Folding Chair

I think the meaning of this song is alot simpler than some of the posts I read. I mean it makes sense...the scene Regina so beautifully portrays is very simple--she's sitting on a beach, there's a breeze--there's no real action. Even the imagery suggests simplicity--the sea is just a wetter version of the sky. Once this image of simplicity is grasped, the song meaning is much more easily understood... This woman enjoys keeping things simple. She thinks she wants real love--a serious committed relationship (Now I've been sitting on this abandoned beach for years Waiting for the salty water to cover up my ears), but every time things start to turn serious or complicated with a guy, she gets scared and winds up alone.(But every time the tide come in to take me home...I get scared NOW I'm sitting here alone) So she wants this person she begins addressing toward the end of the song to keep things simple with her, to simply hold her hand, to just come open up his folding chair next to hers. But still, the complexity lies in this line here: "There's a shadow, You can't see my eyes" Its obviously important because of its repetition and appearance at the beginning and end of the song. She is content keeping things simple with a guy, just having someone around, but she still truly longs for real love that will come and sweep her away like a tide--only problem is she's scared to death of this. This is why its important that he can't see her eyes. He can't see her deep longings and fears. She wants to keep things simple so she does not let him see her real feelings, but because she does not let guys see her real feelings, things will stay simple, she won't find serious love which is secretly something she wants but is just scared of.

I think the line : "I've got a perfect body, but sometimes I forget, I've got a perfect body, 'cause my eyelashes catch my sweat," means that she thinks she has a perfect body, because its functional and not because its perfectly slim or esthatically beautiful. I think that "but sometimes I forget" is all about the insecurity of woman about their body.

oooh, my first ever comment on this site...

i'm reading all your interpretations and they all seem to fit , but i have a different view.

i think this song is about a girl who is afraid to get into relationships because she's been through some rough ones. she's a little insecure, but wants the guy to accept her and join her as a couple.

"my feet are buried in the sand" - i think means that she's grounded and has realistic expectations. "there's a shadow, you can't see my eyes" - maybe she is a bit afraid of commitment. not sure what "the sea is a wetter version of the skies" means yet. "now I've been sitting on this abandoned beach for years" - maybe she's been alone and single for awhile "waiting for the salty water to cover up my ears" - she's waiting for that special someone that will sweep her off her feet. "but every time the tide come in to take me home, I get scared and I'm sitting here alone" - every time she gets into a relationship, she gets scared and breaks up with them.

yeah so, she just wants a happy ending

and also "sweetly hold your hand" possible Beatles reference.

i think that the song is all about simply enjoying life to me, the "folding chair" is significant as it is a quite simplistic seat to sit on, which she uses simply to sit back and watch how her life plans out, whilst enjoying it. the body bit, as many others think so, to me is all about her forgetting that she has a perfect body as she can walk and talk, and everything does it's job- even the tiny jobs such as eyelashes being used to catch sweat. however she often forgets this as her body does not seem perfect compared to others. the bit about the sea being a wetter version of the sky is a bit confusing. to me it just shows how the sea can be dangerous, as can Earth itself, while the sky seems so beautiful. regina seems to remind us that reality (the sea) is just a more touchable and sensual version of our dreams that always seem beyond our reach. she seems afraid to sit here alone and see all of this happening around her, so invites somebody else to sit with her and enjoy it. the part about the shadows just show how she feels that her real self is sometimes hidden by the seemingly more important and depressing factors of life, and how she wishes that people would see past the shadows and just enjoy life.

sorry i've written so much- i love regina spektor and this is possibly my favorite song :)

Seriously one of the best lines ever is about her eyelashes catching her sweat. The first time I heard it, it just put a huge smile on my face because I wasn't expecting it. Perfecttt.

This song to me is based upon the story of the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson! Just think about it, it is like Ariel wishing she had legs to walk the land and do all the things she dreams about with her lover! :)

I think the "There's a shadow, you can't see my eyes' refers to the depressed state of the boy she is talking about. Depressed people usually don't notice the states of other people, they're under a 'shadow', hence the boy can't see her eyes, and eyes are usually considered the windows to the soul, from which you can determine feelings and thoughts.

So the boy/man she likes is glum. I'm guessing the guy is down because he was dumped by another girl, which was why she invites him to sit next to her: "Come on over..." maybe as a way to cheer him up, maybe as a way to strike up a new relationship.

I originally thought that the "shadow" referred to an umbrella in the sand, and Regina was sitting underneath it in the shade, which was why the man couldn't see her eyes, but I think the depressed state theory makes more sense.

And to cheer him up, Regina sings in a sort of cheerful way. It's a beautiful song.

Did anyone catch the part where the girl in the song tries to drown herself? "Waiting for the salty water to cover up my ears But every time the tide come in to take me home I get scared"

I think this song is about a young girl who is so in love with her boyfriend. And they go to a beach a lot. She wants to buy a little house and have a baby with him and they'll be this really cool little family. But the guy pulls one of those "I'm unhappy with life, I need to 'find myself'" things. So he leaves. Then she still goes to that beach where they used to go and tries to drown herself, but she gets too scared.

Then the lines "Maybe one day you'll understand That I want nothing from you but to sweetly hold your hand Till that day just please don't be so down Don't make frowns, you silly clown" are about how she hopes he'll realize they are good together and she still loves him. And she just wants him to be happy with life and come back.

Then at the end, it's the same verse as the first. But the first time, it was a happy one, when they were together, and the last verse is like, a sad beckoning for him to come back to their beach.

"I've got a perfect body, but sometimes I forget I've got a perfect body, 'cause my eyelashes catch my sweat yes they do"

I believe she's saying my body works-I am healthy and thankful for it.

the but sometimes I forget-coould mean I get hung up on the little thngs and should be happy bc I work =]

I love this song. Although Regina has no idea what a dolphin actually sounds like. The sound she is making is actually a seal or a sea lion (they bark), where as a dolphin makes a high-pitched cackling sound. I wonder if she made that mistake on purpose to say something about the character in the song. It's funny either way.