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"
fires rain down from the north
hell is here, from what a source
man lost his will to machine
herringbone, maybelline
and then you go for your one shot
to where you are
bad vibes and love on the side
the maitre'd would help confide
mirrors are hard to come by
when eyes are closed
and hands are tied
and then you go for your one shot
to where you are
what you need
is so guaranteed
love comes like a Kennedy curse
the victom role was well rehearsed
you can paint over any mistake
but you can't remove
the original fake
hell is here, from what a source
man lost his will to machine
herringbone, maybelline
and then you go for your one shot
to where you are
bad vibes and love on the side
the maitre'd would help confide
mirrors are hard to come by
when eyes are closed
and hands are tied
and then you go for your one shot
to where you are
what you need
is so guaranteed
love comes like a Kennedy curse
the victom role was well rehearsed
you can paint over any mistake
but you can't remove
the original fake
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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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I love this song. it's got depth. Zach has such a brilliant voice.
This has to be one one of the best songs ever written
What, only two comments??? This song is fabulous! It's about the end of a relationship, and how the guy feels after it's over. All he wants is a guarantee that the girl isn't going to screw around on him and is going to reciprocate his love. But that didn't come to pass in this relationship.
On a related note, I'm quite sure these lyrics are wrong in at least a couple places. It's "the victim role is well rehearsed" for one.
this is an absolutely great song
do i smell a chuck berry reference in the first verse with little machine and maybelline?
who knows
the biggest thing that jumped out to me on the first run of listening to this song is the lyric "You can paint over any mistake, but you can't remove the original fake"
It stands out that at the beginning of a (most) relationship, sometimes people lie to make themselves look better and more attractive to the other person. While you are in the relationship you can make mistakes, it is expected. But when you revert to your true self after fronting for so long, it destroys the very foundation of the relationship versus just making a mistake.
In summation, I think this song is entirely about trust dissolving over time in a relationship.
heard this from pandora, it couldn't describe more what's going on in my life.
wish i liked the rest of the album as much as this song, though
Apparently about love and when it goes bad. Fires raging, hell is here, "hair and bone and Maybelline" conjures an image of a bullimic fan of cosmetics. "Bad vibes from love on the side" might be the issues in a partnership when one part becomes unfaithful, but confiding seems to be a decent thing even it it doesn't heal the bleeding. The rest of the second stanza is about lack of reflection (mirrors, eyes) and action (tied hands).
The Kennedy curse is an interesting one, does it mean that one can't get rid of love? Or that it hurts, injures, even "kills", over and over? The victim role, painting over mistakes but not being able to completely cure it if the foundation had been a fake is other issues in partnerships.
So all in all I think it's about when love has lost its guarantee, not generally but in a particular relationship. Once you lose it you get the issues he counts in the song. Or you lose it when you have those issues, whichever way you prefer. "Your one shot to where you are" to me is the chance to make love happen in a relationship that supposedly already has it. Thus to where you are.
I think when he refers to the Kenedy curse, he means that it is unavoidable, and like you said, it does often hurt. I love the symbolism in this song.
wow i cant believe i havent seen these lyrics or commented before. this is one of my favourite songs of all time honest. its brilliant poetry and music like all in one. Describing that one chance you get at first, that first impression and the hopes that come along with it. its powerful. There is no guarantee for anything in love. "Then you go for your one shot To where you are " almost like recognizing that tipping point in a chance relation. what strikes me the most in this song is this verse: "Love comes like a Kennedy curse The victim's role is well rehearsed You can paint over any mistake But you can't remove the original fake"
when i fall for someone its hard to get out of it.. love really is a curse at times. this person could be the most abusive guy ever but that love will curse you into taking the abuse. it blinds you and sticks with you for a long time. and the part "you can paint over any mistake but you cant remove the original fake" i think its pointing out... maybe mistakes a person made in a relationship.. and how you can make up and go on like everything is fine, but there is still that original mistake or issue that sticks. and how that mistake effects that lost love.. cause no matter how many times you fuck it up, theres no guarantee they still love you/want you. Its just an overall perfect song. Fantastic sound fantastic band. amazing song. i can always relate from being rejected so much.
for some reason his voice reminds me of issac brocks no clue why. it works so well with the instruments in this song. brilliant. :D