| Regina Spektor – Two Birds Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Meh, I'll go with my personal connection to this song. I had a best friend once that I could tell nearly anything. That "nearly" is what caused us to fight, however, and eventually we stopped talking for six months. When we'd finally made up we said we wouldn't let pettiness get in the way of our friendship again, that we were past that. Quite a bit of time later, we got into a similar fight... and it turns out, he wasn't really past it. He tore our friendship apart, telling me that he'd stopped liking me as a person years ago, that I wasn't the same, and gave me a term-paper's worth of material on why I am a terrible human being. Needless to say, we're not talking again. And it's going to stay that way this time. Feels pretty bad man. But I know I'm better off and actually happier than before, knowing I was able to leave that negativity (the wire) behind when he couldn't. But yeah, I like this song. |
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| Kansas – Dust In The Wind Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I am nothing like this person now. Wow. | |
| Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Speaking of which, Merry Christmas. :) | |
| Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Everytime you overanalyze a work of art and beat its meaning to death, Baby Jesus cries. | |
| My Brightest Diamond – The Robin's Jar Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| I cried the first time I listened to this song. It's so beautifully dark. | |
| Basia Bulat – Birds of Paradise Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Here's what I hear when I listen to this song. I'm not guaranteeing it's 100% right, but maybe someone else can correct mine if mine's not quite right either? I've been sleeping with a memory I think I'll lie a little longer Wait for the crowds to go Maybe I'll die in this unholy mess And I'll be free Yes, that's what they said that I would be When we came to watch the world be over But there's too many fools On this boat that we made I can hardly see the water Well, it's happened to me I was down on my knees I was praying to leave But I never know when I've gone too far This disaster in me What a beautiful dream They told me I'd be cleaner Yeah, they told me I'd be closer to God Oh, the birds of paradise came to me yesterday Laughed when they told me my fate We'd be cold, we'd be tired But we could breathe And one day I'm gonna leave this place But it's happened to me I was down on my knees I was praying to leave But I never know when I've gone too far This disaster in me What a beautiful dream They told me I'd be cleaner They told me I'd be closer to God |
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| The Decemberists – Sleepless Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Yes, I definitely thought Hamlet when I first got a chance to actually read the lyrics. I mean, it's called Sleepless. As in, "to die, to sleep." | |
| Regina Spektor – Open Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Oh, and in the version I listened to, the last line is "open up your eyes and then", instead of "open up your heart and then". Heart implies emotion, while eyes implies logic. | |
| Regina Spektor – Open Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I have figured out the third verse, which is my absolute favorite part of the song. It is discussing hidden beauty. When snow falls at night, people don't actually look at the snow, they look at the steetlights instead. Nobody could see the snow if not for the lamps outside. We will never know how beautiful the snow is in darkness, making it "too beautiful to see." (This brings up the question: is the phenomenon truly beautiful, or do we only find it beautiful because we can never witness it?) This verse is what caused me to believe this song is about mankind's faith in a higher power/creator. We will never actually see this creator's beauty (at least not while we are alive), so we "wait in vain" all our lives for some sign. "Scrubbing out the stains" is a reference to trying to cleanse humanity of its imperfections/evilness. We are "potentially lovely" because it is possible our lives fulfill some divine purpose, but the opposite is just as possible. People can argue about religion and the existence of God all they want, but no side will ever win, so while we still walk this earth we are "suspended" in uncertainty. Our arguing won't change the way the universe works, either, so we are "open" to any possibility. I also think the song describes the general human struggle for understanding and happiness, but this is as far as I've gotten. |
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| Regina Spektor – Time Is All Around Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I saw a production of Cyrano de Bergerac over the summer. In the last scene Cyrano and Roxane discuss the autumn leaves, and these lines made me immediately think of this song: "Ay, see how brave they fall, In their last journey downward from the bough, To rot within the clay; yet, lovely still, Hiding the horror of the last decay, With all the wayward grace of careless flight!" I wonder if she was thinking of Cyrano when she wrote this song? |
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| Regina Spektor – Bartender Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| I love the mood of the "trickle"s at the end of the song. It's exactly like when you stare at a dripping faucet, and just when you think the water droplets have stopped falling, another one falls. It catches you off guard. The same is so true about love, even after the initial spark and the relationship are long gone. It just keeps trickling out, more slowly as time goes by, in tiny amounts each time, and you aren't sure if it'll ever stop. | |
| Fiona Apple – Parting Gift Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Luey_baby, I think at first when she says she took off her glasses "so's not to see you see me react", she means that she was afraid of what he would think of her being emotional, vulnerable; she considers her anger/pain a weakness. But then she feels she should have put them on again so she could have see him reacting in the same way to her own fierce anger (her "sincerely yelling back"); she then could have noticed how she had been just as strong as him, if not stronger. But that's just what I think.. Hope that makes sense. |
