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"
You can hold her hand
And show her how you cry
Explain to her your weakness so she understands
And then roll over and die
You can brave decisions
Before you crumble up inside
Spend your time asking everyone else's permission
Then run away and hide
You can sit on chimneys
With some fire up your ass
No need to know what you're doing or waiting for
But if ever anyone should ask
Tell them I've been licking coconut skins
And we've been hanging out
Tell them God just dropped by to forgive our sins
And relieve us our doubt
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala, lalalala
Lalala, lala, lala
Oh, you can hold her eggs
But your basket has a hole
You can lie between her legs and go looking for
Tell her you're searching for her soul
You can wait for ages
Watch your compost turn to coal
Time is contagious
Everybody's getting old
So you can sit on chimneys
With some fire up your ass
No need to know what you're doing or looking for
But if ever anyone should ask
Tell them I've been cooking coconut skins
And we've been hanging out
Tell them God just dropped by to forgive our sins
And relieve us our doubt
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala, lalalala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala, lalalala
Lalala, lala, lala
And show her how you cry
Explain to her your weakness so she understands
And then roll over and die
You can brave decisions
Before you crumble up inside
Spend your time asking everyone else's permission
Then run away and hide
You can sit on chimneys
With some fire up your ass
No need to know what you're doing or waiting for
But if ever anyone should ask
Tell them I've been licking coconut skins
And we've been hanging out
Tell them God just dropped by to forgive our sins
And relieve us our doubt
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala, lalalala
Lalala, lala, lala
Oh, you can hold her eggs
But your basket has a hole
You can lie between her legs and go looking for
Tell her you're searching for her soul
You can wait for ages
Watch your compost turn to coal
Time is contagious
Everybody's getting old
So you can sit on chimneys
With some fire up your ass
No need to know what you're doing or looking for
But if ever anyone should ask
Tell them I've been cooking coconut skins
And we've been hanging out
Tell them God just dropped by to forgive our sins
And relieve us our doubt
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala, lalalala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lalala, lala, lala, lalalala
Lalala, lala, lala
Lyrics submitted by davidecoyote
Coconut Skins Lyrics as written by Damien George Rice
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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Plastic Bag
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
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I think all the themes are connected. My take:
First verse: Don't give away all the secrets that will make a relationship bland and unrewarding. Basically, don't become a whipped pussy; ie- roll over and die.
Second verse: Make brave decisions, don't just do whatever someone else tells you you can.
Chorus: You can be a pompous asshole who thinks he knows it all, and act like you have it all figured out. You can even figure you are one on one with God, but you're just a pretentious fool.
Third verse: You can't possibly be everything she wants, even if you try. Don't be too much of a romantic. Don't act like animal instinct is beneath you, because it's still part of you. You are most likely not having sex with her to become enlightened.
Fourth Verse: Don't spend your whole life waiting, we're all getting older and we won't be here forever.
The only thing I don't quite understand is the significance of coconut skins. Do people really eat, or lick, them? If so, then idk it just represents some mundane aspect of everyday life. And if not, maybe he's trying to say doing all these things is like licking coconut skins - unrewarding, not nourishing.
^^and that is all just my opinion, but I'm loving this song
Im not entirely sure what the coconut skins is, but I'd imagine licking a coconut wouldn't be the most pleasurable thing... so maybe there's a connection between the two, being like sometimes you gotta roll with the punches and do something you don't necessarily enjoy doing, some rough and raw lol
i think he is licking her slightly hairy pussy lips.
I have been led to believe there is a way of getting high of coconut skins. not the hard shell but the green soft stuff around it.
@letterstonoelle the girl he is dating is white... hence, "ive been licking coconut skin, we've been hanging out. he's just talking about the things he has been doing with this girl.
@letterstonoelle I believe “cooking coconut skins” is just some random act to waste your time doing and it doesn’t matter to whoever would ask.