In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
I got in a fight with the stenographer
Afterwards she read me like a book.
I had tried to get along with her
But my temperament was quickly overlooked.
On the weekends we can
Sneak into this courtroom
And you'll offer me some sort of bargain plea.
Yeah, Smith and Weston Jr. was a son of a gun
He pressed his nose up to my head.
Yeah, I was sweatin' bullets but I dodged the one
That was not as much sweat as was lead.
Oh, I still love you!
Oh, I still love you
Although I know that you want me dead.
And when I turn my other cheek
I will beg and I'll plead
That this time you might just kiss it instead.
Cause this is my story
And like the glue on the binding,
I'm sticking to it.
If you wanna implore me
To change my tune,
Well I just won't do it.
Cause this is my story
And like the glue on the binding,
I'm sticking to it.
If you wanna implore me
To change my tune,
Well I just won't do it.
Afterwards she read me like a book.
I had tried to get along with her
But my temperament was quickly overlooked.
On the weekends we can
Sneak into this courtroom
And you'll offer me some sort of bargain plea.
Yeah, Smith and Weston Jr. was a son of a gun
He pressed his nose up to my head.
Yeah, I was sweatin' bullets but I dodged the one
That was not as much sweat as was lead.
Oh, I still love you!
Oh, I still love you
Although I know that you want me dead.
And when I turn my other cheek
I will beg and I'll plead
That this time you might just kiss it instead.
Cause this is my story
And like the glue on the binding,
I'm sticking to it.
If you wanna implore me
To change my tune,
Well I just won't do it.
Cause this is my story
And like the glue on the binding,
I'm sticking to it.
If you wanna implore me
To change my tune,
Well I just won't do it.
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So "The Stenographer" is pure lyrical genius!!!!
this song is extremely well crafted when it comes to flawless and intricate metaphors the metaphor to begin with is, a stenographer is the person who types out a record of all the words spoken in the court of law
which to me implys the fact that he's having a fight with someone who likes to keep score and can use his words against him because she remembers them 'word for word' almost as if she's reading them back to him "afterward she read me like a book" and it seems that he doesnt want to fight, he tries to get along and is coming in pleasant temperment, but she disregards this fact to shoot him down with words
and sneaking into the court room is just another brilliant reference to fights/stenographers etc
the next metaphor, is Smith and Wesson Jr. (being australian i did not understand the referrence without looking it up) but Smith and Wesson is the largest gun manufacturer in the U.S., so putting a Junior on the end is setting up the story and the segue into the common expression "son of a gun" then "pressed his nose up to my head" is implying the nose of the gun being held up to his head as he feels that she is shooting him down which leads into the next expression "sweating bullets" implying nerves, and trying to dodge the proverbial bullets being shot at him
"Oh i still love you, Oh i still love you, even though you want me dead" to me is reflecting again on the fact that he doesnt want to fight and he's trying to go about it in a Chirst-like way by turing the other cheek which is implying he's already been hit (perhaps by her words/bullets) but he is obviously (as we all do in situations like this) hoping "beg and i'll plead" that instead of being hit again maybe forgiveness, "this time you might just kiss it instead"
the the last part is the metephor of a book being his side of the story,which he is sticking to, and he won't change regardless of her begging, or asking, or twisting his words to change his tune but he is sticking to his guns ;) (mind the pun)
AAAAANNNNNYYYYYWWWWAAAAYYYYYY that is my interpretation of the incredibly well-written song by the WONDERFUL Matthew Thiessen. God bless him!