He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
You pack your sweaters for the fall
And the flowers die in their garden rows
And the warm words can't help at all
Everybody knows
You're trying to find a compromise
Between remembering and learning to forget
So now just pouring a glass of water
Is like trying to move boulders with your breath
It's so hard to see it all
She tries to hold you in the night
But you're shaking
You're crying out
Praying for sleep to bless your bedside
That's right
So it goes
The whole world folds over you
Pack your handkerchief and your best shoes
Reconciliation of guilt and grief
It's the hardest battle you've tried to win
And now every year you grit your teeth
As it cuts you underneath your skin
Oh and Sunday mornings don't bring you solace
You are firm in your disbelief
But you hold tight to that old promise
You are waiting for the spring
You are waiting for the spring
That's right
So it goes
The whole world folds over you
Pack your handkerchief and your best shoes
Don't leave me breathing
No not alone
There's so much more I meant to tell you
I went by with flowers
Just to see
But the granite told me you're still gone
And the flowers die in their garden rows
And the warm words can't help at all
Everybody knows
You're trying to find a compromise
Between remembering and learning to forget
So now just pouring a glass of water
Is like trying to move boulders with your breath
It's so hard to see it all
She tries to hold you in the night
But you're shaking
You're crying out
Praying for sleep to bless your bedside
That's right
So it goes
The whole world folds over you
Pack your handkerchief and your best shoes
Reconciliation of guilt and grief
It's the hardest battle you've tried to win
And now every year you grit your teeth
As it cuts you underneath your skin
Oh and Sunday mornings don't bring you solace
You are firm in your disbelief
But you hold tight to that old promise
You are waiting for the spring
You are waiting for the spring
That's right
So it goes
The whole world folds over you
Pack your handkerchief and your best shoes
Don't leave me breathing
No not alone
There's so much more I meant to tell you
I went by with flowers
Just to see
But the granite told me you're still gone
Lyrics submitted by VampedVixen
So It Goes Lyrics as written by Billy Joel
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
This song hits really close to home because it makes me think of my time after my 15 year old brother committed suicide. "Your trying to find a compromise between remembering and learning to forget; so now just pouring a glass of water is like trying to move boulders with your breath." This is EXACTLY how I felt in the aftermath. The simplest things seemed like it took so much effort to get up and do and accomplish...I wanted to remember everything about my brother; how he looked, smiled, sounded like when he was laughing...but remembering these things always brought me back to the fact that he was suddenly gone. "Reconciliation of guilt and grief, it's the hardest battle you've tried to win and now every year you grit your teeth as it cuts you underneath your skin." This is how it feels years after his death still. The little anniversaries of his birthday and his death...still hurts badly. "Don't leave me breathing, no not alone, there's so much more I meant to tell you... I went by with flowers, just to see, but the granite told me you're still gone.... " The granite being the tombstone...my brother was cremated but I can so see the visual of someone going to a gravesite with flowers and the tombstone being the ultimate reminder that it wasn't a dream...that the person is really gone. Absolutely haunting!
I totally agree, nursemaryck. This song is one of the most haunting mourning songs I've ever heard. It's a combination of the lyrics, the simple guitar work, and Chris's voice. It goes right to the heart of the feeling of extreme loss without being melodramatic or over done. She picks such poignant images and presents them in a gut wrenching way that it's impossible to listen to this song without being extremely moved, even if one has not experienced a similar loss. It taps into a universal sense of loss and mourning to a degree I've never heard, outside of Patty Griffin's "Long Ride Home". <br /> <br /> I wonder, though, what she meant by the line "reconciliation of guilt and grief". What do you think she felt guilty for? The inconsolable grief part if clear; just not the guilt.<br /> <br /> I really like the use of "the granite told me you're still gone". It conveys a powerful sense of finality, and it adds to the haunting imagery/impact of the song, especially the way it repeats throughout the song. I'd never heard anything by Chris Pureka before hearing this song, but it's become one of my favorite songs and motivated me to listen to more of Chris's music as a result. She's definitely a very special and talented singer-songwriter.