Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Down by the lake we were overturning pebbles
And upending all the animals alive
And I took a drag from your cigarette
And pinched it 'tween my finger and my thumb, 'til it had died
And the sun burned low
On the radio
Say that you will, say you will, or will you or won't
Or you whatever you prevaricate, you whole life don't you
And this much I can say, would have waited 'til the oceans
Fell away and all the sunken cities would reveal themselves to you
But you won't, will you, because you never do
And the sun burned through
Sweet as honeydew
And I, seventeen and terminally fey
I wrote it down and threw it all away
Never gave a thought to what I paid
And you sibylline, reclining in your pew
You tattered me, you tethered me to you
The things you would, the things you wouldn't do
To tell the truth, I never had a clue
Now we arise, the curse is young suburban villains
In their ill-begotten children from the lawn
Come to me now, and on the station wagon window
Set the ghost of your two footprints
And they might haunt me when you're gone
And when the light grows dark, you were forever gone
But I remember you, you were full
You were full and sweet as honey dew
And I, seventeen and terminally fey
Well I wrote it down and threw it all away
Never gave a thought to what I paid
And you, sibylline, reclining in your pew
You tattered me, you tethered me to you
The things you would, the things you wouldn't do
You noticed how I never had a clue
Never had a clue
You were full and sweet as honeydew
You were full and sweet as honeydew
And upending all the animals alive
And I took a drag from your cigarette
And pinched it 'tween my finger and my thumb, 'til it had died
And the sun burned low
On the radio
Say that you will, say you will, or will you or won't
Or you whatever you prevaricate, you whole life don't you
And this much I can say, would have waited 'til the oceans
Fell away and all the sunken cities would reveal themselves to you
But you won't, will you, because you never do
And the sun burned through
Sweet as honeydew
And I, seventeen and terminally fey
I wrote it down and threw it all away
Never gave a thought to what I paid
And you sibylline, reclining in your pew
You tattered me, you tethered me to you
The things you would, the things you wouldn't do
To tell the truth, I never had a clue
Now we arise, the curse is young suburban villains
In their ill-begotten children from the lawn
Come to me now, and on the station wagon window
Set the ghost of your two footprints
And they might haunt me when you're gone
And when the light grows dark, you were forever gone
But I remember you, you were full
You were full and sweet as honey dew
And I, seventeen and terminally fey
Well I wrote it down and threw it all away
Never gave a thought to what I paid
And you, sibylline, reclining in your pew
You tattered me, you tethered me to you
The things you would, the things you wouldn't do
You noticed how I never had a clue
Never had a clue
You were full and sweet as honeydew
You were full and sweet as honeydew
Lyrics submitted by EventH, edited by jfoxx, dirigibull, TheBus36, semibreve42, nwhall4, trustmeiknow, Vytasb, heavydrum, abesimpson, cheviotsheepy, Mellow_Harsher
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Sometimes Decemberists throw a song at you that you need to just fall into and let consume you. This song sat at the edges of my periphery since I first heard the album, and I needed one of those moments sitting out on a law by my own lake to really let it soak in. Then the interpretation that I embraced tethered to me, tattered me.
In simple terms, this is unknown or unreturned love coming at that time when we still are learning what love really is. The singer (guessing this is a Colin telling his own story here) is regarding a story from his youth. It was a day, a moment, a period of magic. The experiences are real and specific - from the pinch of a cigarette to the sun on the radio. There were happy games like overturning pebbles, playful jokes of ill begotten children on the lawn.They were happy, they were enjoying this lake. Yet he harbored something more.
Whatever he had to wait for, he was ready to wait for her ... until the oceans fell away. He wanted those footprints to be his ghost. The more he tries to define his love, the quicker he was to dismiss it. He wrote it down, threw it all away. "You won't will you, because you never do," judges her reaction before he ever takes action. He wants her to do more - wants her to say things that would lead him to know what is what she will do. He was naive, terminally fae. As confident she seemed to be was as unconfident he was in her.
Yet where my mind churns is what she was - who she was. Did she love him in return, did she just keep him around, did she just want to stay friends. Why didn't she that she will, or will she or won't. What were the things she would do, what she wouldn't do. In the end, he never had a clue. But neither did we.
So in part the beauty of this song is that it is like the singer that addresses the audience. It tatters me. It tethers me to it. It could be a much simpler song, a much simpler story - but to tell the truth I would never have a clue.