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.
Let's find something that can last.
Like cigarette ash,
The world is collapsing around me.
Let's try to do the best we can.
I think I need more than the flowers and letters, man.
It's not that I don't try, it's that you won't again
And it hurts too much to laugh about it
(Yes it hurts too much to laugh about it)
Hey, please think about it, friend.
I know you're lonely, I'm here writing in the dark
Tryin' to get the balls
But it hurts too much to ask
Dear I Need Someone Who's Lost,
Tell me how not to stop all these tears and fears
So nothing else will drop,
So all this pain will stop.
But if it hurts too much ask
If it hurts too much to ask
It's not that I don't cry,
It's that I have to hide,
Yeah it's that I have to hide
So I won't be there to ask.
So I won't be there to ask.
No, I won't be the one to ask.
I won't be there to ask.
It hurts too much to laugh about it.
Yes it hurts too much to laugh about it.
Yes it hurts too much to laugh about it, man.
Like cigarette ash,
The world is collapsing around me.
Let's try to do the best we can.
I think I need more than the flowers and letters, man.
It's not that I don't try, it's that you won't again
And it hurts too much to laugh about it
(Yes it hurts too much to laugh about it)
Hey, please think about it, friend.
I know you're lonely, I'm here writing in the dark
Tryin' to get the balls
But it hurts too much to ask
Dear I Need Someone Who's Lost,
Tell me how not to stop all these tears and fears
So nothing else will drop,
So all this pain will stop.
But if it hurts too much ask
If it hurts too much to ask
It's not that I don't cry,
It's that I have to hide,
Yeah it's that I have to hide
So I won't be there to ask.
So I won't be there to ask.
No, I won't be the one to ask.
I won't be there to ask.
It hurts too much to laugh about it.
Yes it hurts too much to laugh about it.
Yes it hurts too much to laugh about it, man.
Lyrics submitted by TheWrongGirl
Ask Lyrics as written by Sharon Katharine Van Etten Aaron Brooking Dessner
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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it actually says "Dear I Need Someone's Who Lost," but i'm assuming it's a typo...
man, i'd like to know what other people's thoughts were on this one. it's one of my favorites. i wish there were more SVE fans, hanging around here... at least.
This isn't about asking someone out... or not having the balls to. At least I don't think that seems to ring true.
It seems to be about being in a relationship with someone that doesn't do enough or has stopped doing enough.
"It's not that I don't try, it's that you won't again"
I need more than a flowers and letters man. More than someone who just gives tokens of apology for forgetfulness - someone with whom you share a connection, enough that you no longer have to 'ask'. Someone who 'does' something rather than someone who is all words.
It's about bitter dissapointment in a significant other that you thought loved and a breakdown in that relationship. That's why it 'hurts too much to ask' (that person) to try harder or to do specific things. It's also why it's hard to laugh about, as it's a pretty sobering and depressing scenario.
At the end she says she has to hide it, I assume because the shame that one feels as well as the absurdity of that situation. So she's going to run away (or worse commit suicide) - 'I won't be there to ask' and it hurts too much to laugh about it for obvious reasons.
I really love this artist. I've only heard about her lately but since then i've been listening to her songs constantly, there is something amazing about the way she sings. She's unique i should say and the lyrics are just splendid. Hope she'll keep on being this productive!!
I don't necessarily love mellow songs, but this I really like, and I wonder why? If it not hurts too much to ask :)
Also other artists in the same vein, I think: My Brightest Diamond and Susanne Sundfør
Take for example asking a girl out, but not just a girl, a person you really like. Then asking her to be your girlfriend and getting denied, time after time. It hurts too much to ask, but when those happy thoughts of being with someone cross your mind, you cannot resist not to. And you hide, so you won't be there to ask and suffer more.
"Hey, please think about it, friend. I know you're lonely, I'm here writing in the dark Tryin' to get the balls But it hurts too much to ask"
Breaks me up when she sings "friend". Its not just someone, its the type of person that comes from time to time, a girl that can really be your girl-friend.