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| Fiona Apple – The Child Is Gone Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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I agree that the song most likely reflects Fiona's own experience being raped when she was just coming into puberty. But it works just as well when applied to any sort of traumatic experience that could take away ones innocence. Personally, when I heard this song, I thought it was describing the effects of postpartum, most likely from miscarriage OR abortion. Megan, I'd like to not only point out that postpartum depression occurs in women who have given birth, had miscarriages, and had abortions, but certain studies have also pointed out that women who have had abortions are MORE likely to develop postpartum depression than any other group. It's biological, so the pain described in this song could apply to EITHER miscarriages or abortions. I'd also like to say that your comments have little to do with the whole purpose of this website: trying to find the meanings in songs. They're not relevant to the entire subject of music, really. So the next time you decide to shove your beliefs down others' throats, all the while parroting a pro-life Christian site's political agenda nearly word-for-word... do so through email. Thanks. |
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| Regina Spektor – Secret Stash (No One) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| This song always makes me feel better... I think it's about relationships with people, not even romantic ones necessarily. You come to depend on that person for a certain level of security, but sometimes things may fall through and you lose that person. The stash is preparation for when that day comes. I always thought the message was to like yourself more, get to know yourself like you know your loved ones, so even on your worst days you'll never be lonely. | |
| Regina Spektor – Edit Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Wow, now I've really freaked myself out. Strange that I picked out this song to start listening to... A girl I know very recently died from taking a combination of cocaine and heroine. It's been a week I think, actually. Just thinking about that while listening to this really changes my perspective... And now I'm starting to cry. Fuck... |
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| Regina Spektor – Edit Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I had no clue what this was about. But after reading the suggestions that she's referring to drugs and The Beatles, I think I have an idea. The singer is talking to this aspiring musician (let's make them a he) who idolizes The Beatles and thinks if he lives like them he'll be able to write songs like them and therefore he'll become a superstar like them. So he begins to do drugs, such as cocaine. But he's never ready for the "lies", meaning the glorification of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll lifestyle that he believes in, and he finds out the hard way that nothing is all it's cracked up to be. No matter how hard he tries to be like The Beatles, he finds he still doesn't have any Doctor Robert or Uncle Albert to write great songs about, and instead he's become addicted to cocaine and is spending all of his money on that rather than his music. It's safe to assume he's not too happy at this point. The speaker ends the song by pointing out that he can cover up the truth by writing these rather romanticized drug-influenced songs, but he can't change or edit the truth itself. The speaker's probably pointing this out for other musicians, as well. I didn't really enjoy this song before, but now that I have some idea as to what it's about, it's one of my favorite Regina Spektor songs... Hope my explanation made sense. |
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| Regina Spektor – One More Time with Feeling Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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LoveJezabel, I was going to say the exact same thing, and even though you beat me to it I'll say it, too. It's GORGEOUS. It strikes some chord inside me that doesn't get struck often. I'm a bit too sentimental over it right now to actually analyze it, but I don't think the meaning's hidden. I think it's about proving yourself to those who may have doubted you, that may have hurt you before. The song seems to be a voice inside your head, talking you through it. You want so badly to show those people how much better you are now, but even so, you only keep going until you know that the words are right, not when they know. Because once you know it, they have to know it. It's so inspirational and real... I love the line about the "misery inside their eyes." God, I'm just rambling. o_o I love Regina. |
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| Regina Spektor – Happy Hooker Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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God, I love this song. Obviously, it's about a hooker. But I think she's being very sarcastic when she adds the "happy" in front of it. She's talking to a particularly handsome man that's walked into the room (though I doubt he can hear her). She can't help but stare at him 'cause there's "nothing wrong" about him. Or it could be there's nothing wrong with her staring because that's all it is: staring. She definitely doesn't have much self-worth. She only sees herself as her job she's been doing it so long. She's become jaded from too much "loving." She's not enjoying life or getting anything out of it except all of these "words and more words" she's been saying to this young man. To her, life's nothing more than a long, painful joke. She secretly wants more, though. To her, as this man fawns on the girl with him, he represents what she wants: true love. Finally, however, she concludes all of this talking to herself isn't going to get her anywhere anyways. She disregards everything she's said, now saying she's just been imagining things because there's really "nothing at all" special about that handsome man across the room. |
