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"
May your eyes be wide and seeing
May you learn from the view where you're kneeling
Know the fear of the world that you're feeling
Is the fear of a slave
May you know how the fight was started
Won' as much the snake as the garden
Wear them both like a glove that you can't wain
May your mouth betray your wisdom
May you get what they failed to mention
May your love be your only religion
Preach it to us all
May you lose what you offer gladly
May you worship the time and it's passing
Stars wont ever wait for you to watch them fall
We're the smoke on a burned horizon
We're the boat on a tide that's rising
Both the post and the pig you're untying
The butcher gone for the blade
Someday we may all be happy
Someday all make a face worth slapping
Someday we may be shocked to be laughing
At the way we behave
May your hands be strong and willing
May you know when to speak and to listen
May you find every friend that you're missing
There's no check in the mail
May you end there bruised and purple
Know that peace is the shape of a circle
Around and around you go, biting your tail
Little children, the wind is whipping
Short hands on a clock still ticking
Both the egg and the red fox grinning
His belly full for the day
Someday we may all want nothing
And all together we'll get what's coming
Someday I'll say the world was something
That we just couldn't change
May your tongue be something wicked
Know your part in the calf and the killing
See straight through the captain you're kissing
Helm loose in his hand
May your words be well worth stealing
Put your hand on your heart when singing
The choir's sick of the song but they've still got to stand
May you learn from the view where you're kneeling
Know the fear of the world that you're feeling
Is the fear of a slave
May you know how the fight was started
Won' as much the snake as the garden
Wear them both like a glove that you can't wain
May your mouth betray your wisdom
May you get what they failed to mention
May your love be your only religion
Preach it to us all
May you lose what you offer gladly
May you worship the time and it's passing
Stars wont ever wait for you to watch them fall
We're the smoke on a burned horizon
We're the boat on a tide that's rising
Both the post and the pig you're untying
The butcher gone for the blade
Someday we may all be happy
Someday all make a face worth slapping
Someday we may be shocked to be laughing
At the way we behave
May your hands be strong and willing
May you know when to speak and to listen
May you find every friend that you're missing
There's no check in the mail
May you end there bruised and purple
Know that peace is the shape of a circle
Around and around you go, biting your tail
Little children, the wind is whipping
Short hands on a clock still ticking
Both the egg and the red fox grinning
His belly full for the day
Someday we may all want nothing
And all together we'll get what's coming
Someday I'll say the world was something
That we just couldn't change
May your tongue be something wicked
Know your part in the calf and the killing
See straight through the captain you're kissing
Helm loose in his hand
May your words be well worth stealing
Put your hand on your heart when singing
The choir's sick of the song but they've still got to stand
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My take on the song is that it's a benediction encouraging the listener to accept that we walk through this world being both the bruiser and the bruised and that this is ok, that powerful lessons can be learned if we're willing to understand and embrace this dichotomy.
I just caught a few missed words on a live performance, The word that's inaudible in the studio recording is:
Both the (egg) and the red fox grinning
And also instead of "someday all face worth slapping" It's:
Someday well all make a face worth slapping
Thanks for the lyrics, as different as this song is from the rest of Sams stuff it's still great and deserves some comments!
"May you know how the fight was started; won(?) as much for the snake as the garden."
perhaps "Know that peace is the shape of a circle"?
"Short hands on the clock still ticking,"
"See straight through the captain your kissing, the helm loose in his hand."
Beam's lyrics never disappoint.
How about: "the butcher gone for the blade"?
Great song.
WANT as much for the snake... some suggestions...
a glove that you CAN WAVE
the pig you're UNTYING
BUTCHER GOING for the blade
STRONG hands on the clock...
AND ALL FORGET that we'll get what's coming
BROKE the egg and the red fox...
"Want as much the snake as the garden Wear them both like a glove that you can't wave"
"Both the post and the pig you're untying"
"Someday I'll make a face worth slapping"
"May you end it bruised and purple"
"'Cause round and round you'll go, bitin' your tail"
"We're the children the wind is whipping"
"And I'll forget that we'll get what's coming"
You can hear the lyrics much more clearly in his acoustic 4AD Session.
Ok, so below are the lyrics: may your eyes be wide and seeing
may you learn from the view where you're kneeling
know the fear of the world that you're feeling
is the fear of a slave
may you know how the fight was started
and want as much from the snake as the garden
and wear them both like a glove
that you can wave
may your mouth betray your wisdom
may you get what they fail to mention
may your love be your only religion
and preach it to us all
may you lose what you offer gladly
and may you worship the time and its passing
the stars won't ever wait for you
to watch them fall
we're the smoke on a burned horizon
we're the boat on a tide that's rising
both the post and the pig you're untying
the butcher gone for the blade
someday we may all be happy
someday all make a face worth slapping
someday we may be shocked to be laughing
at the way we behave
may your hands be strong and willing
and may you know when to speak and to listen
may you find every friend that you're missing
is no check in the mail
may you end at bruised and purple
and know that peace is the shape of a circle
‘cuz round and round you’ll go
biting your tail
we're the children the wind is whipping
the short hands on the clock still ticking
both the egg and the red fox grinning
his belly full for the day
someday we may all want nothing
and all forget we'll get what’s coming
someday all say the world was something
that we just couldn’t change
may your tongue be something wicked
and know your part in the calf and the killing
and see straight through the captain you're kissing
the helm lose in his hands
may your words be well worth stealing
and put your hand on your heart when you’re singing
the choir’s sick of the song
but they still gotta stand