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"
I got my fingers dirty at the school of rock
Yeah I got my fingers dirty so I took a walk
I went up to the country park and hung around till after dark
Till the girls got home
Till the girls got home
Did I tell you 'bout the one I know, she's on the rag
She spent the summer day inside her sleeping bag
Yeah she spent the summer day inside until it's time to work
And she works all night
Cause the girl's all right
The girls have got a house that's like a caravan
And it's like your holidays whenever you go round
And we always have a laugh and then we all get in the bath
To save on the leccy bill
Me & Jo & Phil'
I had to leave them in the morning
I left the keys around the way
I had to go to work
I had to leave them in the morning
I left the keys down in the caf'
I had to catch a bus
And when Jo was short of cash I had to give her some
But I didn't really mind cause I was fit for once
So she paid the leccy bill and got the shopping and she still had
Some for the cinema
So we all went out
She asked me "Do I need to lose a bit of weight?"
And I told her "Don't be stupid 'cause you're looking great"
And I call her String Bean Jean because the label on her jeans says
Seven to eight years old, well that's pretty small
Seven to eight years old, that's pretty small
Seven to eight years old, that's pretty small
Seven to eight years old
I had to leave them in the morning
I left the keys around the way
I had to go to work
I had to leave them in the morning
I left the keys down in the caf'
I had to catch a bus
Yeah I got my fingers dirty so I took a walk
I went up to the country park and hung around till after dark
Till the girls got home
Till the girls got home
Did I tell you 'bout the one I know, she's on the rag
She spent the summer day inside her sleeping bag
Yeah she spent the summer day inside until it's time to work
And she works all night
Cause the girl's all right
The girls have got a house that's like a caravan
And it's like your holidays whenever you go round
And we always have a laugh and then we all get in the bath
To save on the leccy bill
Me & Jo & Phil'
I had to leave them in the morning
I left the keys around the way
I had to go to work
I had to leave them in the morning
I left the keys down in the caf'
I had to catch a bus
And when Jo was short of cash I had to give her some
But I didn't really mind cause I was fit for once
So she paid the leccy bill and got the shopping and she still had
Some for the cinema
So we all went out
She asked me "Do I need to lose a bit of weight?"
And I told her "Don't be stupid 'cause you're looking great"
And I call her String Bean Jean because the label on her jeans says
Seven to eight years old, well that's pretty small
Seven to eight years old, that's pretty small
Seven to eight years old, that's pretty small
Seven to eight years old
I had to leave them in the morning
I left the keys around the way
I had to go to work
I had to leave them in the morning
I left the keys down in the caf'
I had to catch a bus
Lyrics submitted by Putingrad, edited by emilierein, wpinbacker
String Bean Jean Lyrics as written by Murdoch
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I know some songs are just "words". Take the New Pornographers...Even some of B/S's songs are just silly rhymes. But this song sounds soo emotional to me that I am just sure that there is a cryptic meaning in it. I just can't begin to figure it out. :-/