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R.E.M. – Circus Envy Lyrics 6 years ago
@[GwiberWyrdd:30972] Oatios is a brand of breakfast cereal. Similar to Cheerios. Those three lines go together.

The strong man kicked sand into my breakfast cereal bowl
I'd spelled your name with Oatios
He messed it, messed it, messed it, messed it up

He spelled her name using Os in the cereal bowl. Now, _why_ using only the letter O would work and the implication of that is another matter I'm not entirely sure I get.

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Tonic – Soldier's Daughter Lyrics 9 years ago
It's pretty clear the song is from the perspective of the brother. See the "your father's son" line.

If you work your way back from the revelation, the rest of the meaning becomes clearer in my opinion.

"It's the way he looks at you
That says to me
This isn't over"

Father and daughter had a fight. Father is stubborn and will never admit he's wrong nor drop the issue.

"From the outside looking in
You see there's nothing sacred here
Nothing sacred"

The brother has already left home. Probably a small town. This is a sentiment that once you get out, you see there's nothing special about back home. Nothing worth fighting for.

"You can bend
But you can't break"

I actually read this as a command/warning to the sister. Not a description of her. In other words, you can give some ground while you're still stuck at home, but don't give up or you'll never get out.

"For the reasons out of our control
You try to make it roll
Like a dice away
But you say that you're all empowered here
This is obviously not clear enough
To me"

Like her father, she's stubbornly fighting. And he doesn't get why she won't drop it.

"Hey little girl keep dancing
Hey little girl keep dancing alone
'Cause there's not enough time in your day
To keep you here"

Life is too short. Don't waste your time somewhere that makes you unhappy. Get out of this place like I already did.

Why they're unhappy is ambiguous. Might just be small town life. Maybe she's a lesbian or maybe there's abuse. Or maybe it's just basic politics. Doesn't matter. The idea is understood.

"The soldier's daughter
Did your daddy
Did your daddy hurt you
Did he make you feel bad
Did he poison your views
With the water he was raised on"

A lot of people mention alcoholism or physical abuse, but I don't agree. This poison and water reads more like the expression "poisoning the well" where ideas are sabotaged early to make you not accept somebody later. This to me speaks about small town bigotry and the father not agreeing with or accepting something about the daughter.

"Oh you father's son says hang on
Hang on
Hey little girl
Keep dancing
Hey little girl
Keep dancing alone
'Cause there's not enough time in your life
To stay here"

Keep fighting on your own until you get out. Everything will be better soon.

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Iron & Wine – Resurrection Fern Lyrics 18 years ago
Also my fave off the new album. The recording is absolutely stunning.

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Iron & Wine – Burn That Broken Bed Lyrics 19 years ago
The guitar in this song reminds me a lot of 'The Fear' by Travis.

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