few others have mentioned, the use of tenses is very important in the song as a whole. The first verse is all spoken in terms of "used to", which is very different from the single-instance past tense of the second verse. This is a little bit of a grammar nut's trick that gives the two verses very different meanings. The first is comprised of things that the narrator remembers the subject for, images that form the most elementary memories of him. This is not the voice you would use to tell a story, but to give context to a character, and implies that things are not this way any more, but does not directly say they have changed. As someone who has studied Merritt's writing style for a long time, I personally take this as a detail vital to the understanding of the song. Likely, the literal sliding down the stairs and building of gingerbread houses does not take place any more but is still figuratively accurate. Instead of actually having taffy pulls, they now have the sticky, saccharine sweetness of love. They haven't lost their innocence, but found new innocence in adult romance rather than pre-adolescent companionship.

The second verse is all written as a story. Where the first verse is a photo album, the second is a short film, a glimpse into a particular instance that brought the two closer together. The rest of the song is very abstract and tangled, and the second verse gives all the rest of it a core to wrap itself around. This is the part that gives the listener that moving, undeniable, gut-wrenching connection to the song.

And the chorus... The chorus is absolutely perfectly written. It is the tissue that binds the muscle of the first verse to the bone of the second. Written in the imperative present sense, it reinforces that the love is current, not a thing of the past, and gives a little context to the dynamics of the relationship. Notice he doesn't ask, or say it nicely, or suggest it. He clearly, cleanly, and demandingly states "Take ecstasy with me, baby. Take ecstasy with me." This implies that the narrator is the more assertive and commanding of the two, and that he recognizes the subject still loves him but wants him to give verifiable life to that romance by dropping e.

I wouldn't read too much into the use of "ecstasy" in its specific use here, saying it's a gay drug, although that does give some subtle lining to it. Rather, I think it's merely a symbol of the counterculture that the song is drenched in. It should also be noted that you could not really use any other drug in its place as a songwriter. "Smoke pot with me", "Shoot h with me", "Snort blow with me", and even the non-specific "Do drugs with me": none of these work at all here. Ecstasy is by far the most romantic drug for shared use among partners, no matter the sexes, and its very name gives light to that fact. It can be enjoyed between two people in bed, at a party, on a quiet night in, dancing at a club, and in a number of other situations. Therefore, I see it more as a command for the subject of the song to come share in all the euphoric joys of a counterculture life with the narrator.

Last thought, the !!! cover of this song is terrible, abhorable, and does an incredible injustice to the Magnetic Fields and Stephin Merritt as a writer. How are you going to take some of the most iconic lines ever written by one of the two or three most prolific songwriters in decades, and completely change them? When I heard that cover, I immediately began my boycott of !!!.