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| Regina Spektor – December Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I'm pretty sure it involves faith in God, but I don't think God's talking at all. It's people of faith talking to God, asking him for answers. They believe God is unhappy with mankind and is punishing them. They're asking God if he could be happy and stop plaguing them with the misfortunes of the world (natural disasters, famine, disease, etc.) on the holiest day of the week, Sunday, which is coming up. They're asking God to put a smile on his face for once. "Turn your down upside"... That's some sort of play on words. It's not clear to me yet. Maybe to make all of the wrongs (his "down") in the world right? I was even thinking some sort of reference to Hell, since it's technically down below him, but that's not really well founded. The lines "Rumors have started that you are in love again/Rumors that are completely unsubstantiated," seems to refer to the fanatics you see every once in a while on TV, claiming to have seen a sign from God (such as the image of the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast), but these people singing see these signs as nothing but nonsense. In the next verse, they're beginning to grow angry with God. They're not just asking him politely if he'll "feel happier" in the near future for them. They're questioning why God can't be happy with them in the first place. Sure, there are some non-believers in the world, but they are the ones that DO believe in him. Why do they have to be punished just as much as the sinners? Can't God see how much they love him? It's frustrating. In the last verse they have not only given up asking God for help, but they've also stopped believing in him too. They're telling him, "Fine, do what you want to us, but we're not going to give up and leave this world as you seem to want. In fact, we're going to stop believing that you're actually up there doing all of these terrible things to us." The "house" is Earth, and God's plagues are the wrecking crew. They are no longer devout followers of God, but Athiests. It's a beautiful song. Regina's very good at capturing what people feel and think without being obvious about the meaning. This song is describing a very realistic process of thought and logic many, nearly all people go through as they transition from the faithful to the faithless. |
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| Regina Spektor – Daniel Cowman Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| *Heroin boy couldn't die by drowning because he was destined to die by hanging... gah. | |
| Regina Spektor – Daniel Cowman Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I wrote this interpretation of the song a few months ago while I was stuck at home sick.. XD I agree that Daniel has been sentenced to death, but I think all of this takes place in the courtroom, and Daniel is “watching his life flash before his eyes.” Also, it always seemed to me that it’s Daniel talking the entire time, and not a narrator; at this point he’s losing his mind, so he’s started frequently switching back and forth between the 3rd and 1st person. Or maybe it’s that he is starting to think that he is no longer Daniel Cowman because Daniel Cowman is officially dead. I’m not sure. The part of the song where Daniel is explaining that he still can’t do whatever he wants even though he no longer exists reminds me of The Stranger by Albert Camus. As Camus’s character Mersault is sitting in prison, all he can do is sit and wait for death, with no contact with anyone or anything from his life outside, so it’s as if he is already dead. At the point where everything goes “real slow like a gunshot in the movies” Daniel starts remembering everything he’s been through up to this point in life. I don’t think the stories about the balloons and the ladies with gin are too significant... They are just supposed to be two examples of random memories that have nothing to do with one another other than the fact that they are memories Daniel remembers well. However, the memory he remembers the best does have significance to the theme of the song. “Heroin boy” (as others above said) was another man that was in prison, and in this memory specifically heroin boy had already been sentenced to death by hanging. Like Daniel now, all heroin boy could do then was wait for his death day. He felt helpless, and needed some control over his own mortality, so he decided to take a bath. Daniel was afraid that in his state of mind heroin boy might drown himself, but heroin boy explained: He could die by drowning because he was “destined” to die by hanging. In turn, as long as heroin boy stayed in the tub and continued to drown himself, he wouldn’t have been able to die. This is not the best logic, but heroin boy wasn’t in a fit state of mind and he felt that this was the only way he could control his own life, as he felt he had before he was sentenced to death. It’s not said whether heroin boy dies by hanging or drowning, so I can’t say what happened. I’m also not sure if the last line about wanting to “take a fucking bath” is said by heroin boy in the memory or by Daniel Cowman himself... Hope all that made sense. |
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| The Killers – Soft Surrender (Where Is She?) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I know this isn't right at all, but when I hear this song I can't help thinking of Laertes from Hamlet. If you just ignore that line about the police cars, it actually fits nicely.... Yeah. I've been reading too much Shakespeare lately. X3 | |
