"...Embrace the senile genius, watch him reinvent the wheel..."
That's one of my favorite lyrics ever. I used to think that was referring to the whole approach of Brighten the Corners in general, as it seems on this album, the band was working with more traditional song structures, but inverting them in weird ways.
Now I can see this whole song being about marriage, and SM's low opinion of it. When people fall in love, they think they're reinventing the wheel, that their relationship is unique and they won't have the problems other people have. They find an "unidentical twin", someone with the same opinions they have, but after a while, things get boring and "get to feeling like a fixture set in 1966". When they break-up they make up all kinds of reasons for it, age, work, money, but it was all just doomed from the start.
I really liked your take on this song. But I would argue that it doesn't have to specifically be about marriage, but about relationships in general. It sounds to me like a song about committing to a relationship, but falling into the habits of an old, dysfunctional couple already. Hence, the title -- you guys were old (in spirit, if not literally) to begin with. The idea of setting someone back because of your metaphorical menopause, back pains, etc.
I really liked your take on this song. But I would argue that it doesn't have to specifically be about marriage, but about relationships in general. It sounds to me like a song about committing to a relationship, but falling into the habits of an old, dysfunctional couple already. Hence, the title -- you guys were old (in spirit, if not literally) to begin with. The idea of setting someone back because of your metaphorical menopause, back pains, etc.
"...Embrace the senile genius, watch him reinvent the wheel..."
That's one of my favorite lyrics ever. I used to think that was referring to the whole approach of Brighten the Corners in general, as it seems on this album, the band was working with more traditional song structures, but inverting them in weird ways.
Now I can see this whole song being about marriage, and SM's low opinion of it. When people fall in love, they think they're reinventing the wheel, that their relationship is unique and they won't have the problems other people have. They find an "unidentical twin", someone with the same opinions they have, but after a while, things get boring and "get to feeling like a fixture set in 1966". When they break-up they make up all kinds of reasons for it, age, work, money, but it was all just doomed from the start.
I really liked your take on this song. But I would argue that it doesn't have to specifically be about marriage, but about relationships in general. It sounds to me like a song about committing to a relationship, but falling into the habits of an old, dysfunctional couple already. Hence, the title -- you guys were old (in spirit, if not literally) to begin with. The idea of setting someone back because of your metaphorical menopause, back pains, etc.
I really liked your take on this song. But I would argue that it doesn't have to specifically be about marriage, but about relationships in general. It sounds to me like a song about committing to a relationship, but falling into the habits of an old, dysfunctional couple already. Hence, the title -- you guys were old (in spirit, if not literally) to begin with. The idea of setting someone back because of your metaphorical menopause, back pains, etc.