This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Honey lovin' you is the greatest thing
I get to be myself and I get to sing
I get to play at being irresponsible
I come home late at night and I love your soul
I never forget you in my prayers
I never have a bad thing to report
You're my picture on the wall
You're my vision in the hall
You're the one I'm talking to
When I get in from my work
You are my girl, and you don't even know it
I am livin' out the life of a poet
I am the jester in the ancient court
You're the funny little frog in my throat
My eye sight's fading, my hearing's dim
I can't get insured for the state I'm in
I'm a danger to myself I've been starting fights
At the party at the club on a Saturday night
But I don't get disapproving from my girl
She gets the all highlights wrapped in pearls.
You're my picture on the wall
You're my vision in the hall
You're the one I'm talking to
When I get in from my work
You are my girl, and you don't even know it
I am livin' out the life of a poet
I am the jester in the ancient court
You're the funny little frog in my throat
I had a conversation with you at night
It's a little one sided but that's alright
I tell you in the kitchen about my day
You sit on the bed in the dark changing places
With the ghost that was there before you came
You've come to save my life again
I don't dare to touch your hand
I don't dare to think of you
In a physical way
And I don't know how you smell
You are the cover of my magazine
You're my fashion tip, a living museum
I'd pay to visit you on rainy Sundays
I'll maybe tell you all about it someday
I get to be myself and I get to sing
I get to play at being irresponsible
I come home late at night and I love your soul
I never forget you in my prayers
I never have a bad thing to report
You're my picture on the wall
You're my vision in the hall
You're the one I'm talking to
When I get in from my work
You are my girl, and you don't even know it
I am livin' out the life of a poet
I am the jester in the ancient court
You're the funny little frog in my throat
My eye sight's fading, my hearing's dim
I can't get insured for the state I'm in
I'm a danger to myself I've been starting fights
At the party at the club on a Saturday night
But I don't get disapproving from my girl
She gets the all highlights wrapped in pearls.
You're my picture on the wall
You're my vision in the hall
You're the one I'm talking to
When I get in from my work
You are my girl, and you don't even know it
I am livin' out the life of a poet
I am the jester in the ancient court
You're the funny little frog in my throat
I had a conversation with you at night
It's a little one sided but that's alright
I tell you in the kitchen about my day
You sit on the bed in the dark changing places
With the ghost that was there before you came
You've come to save my life again
I don't dare to touch your hand
I don't dare to think of you
In a physical way
And I don't know how you smell
You are the cover of my magazine
You're my fashion tip, a living museum
I'd pay to visit you on rainy Sundays
I'll maybe tell you all about it someday
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I'm pretty sure this song is just about having a crush on someone and fantasizing about it unrealistically. funny little frog in his throat is just the feeling he gets when he talks to her in real life because he's so involved with her in his own head. thats the literal meaning at least - i dont see too much depth in this song.
i cant really see the autobiographical meaning but i dont think anyone is stupid for thinking that. songs can mean different things to different people - that is a sign of a great songwriter.
That's because it is great.
this is obvosly, a great song.
my idea is that it could be about a past lover that the singer still is in love with, who may be dead or, the singers ideal lover. in ether case, when he says:
You are my girl, and you don't even know it I am livin' out the life of a poet I am the jester in the ancient court You're the funny little frog in my throat
i think this implies that this is somewhat of a dream, or vison, definily not somthing in realy life, but him saying that she is his funny little frog in his throat implys that he is always thinking about her and feels like she will always be with him. and the part that says
I am livin' out the life of a poet I am the jester in the ancient court
tells us that he dosent have the ideal life, beacuse he is only a jester, (maybe built to entertain this idea of a lover)
maybe the singer is a bit insane and he knows it.
(sorry for bad spelling... not my strong suite)
Aw man, I am obsessed with this song.
Yeah this song's really great :) I love it!
But then I dont really think there's a Belle and Sebastian song that I dislike.
i think it's about the virgin mary. this is consistent with one of belle and sebastian's more dominant themes.
Don't be drama llamas.
It's a lovely song, I love the claps.
I'm of the notion that it's a fake relationship song.
I thought it was obvious when I first heard it.. but perhaps I'm wrong. It's about the Virgin Mary.
"Honey lovin you is the greatest thing I get to be myself and I get to sing"
Singing is a reference to singing in a choir, which Stuart does at his local church when he's not doing B&S.
"I get to play at being irresponsible I come home late at night and I love your soul I never forget you in my prayers I never have a bad thing to report "
'Prayers' is fairly obvious, but "never forget you in my prayers" might be a reference to always remembering to pray to the Virgin, or to saying 'hail mary's.
"You're my picture on the wall You're my vision in the hall "
Makes sense that he would have a picture of the Virgin on his wall, perhaps, and he wouldn't have been the first person to have had visions of Mary.
"I'm a danger to myself I've been starting fights At the party at the club on a Saturday night But I don't get disapproving from my girl She gets the all highlights wrapped in pearls.. "
He only ever mentions the 'highlights' of what he does in his prayers to Mary.
"I had a conversation with you at night It's a little one sided but that's allright "
Prayers are usually one-sided! But often they're conversations.
"You sit on the bed in the dark changing places With the ghost that was there before you came You've come to save my life again "
Saving = salvation. Ghost = Holy ghost of the Trinity, who (if you believe in that kind of thing) was around a long time before Mary.
"I'd pay to visit you on rainy Sundays "
Church on Sunday?
The whole "funny little frog" thing might be to do with the Virgin influencing everything he says.
very interesting theory. prob. wrong, but interesting nonetheless.
oh my god. :)
The narrator of the song is a lonely, rather maladjusted guy. He's has some self-destructive, antisocial tendencies (I'm a danger to myself, I've been starting fights,) but what holds him together is this radiant image on the wall, this vision in the hall. She's not real - she sits on the bed in the dark trading places with the ghosts who were there before she came. So maybe he's getting a little healthier - this nurturing presence is an improvement over the ghosts that haunted him before. He's a bit uneasy about her - he doesn't dare to touch her hand, or to think of her in a physical way. He doesn't even know how she smells, which should be no surprise, as she exists only in his head. <br /> <br /> He's seems to be a sad little guy, but I get a sense of hope at the end, because he knows he can count on her, and she has a warm, soothing presence.
I haven't really been able to figure out what he's singing about. I don't think it's so simple. I think he's singing about an imaginary girlfriend, or a pretty girl he admires from a distance and is pretending he's going out with. Like, pretending he has a perfect relationship rather than actually getting into one that requires work.