• This is how it works It feels a little worse Than when we drove our hearse Right through that screaming crowd While laughing up a storm Until we were just bone Until it got so warm That none of us could sleep And all the styrofoam Began to melt away We tried to find some words To aid in the decay But none of them were home Inside their catacomb A million ancient bees Began to sting our knees While we were on our knees Praying that disease Would leave the ones we love And never come again On the radio We heard November Rain That solo's really long But it's a pretty song We listened to it twice 'Cause the DJ was asleep This is how it works You're young until you're not You love until you don't You try until you can't You laugh until you cry You cry until you laugh And everyone must breathe Until their dying breath No, this is how it works You peer inside yourself You take the things you like And try to love the things you took And then you take that love you made And stick it into some Someone else's heart Pumping someone else's blood And walking arm in arm You hope it don't get harmed But even if it does You'll just do it all again And on the radio You hear November Rain That solo's awful long But it's a good refrain You listen to it twice 'Cause the DJ is asleep On the radio (oh oh oh) On the radio On the radio - uh oh On the radio - uh oh On the radio - uh oh On the radio This song tries to answer the question "how does it work?" I agree completely with mindracer. The "it" is love, life and just existence. If you look at the first verse it's just a whole pile of conflicting emotions and images right bam on top of each other. There's a hearse, screaming, laughing, tiredness, heat, stinging, disease, love... The ones printed here aren't the actual ones, as many have pointed out. The actual ones are much more random. Your overall sense at the end of that verse is... "what the hell?" I think that's the purpose of the verse. It's not meant to make much sense. It's meant to be a whirling pile of images and emotions... just like life and just like love. I like bryce's idea that it's about an addiction (eg to heroine) and mytwohands also picked that up. But I think it's more in a metaphorical sense - as drug addiction has the highs and the lows so does life. The whole mood changes when she mentions the song "november rain" (guns and roses). If you look at the song it's a song about how life and love are temporary so enjoy them while you can. She says three things about this song - first that it's long (is one of Guns N' Roses' longest song according to Wikipedia), then acknowledges it's pretty, by the time she's heard it twice she says it's a good refrain. It's a nice thing to believe, that we can enjoy everything even though it's temporary. Interesting to note the rhythm of the two songs is the same and the music in the background of november rain goes dum dum dum dum de dum do do do do do do, which spektor mimics... this gives us the idea that she is listening to the song while she is thinking this one. And as she listens to the song play twice (by complete accidence, just because the DJ fell asleep) she has an epiphany about life. So I agree with Arcysparky that the song is divided in three, but i think that the important thing to note is that the title of the song is not "love and life"... it's "on the radio"... and also about the power of a song to change your view of the world. Before she hears the song life is just confusion and random images, then she realises that no... life is a series of beginings and ends... and then she clicks and she realises no, that's not it. It's more than that. And I think she says pretty plainly ("No, this is how it works... do it all again"). In the end the song is not that positive, but it is accepting. She is accepting the message of November Rain - that everything is temporary, yet there are always chances for a new start. Some lines from November rain that relate to this song are: "'Cause nothin' lasts forever And we both know hearts can change" (you love until you don't) "But lovers always come and lovers always go An no one's really sure who's lettin' go today" (walking arm in arm, you hope you don't get harmed) "Everybody needs somebody You're not the only one" (you take that love you made and stick it into some someone else - as in some person, giving them something to live for) At the end of the song she realises that life isn't that confusing if you accept that "nothing lasts forever, even the bad stuff." November Rain ends with: "'Cause nothin' lasts forever Even cold November rain" Perhaps unintentionally Spektor's ending "on the radio you hear november rain... you listen to it twice cause the dj is asleep on the radio..." implies that perhaps the cold november rain will last longer than you expect it to, but don't worry... it's just one of those things. That's how it works after all.

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