| Regina Spektor – Lacrimosa Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This song makes my brain hurt. I've got a fuzzy image of what it's about, though. I'm having trouble finding a central theme for all of the verses. Religion is definitely involved. It talks about man being imperfect because of original sin (I think?). In the second verse, the "rabbits" are mankind; basically, if we're not prevented from doing wrong, we're going to go ahead and do it because it's in our nature to make mistakes... Which is also a lesson learned from the story of Icarus and his wax sings. Then there's the dust of earth returning line, which is a reference to the bible: when a person dies, the dust they are made from goes back into the ground, and their spirits return to God, where they are judged. So the narrator (Icarus) is asking God to have mercy on him because he is only a mortal man and is therefore imperfect (?). The only thing I'm having trouble with is connecting the above concept with the idea of burying our dead so they can come back to life... Maybe it's because only God has the power to do that, and man, hard as he seems to try, cannot live forever? Like I said, it's fuzzy. Oh, and I'm not religious. We've just had long discussions about this stuff in my English class after we read excerpts from the Bible. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. ^^; |
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| Regina Spektor – Music Box Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I agree with keepitquiet, I got that creepy feeling about those lines, too... I'm not sure if it is, though, or if it's like when kids drink stuff they're not supposed to be drinking like poolwater, no matter how many times their parents tell them not to. | |
| Regina Spektor – Raindrops Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I think it's unrequited love because she's saying they do not know she's in love with them ("You don't know but that's okay"), but she's hoping that one day this person might develop feelings for her as well ("You might find me anyway"). I think the reason for their being a chance 'round each corner is either because it's someone who lives in town who she could bump into (and possibly hasn't seen her in a while), or like someone else said that it's no one in particular but she's just lonely and wants to find that special someone. Either way, this song's cute. XD |
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| Regina Spektor – Aquarius Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| This song's gorgeous. I agree that Regina's talking to God or some sort of higher power. I don't know if it's that she's lonely, but maybe that she feels she's been failing to fulfill her purpose in life (carrying water) because she isn't sure of what that purpose is, or how she can fulfill it. The only thing she is sure of is that she can love herself and those close to her. I get the feeling this is one of Regina's songs where she hasn't put another character in place of herself, especially since she was born in February. Aquarius or not, anyone can connect with this song.. Beautiful. | |
| Regina Spektor – Baby Jesus Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| This is one of my favorite songs of hers. XD It's so funny. I love how the last verse is mocking the way all of the people and the news are acting like it's the real Baby Jesus. So then she sticks it in her closet to get away from all of the attention until he's older. | |
| Arctic Monkeys – Fake Tales of San Francisco Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Oh my god. That whole discussion went from a simple statement of an opinion to a terribly repetitive shouting match. It's just music, why can't more people get this riled up about what should be happening in the Middle East? People, stop putting your musical tastes up on a fucking pedestal. It's no wonder the music industry at this point consists of so much bull and bandwagon-ing, you'd think it's a sin to like certain bands. Anyway, I came to look up the lyrics and perhaps get a bit of an explanation on the British slang. I personally like the song... I love the sarcasm in it, especially the lines, "I don't quite know the distance but I'm sure that's far/Yeah I'm sure it's pretty far". XD |
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| The Killers – Believe Me Natalie Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Wow, I knew this song was sad when I was listening, but I never actually read the lyrics and never found out it was about AIDS... It's amazing how brilliantly written their songs are. My theory for the line, "There is an old cliche under your monet" is just referring to what a few others said before-- the rose arch in Studio 54, and the cliche being the age-old saying "carpe diem" (seize the day), which means do those things you've been meaning to get around to while you can because you might not be able to do those things tomorrow. Just what I think, though. | |
| The Killers – Believe Me Natalie Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Wow, I knew this song was sad when I was listening, but I never actually read the lyrics and never found out it was about AIDS... It's amazing how brilliantly written their songs are. My theory for the line, "There is an old cliche under your monet" is just referring to what a few others said before-- the rose arch in Studio 54, and the cliche being the age-old saying "carpe diem" (seize the day), which means do those things you've been meaning to get around to while you can because you might not be able to do those things tomorrow. Just what I think, though. | |
| The Killers – Under the Gun Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I listened to it a couple of times today, and I have something else to add on to the theory that it's about a guy with a drug dependency... I think he made some sort of mistake in the past that had serious repercussions ("crashing cars in his brain/keep him tied up to a dream"), so he turned to abusing substances to forget that pain ("only she [the drug] can set him free"). When he does not have that drug to comfort him, he's constantly replaying that day again and again in his mind, along with having the withdrawls, which would refer to the lines, "His life is under the gun/he's got to hold everyday." Just a thought. | |
| The Killers – Under the Gun Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I agree with the others that said it had to do with the guy having a drug addiction problem... However, one thing strikes me odd. In the verse where Brandon sings, "But it's alright," does that not remind anyone else of the song "Everything Will Be Alright"? Is it some sort of recurring theme the band has, or are the two songs actually connected? Or am I thinking about this too much? | |
