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"
(Rag and bone) rag and bone
(Rag and bone) rag and bone
Meg, look at this place
What? Woo
Well, this place is like a mansion
It's like a mansion, look at all this stuff
I dunno
Look, I see something over there
Woo, man
Well, can't you hear us selling "rag and bone"?
Bring out your junk and we'll give it a home
A broken trumpet or a telephone
Ah, come on, ah, come on, ah, come on
Come on and give it to me
Yeah
Ah, come on, ah, come on, ah, come on
Come on and give it to me
Oh, rag and bone
Rag and bone
Ah, come on, ah, come on, ah, come on
Come on and give it to me
All of your pretty
Your pretty little rags and bones
Well, man, look at all this, you don't want it?
(I could use that)
You sure you don't want it, man? (I could use)
Take it
It's just things you don't want, I can use 'em
Meg can use 'em, we can do something with 'em
We'll make something out of 'em
Make some money out of 'em at least
This fits me perfect
Give it to me
Hey, if you ain't gonna use it, just give it to us
We'll give it a home
Well, have they got something shiny for me?
Anybody got a Christmas tree?
Can you partwith a toilet seat?
Ah, jump up, ah, jump up, ah, jump up
Come on and give it to me
Rag and bone
We wanna get it, granny, while it's hot
You think it's trash, granny, but it's not
Oh, we'll be taking whatever you got
Ah, give up, ah, give up, ah, give up
Come on and give it to me
Woo
All of your pretty
Your pretty little rags and bones
I saw some stuff in your yard are you gonna give it to us?
Ah, Meg, don't be rude
Or not?
They might need it
If you don't want it, we'll take it
If you don't wanna give it to us, we'll keep walking by
We'll keep going we're not tired
Got plenty of places to go, lots of homes we ain't been to yet
On the west side, the south-west side
Middle east, rich house, dog house, outhouse, old folks' house
House for unwed mothers, halfway homes, catacombs, twilight zones
Look at what techniques turn tables to gramophones
So take a last lick of your ice-cream cone
And lock up what you still wanna own
But please be kind (take your time)
And don't rewind (it's fine)
All of your pretty
Your pretty little rags and bones
Yeah
Your pretty little rags and bones
Ah, jump up, ah, jump up, ah, jump up
Come on and give it to me
Oh
your pretty little rags and bones
Ah, come on, ah, come on, ah, come on
Come on and give it to us
Yeah
Yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
(Rag and bone) rag and bone
Meg, look at this place
What? Woo
Well, this place is like a mansion
It's like a mansion, look at all this stuff
I dunno
Look, I see something over there
Woo, man
Well, can't you hear us selling "rag and bone"?
Bring out your junk and we'll give it a home
A broken trumpet or a telephone
Ah, come on, ah, come on, ah, come on
Come on and give it to me
Yeah
Ah, come on, ah, come on, ah, come on
Come on and give it to me
Oh, rag and bone
Rag and bone
Ah, come on, ah, come on, ah, come on
Come on and give it to me
All of your pretty
Your pretty little rags and bones
Well, man, look at all this, you don't want it?
(I could use that)
You sure you don't want it, man? (I could use)
Take it
It's just things you don't want, I can use 'em
Meg can use 'em, we can do something with 'em
We'll make something out of 'em
Make some money out of 'em at least
This fits me perfect
Give it to me
Hey, if you ain't gonna use it, just give it to us
We'll give it a home
Well, have they got something shiny for me?
Anybody got a Christmas tree?
Can you partwith a toilet seat?
Ah, jump up, ah, jump up, ah, jump up
Come on and give it to me
Rag and bone
We wanna get it, granny, while it's hot
You think it's trash, granny, but it's not
Oh, we'll be taking whatever you got
Ah, give up, ah, give up, ah, give up
Come on and give it to me
Woo
All of your pretty
Your pretty little rags and bones
I saw some stuff in your yard are you gonna give it to us?
Ah, Meg, don't be rude
Or not?
They might need it
If you don't want it, we'll take it
If you don't wanna give it to us, we'll keep walking by
We'll keep going we're not tired
Got plenty of places to go, lots of homes we ain't been to yet
On the west side, the south-west side
Middle east, rich house, dog house, outhouse, old folks' house
House for unwed mothers, halfway homes, catacombs, twilight zones
Look at what techniques turn tables to gramophones
So take a last lick of your ice-cream cone
And lock up what you still wanna own
But please be kind (take your time)
And don't rewind (it's fine)
All of your pretty
Your pretty little rags and bones
Yeah
Your pretty little rags and bones
Ah, jump up, ah, jump up, ah, jump up
Come on and give it to me
Oh
your pretty little rags and bones
Ah, come on, ah, come on, ah, come on
Come on and give it to us
Yeah
Yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Lyrics submitted by inthissilentvoid
Rag And Bone Lyrics as written by Jack White
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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I think it has something to do with Jack being an avid junk collector. Seriously. I was reading an article of him in the paper and he was saying that he has an obsession for junk. Pretty much anything that might arouse particular interest that people throw out. He said that he used to be in the business and would often move collect old couches for re-sale which people threw out. So it has something to do with rediscovering the beauty of things that most people don't find usefull anymore.
"Bring out your junk and we'll give it a home." "It's just things you don't want I can use them, Meg can use them We can do something with them We’ll make something out of them"
This describes what i'm saying perfectly.
I agree, but apparently "garbage-picking" as a hobby is a thing in Detroit, amongst other places, and in England those kind of people are called "rag and bone," according to Jack.<br /> From a recent FILTER Mag article Jack White wrote:<br /> 'It was a popular pastime for kids growing up in Detroit; scouring through abandoned buildings looking for whatever you could find. I was a born garbage-picker. Raised by garbage-pickers. I even played on a song called “garbage-picker” in a band I was in once. I plan to teach my kids to garbage-pick as well if they know what’s good for them. In England they call them “rag and bone” people; “mongo” is another good term I learned from the scrap-metal kind of pickers in Detroit. (...) I found drum sets, lamps, paintings, everything.'<br /> <br /> He elaborates a little more in the article, which you can find here: filtermagazine.com/index.php/exclusives/entry/jack_white_instant_manipulation