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.
Take my word for it, I'm not worth it.
I ignored you all night and you don't deserve it.
Morning, bathtub, my skin soft and hot.
I was sure you were right, but you're not.
I contemplate my ruined fate.
Someone will hurt me so bad one day.
And you'll resonate or I'll apologize
or maybe I'll make the same mistake twice.
I hide from phonecalls under the warm water.
Malice desists, no it woefully recurs.
And it plays like daytime tv shows. I confuse you.
And I tell you not to love me but I still kiss you when I want to.
And I lament, you're innocent,
but somehow the object of my discontent.
And its fucked up. I let you in
even though I've seen what can happen.
You make a tape.
I receive it in the mail
and I force myself busy.
The diversion will prevail.
And I will swallow all my guilt with little pills and forge my chin up.
And I will only think about it in the morning, in the bathtub.
I ignored you all night and you don't deserve it.
Morning, bathtub, my skin soft and hot.
I was sure you were right, but you're not.
I contemplate my ruined fate.
Someone will hurt me so bad one day.
And you'll resonate or I'll apologize
or maybe I'll make the same mistake twice.
I hide from phonecalls under the warm water.
Malice desists, no it woefully recurs.
And it plays like daytime tv shows. I confuse you.
And I tell you not to love me but I still kiss you when I want to.
And I lament, you're innocent,
but somehow the object of my discontent.
And its fucked up. I let you in
even though I've seen what can happen.
You make a tape.
I receive it in the mail
and I force myself busy.
The diversion will prevail.
And I will swallow all my guilt with little pills and forge my chin up.
And I will only think about it in the morning, in the bathtub.
Lyrics submitted by carolinerosee
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Great version of a great song,
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This song is about a guy that she's hooked up with on occasion, but she recognizes she's just playing him and feels badly about it. She goes back to him when it's convenient for her ("but i still kiss you when i want to"), but while always realizing it will never amount to anything. She feels bad she's treating him poorly even though he didn't do anything wrong.("you're innocent but somehow the object of my discontent") and the song is about how her regrets regarding: them hooking up. ("force myself busy and the diversion will prevail")
maybe her guilt has more to do with self-sabotage than manipulation. "Take my word for it, I'm not worth it." -- maybe she's ruining her own chances because she doesn't feel good enough for him.
how many of us can say that we push people away for the sake of not getting hurt?
I love her writing. I'm glad I saw her tiny desk concert because this seems on the far end of indie. I'm curious if this album had been appreciated as much as I've been feeling about it. The lo-fi style + her southern (or whatever) sounding vocals is so beautiful. melts Also the simplicity of the music pairs perfectly with the personal/folk story style lyrics. Right.. bathtub.
It seems to be about her emotionally dominant role in a possibly abusive or manipulative relationship. I think she is conflicted about how she feels for him because she can't control who he is- yet she's still in love with his 'true self' even though its a person she mistreats. 'you don't deserve it' & 'someone will hurt me so bad someday'-Perhaps because the way she hurts him is karma driven back to her as something she almost expects. Her love feels genuine yet destructive leaving her suffering with guilt and shame. Her apathy for him contrasts his powerful outgoing care for her. If this is correct I completely relate. Her personal and brutal honesty is what is special about this song to me.
this song makes me cry
it's someone who can not handle being in a loving relationship and sabotages it by going insane, saying unfair things to sadistically "test" the other person, disallowing any right answer... knowing they're doing it all and being unable to control their emotions
"And it's fucked up"
"I'm not worth it"
"I confuse you"
"malice"
"guilt"
the line that always gets me is "and I lament you're innocent somehow the object of my discontent." she watches herself doing it and hates herself for it.
A movie I consider one of my most precious is a 1998 Koreeda movie called After Life ("wandafuru raifu" in Japanese). There's a certain moment when the filmmakers have an argument about what are the soonest memories one can recall. Takashi, the story's hero, says that one can be possible to remember how it feels to be in one's mother womb, and claims it can be proven by the comfort it brings to be totally immersed in hot water. Shiori, the heroine, hears it and ponders... and tests the theory when bathing in the lodge's ofurô (a japanese bathtub). The film is pretty and I think this scene, while not so appealing, is the one which affected me the most, I guess
Well, in this song Katie sings about a lot of stuff happening in a very badly resolved - in her head - relationship... she talks about feeling guilty, about playing games, about a ruined fate, about turning her lover into an object, about repeating mistakes after apologizing... And that line "I hide from phonecalls under the hot water" - well isn't it that feeling they talked about in After Life, the comfort of a hot tub bath? That welcoming and cosy sensation? Well, but Katie adds to it the will of running away from that torrent of confusing things her relationship has been. She's comfortable under the hot water while she tries to get some courage to answer her lover's calls.