| The Killers – Everything Will Be Alright Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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God, I'm surprised no one else thought of this yet... It sounds to me like the guy's girlfriend killed herself. You know that whole thing about not taking any of The Killers' songs at face value? It definitely applies here. If she had just broken up with him, the line when he says "I'm coming to find you if it takes me all night," wouldn't have fit in with the rest of the song; everything else he says sounds so desperate, as if he knows it’s hopeless. If the girl was alive, he would have been able to find her, so it wouldn’t have been hopeless to look. Here’s how I interpreted it (just putting in specific quotes for your sake): “I'm coming to find you If it takes me all night” – He really knows she’s gone, but he’s trying to convince himself that it’s all just a terrible misunderstanding, that she’s just hidden somewhere. “Wrong until you make it right” – He had no idea that she was going to kill herself. So he wants to find out why she would end her own life and end up hurting him so badly. “Everything will be alright” – Of course everything’s not going to be alright; the woman he loved just killed herself. Like a bunch of people said before, he’s hoping that if he says it enough times, everything really will be alright. “I never knew, I never knew” – He never knew she was so miserable that she’d prefer being dead rather than staying alive. I can picture him saying this over and over again after he’s found out she’s dead, sobbing... But then again, that’s just me. “So take your suitcase, ‘cause I don't mind” – A complete and total lie. He really does mind, but there’s nothing he can do about the situation, so he’s trying to find a way to accept it. And of course, “take your suitcase,” is not meant to be taken literally. “And baby doll, I meant it every time You don't need to compromise” – This is difficult to explain. But when the girlfriend would go to him with a problem, feeling hopeless about it (but not so much as to commit suicide), he, being the caring lover, would tell her that she deserved much better than she was getting right now, and things were going to get better for her once others realized that. Now that she’s gone, he’s wondering why she hadn’t believed him. On another note, I think the reason the words seem “optimistic” is because the boyfriend was probably an upbeat person, always the one to cheer his girlfriend up when she was upset. But after something as tragic as a loved one committing suicide, it’s almost like he’s an empty shell of what he once was because he’s not sure what to believe anymore. So yeah, I think I’ve rambled on enough now. |
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| The Killers – Andy, You're a Star Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Personally, my brother and I sat down and listened to the song together. My brother said he thought it was about this gay/bi teenage boy (the narrator) having some sort of sexual experience with Andy, but Andy's not really gay so he doesn't want to take it any further. The narrator, however, still insists on following Andy around like a lovesick puppy to the point where he's stalking the athetlete. Kind of like the typical "girl likes boy, boy likes girl for sex" story. And yeah, it can be argued against, but I just think it's a cool interpretation of the song. | |
| The Like – Too Late Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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My friend recently went through something like this with a now ex-boyfriend. At first, she loved the guy, but he just wasn't reliable. And in the end she left him for it and went on to someone more reliable. I think the point this song is at is when she's starting to get fed up with the boyfriend blowing her off or forgetting to call her when he said he would, and this is the last chance she's giving him. And now he's just wasted it by being late again. "time is gonna start it's never gonna stop time is running on" I interpreted this as her saying that she's through with him, and that she's going forward without looking back; time will go on with or without him. "just too late and still too little i just seem to miss you crawling never thought the day would come, i know" The sarcasm in this verse amused me. She's saying that she's never seen him actually make an effort in their relationship, that everything he's done has been at the pace of a "crawl." At this point she's amazed she hadn't broken up with him sooner. If anything, you can simply tell from the tone of the song that it has to be a breakup song. |
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| Regina Spektor – Uh-Merica Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I think it having something to do with the Roosevelts is right... I did a bit of research. "Mrs. E. Roosevelt never heard me shoot my gun Mrs. E. Roosevelt didn't even know I owned one" Teddy Roosevelt headed west to North Dakota to become a rancher and a lawman before Eleanor Roosevelt was born, and returned when she was still an infant. Hence, the first two lines. "Oh we're born alone and we're covered by m-m-m-mother's kisses The mind has already forgotten what the body still misses" He left shortly after the death of his mother and first wife, who both died on the same day, which must have hurt a lot. For a long time after he refused to even say/hear the name of his first wife, probably because it was so painful. I think Regina interpreted him going out west and picking up that entirely new lifestyle as a way for him to cope with the pain, as if it's a sort of substitute. That would also explain why the narrator seems to hold his gun and the entire sport of hunting so dearly to him. I'm not sure about the "Somewhere between the ... floor and the ... ceiling" lines, though. My guess about the "Uh-merica" line is that it's just cleverly replacing the "A" with a "Uh" because it's a sound people make when they are shot. |
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