Paris 2004

I adore this song! It was love at first sound. I’ve been listening to it non-stop for days, everyone around me is sick of it, and I’m hoping I will too very soon. How many times will it take for my heart and stomach to stop aching and habituate?

I think it describes how precious even mundane activities like breakfast can be when in the right company, nothing/ no one else matters because it's all about you and the other person.

I love the imagery and symbolism of drawing a ring on a finger, with a marker no less. Simple and sweet.

I've listened to this song for 2 years curious what the title meant, and I just watched a movie and everything seemed to make total sense.

There is a movie called Before Sunrise about two people, an american boy and a girl from paris, who meet on a train. The boy has to fly home in the morning and they decide to be with eachother for this entire night. Ultimately they fall in love. Really amazing movie, I strongly suggest everyone to see it--100% tomatometer rating on rotten tomatoes (no bad reviews).

Anyways, that movie was made in 1995, and it had a sequel that came out in 2004. It took place 9 years into the future from the original movie and shows the two that fell in love in the first movie all in one night. The movie takes place in Paris 2004, and explicitly says "Paris 2004" to introduce the movie.

rottentomatoes.com/dor/objects/39630/before_sunset/videos/before_sunset-trl_wide.html

There's the link to the trailer, watch for yourself. I strongly suggest going to see the movie because it's really really good and different. Not much happens, there's barely any plot, you just learn a lot about the two characters.

Anyways, it really makes sense applied to this song.

"Sunday morning, we'll be out on the boulevards" The couple in the first movie just walk around Vienna all day, talking and exploring.

"Monday morning, we have to fly back home again" The boy's plane is leaving in the morning.

"While I'm sleeping, you paint a ring on my finger with your black marker pen" One of the scenes, the boy tells the girl "If i had the choice between never seeing you again and marrying you right now I'd marry you!"

"I'm all about you, you're all about me, we're all about eachother" They're conversations mostly have to do with love and the importance of having a relationship with another, what it means for eachother.

"You don't have to tell, 'cause I know so well What we are all after." Specifically "what we all are after". One idea one of the characters have is that "Everything everyone does is ultimately for the sake of being loved a little more". That love is all we want as humans.

"Likewise if uncertainty puts a spell on me, I have to zoom in on your laughter." They talk about the permanence of love, and how uncertainty may start to seep in, but address that they, as individuals, would fall in love with particular mannerisms. Such as... laughter.

Now... that is all related to the first movie, Before Sunrise. The sequel, which I have not seen, but have read the plot summary seems to refer to the last lines. The sequel takes place 9 years later, in paris 2004, it is their first reunion since the original movie. Much like the first movie, there is another time constraint. One of them has to catch a plane again.

"Wednesday morning, We sleep over and we're late again." This seems to talk about how they only have so much time again.

"Let's skip breakfast, We need this precious time just to comprehend. " The time constraint makes them jump immediately into personal details.

It really seems to fit so perfectly. Watch the movie and tell me wrong. Oh man, this is cool stuff.

This song is amazing. I love the part about the ring. It's great imagery. And it's such a damn good move... and I like how they took time off to comprehend the seriousness of their situation. My favorite part is how he doesn't say love in the whole song. It's such an over used word and I think it's so much better the way he showed it - it means so much more. I think this is about when they first fell in love. That moment... when you realize you're in love. Thats what this song is about, and the moment was his trip to Paris. They took the day off to contemplate their newfound love. Great song.

I always wonder why this song is called "Paris 2004". Maybe he's writing about how he felt at that time in a particular relationship. Other songs on the album like "Up Against The Wall" and "Let's Call It Off" are about a romantic relationship coming to an end. This song could be a reflection on how that relationship began and how good it once was.

I saw PB&J live a few weeks ago and Peter said this song was written in Paris, in 2004, therefore Paris 2004.

It's such the love song, completely sentimental and overwhelming. It's about the sweetness of love, and how you give up a part of yourself for others. It is the counterpoint to the rest of the album's break-up songs.

I agree with fern, this song is awesome.

maybe he was in love, in paris. it seems fitting. when you're in your favorite place in the world, with someone you're in love with, the memories from those days stick with you. you can recall things with such vivid colours, and thick, heavy moods and scents, even. This song, for me, is a portrayal of how the tiny, meaningless things you do, like eating a croissant and leaving the rest of it on the bed, are so much more colorful when you are in love. It's like you're in a giant dome where no matter what happens, you'll be okay, because you're in love, and you have a certain person in your life to make everything you do leave a mark in your mind. A memory that will always seem fresh.

actually, live he said quite simply that this song was about him and his girlfriend going to paris in 2004. i assume that these lyrics are just random things he wanted to write down. sweet song.