Nobody seems to have a question about the basic meaning, specifically, who is the "you" to whom Phair is singing? I suppose most people think it's a guy with whom she's having a romantic relationship. But I'm wondering whether it could be her son. The lines "With me you'll feel protected / And you'll never be rejected" sound more like a parent's love for a child than romantic love. "One day you'll meet somebody", in this tone and context, suggests she's saying that will be a good thing, as opposed to the end of their relationship. And how old is "you"? The line "your whole world now is an open door" suggests someone young, probably pre-college. Last, could the lines "You go through your whole life waiting / But you don't know what you're waiting for" be a reference to the experience of becoming a mother adding a new depth and dimension to her life, and saying that one day he will experience the same thing?
Oh, and obviously, this is not Exile in Guyville, or for that matter Whip Smart or Whitechocolatespaceegg. All the same, this is an enjoyable song, albeit much lighter and less (on the whole) bitter than her early work. I don't think radio-friendly and smart / incisive / witty / intriguing/ sharp / deep / different / etc. HAVE TO BE mutually exclusive. Maybe we can just pull for Phair a little, and hope that she can deliver another album truly worthy of Guyville's legacy (which is NOT to say it has to have the same style or outlook)? In the meantime, if she thinks the way to get a little economic security for her son is to put out some Avril-esque music, maybe that's the responsible, if possibly artistically painful, thing for a single mother to do.
I ought to clarify the "another album truly worthy of Guyville's legacy" part. That's an extremely (maybe impossibly) high standard, and the comment was not a knock on her later work, some of which I think is very good. She's hardly the only musician / songwriter whose earlier stuff strikes me as arguably more consistently interesting. Elvis Costello is another example: some of his later stuff is very good, but of the several albums of his that I have, I don't consider any as first-song-to-last enjoyable as My Aim Is True. I yet I would be quite pleased to hear something new from either Phair or Costello.
Nobody seems to have a question about the basic meaning, specifically, who is the "you" to whom Phair is singing? I suppose most people think it's a guy with whom she's having a romantic relationship. But I'm wondering whether it could be her son. The lines "With me you'll feel protected / And you'll never be rejected" sound more like a parent's love for a child than romantic love. "One day you'll meet somebody", in this tone and context, suggests she's saying that will be a good thing, as opposed to the end of their relationship. And how old is "you"? The line "your whole world now is an open door" suggests someone young, probably pre-college. Last, could the lines "You go through your whole life waiting / But you don't know what you're waiting for" be a reference to the experience of becoming a mother adding a new depth and dimension to her life, and saying that one day he will experience the same thing?
Oh, and obviously, this is not Exile in Guyville, or for that matter Whip Smart or Whitechocolatespaceegg. All the same, this is an enjoyable song, albeit much lighter and less (on the whole) bitter than her early work. I don't think radio-friendly and smart / incisive / witty / intriguing/ sharp / deep / different / etc. HAVE TO BE mutually exclusive. Maybe we can just pull for Phair a little, and hope that she can deliver another album truly worthy of Guyville's legacy (which is NOT to say it has to have the same style or outlook)? In the meantime, if she thinks the way to get a little economic security for her son is to put out some Avril-esque music, maybe that's the responsible, if possibly artistically painful, thing for a single mother to do.
P.S.
P.S.
I ought to clarify the "another album truly worthy of Guyville's legacy" part. That's an extremely (maybe impossibly) high standard, and the comment was not a knock on her later work, some of which I think is very good. She's hardly the only musician / songwriter whose earlier stuff strikes me as arguably more consistently interesting. Elvis Costello is another example: some of his later stuff is very good, but of the several albums of his that I have, I don't consider any as first-song-to-last enjoyable as My Aim Is True. I yet I would be quite pleased to hear something new from either Phair or Costello.