| Iron & Wine – The Trapeze Swinger Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Guy loses girl, girl dies, guy realizes, much later, how badly he screwed up, guy hopes desperately he can get into heaven to see her again and make it right. In the first verse the two are close childhood friends, and are beginning to fall for each other. ("A vision too removed to mention"?) Then the guy's realization of his predicament, of how much he still loves her ("I heard from someone you're still pretty"), and also that the case is not closed. From this point onward, the song is a great jumble of angst, hope, memory, speculation, resolution, and fervent desire to get into heaven, right his wrongs, and get her back. Thoughts: "And then they went on to say / That the pearly gates / Had some eloquent graffiti / Like 'We'll meet again', and 'Fuck the man', / and 'tell my mother not to worry'" This left by others like him. Wow. Graffiti on the walls of heaven. This sort of thing really defies this sort of interpretation. But continuing on, "And angels with their great handshakes / were always done in such a hurry" Just speculation here, but angels seem to be people like his girl, with whom he had too brief an encounter. Maybe not. The third verse ("And please, remember me that Halloween...") is about how he lost her? And how, once he realized, she'd slipped away? Fifth verse - dreams in picturebook childhood. Or perhaps not the dream. I'm imagining a baby sleeping next to a stuffed animal, watched by his mother. Enter the carnival metaphor. The trapeze swinger can effortlessly swing heavenward, from the mundane to the realm of the angels. The narrator catches a brief glimpse of a figure connecting earth and heaven. ("A fleeting chance to see a trapeze / Swinger high as any savior") Calls to mind chistian imagery--fully human and yet fully divine, sent down to reveal the glory of heaven to a weary world... "And please, remember me, my misery, / And how it lost me all I wanted" More sad memories, stemming from the first loss. "In circles round the well and where it spells / On the wall behind Saint Peter / So bright, on cinder gray, in spraypaint, / 'Who the hell can see forever?'" God, what glorious lyrics. More agonizing about over the probability of salvation; potential anger with God / Saint Peter should he be barred from heaven. Reminiscent of my feelings toward the admissions committees of colleges I desperately wanted to go, while writing my essays and awaiting the fateful decision. Actually I really don't have anything to say about this verse. I just wanted to write out the lyrics. "And please, remember me seldomly....My hand between your knees, you turned from me / and said 'The trapeze act was wonderful / But never meant to last', the clowns that passed / Saw me just come up with anger..." Back to the breakup, the cause of all this misery and soul-searching. Something he doesn't want to spend time thinking about (and doesn't want her to spend time thinking about); a big mistake. It was meant to last. I imagine this is something that he someday hopes to be able to remember without feeling bad, armed with the knowledge that despite his horrible fuck up the story ended happily. (That's what I'd think in that situation, anyway...) "So please, remember me finally / And all my uphill clawing / My dear, but if I make the pearly gates / I'll do my best to make a drawing of God / And Lucifer, a boy and girl, / an angel kissing on a sinner, / a monkey and a man, a marching band, / all around the frightened trapeze swinger." I'm not quite sure what to make of this, except for the imagery of the the boy and girl, him (the sinner) with her (the angel). The trapeze swinger would be him, a terrified soul hoping desperately that he won't fall and that his jump will be fully as glorious and successful as he had hoped. All of this if he makes it. This sort of analysis really does not do justice to the song. Please pardon me for doing my best to mangle it. I feel strongly that this is not a song about "the passage of time", "letting go", "getting over her", "moving on", etc., but rather one about fervently striving for a real happy ending. It is not about the proverbial "life" that "has good and bad", "goes on", and finally drifts away and fades out to oblivion in a thoroughly mundane and un-apocalyptic manner. It is much more hopeful than that. Although the narrator is unsure, insecure, and doubtful about his prospects, he is holding out hope for a genuine and complete happy ending, one that would right all the failings and stupid mistakes of his life and truly make it all better, one that would really be all that he hoped for. |
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| Steely Dan – My Old School Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Oh Bard! We all heard about this song shortly after arriving on campus freshman year. We were so excited when we heard somebody had written a song about Bard! "Gee," we thought after we'd listened to it. "He didn't seem to like it here too well..." |
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| Guster – Ruby Falls Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"Love, confession number one Impossible and sorry" wow |
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| Guster – Scars And Stitches Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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"they were anesthetized and slowly washed away" this line has taken on new meaning for me after taking intro biology. Poor fruit flies... |
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| Guster – Hang On Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Wow. Saddest guster song yet. | |
| The Dresden Dolls – Truce Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| cafe pamplona reference! I love that place... | |
| Neutral Milk Hotel – Communist Daughter Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I am inclined to agree with RainSong (several pages ago). I think she IS communism, and I like the comparison of the song to 7 o'clock news/silent night. I also see the song as being perhaps from the perspective of a guy standing in loneliness and misery, looking longingly at her full of idealism, sexual frustration, and love. | |
| Simon and Garfunkel – Bleecker Street Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| wish I could get a room on Bleeker Street for thirty dollars! | |
| Simon and Garfunkel – Cecilia Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| just noticed the muse reference yesterday | |
| Simon and Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| The second verse of this song appears almost verbatim in Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf. | |
| Guster – Come Downstairs And Say Hello Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| hands down my favorite song of all time | |
| Guster – The New Underground Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Dostoyevsky reference? Quite possible that I'm reading way too much into this. | |
| Guster – Two at a Time Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| Guster is clearly trying to play with the idea of the repeating cycle. The entire song is made up of loops, and features a circular bass line and lyrics about an unnecessary process that landed right back where it started. Could almost be construed as an antiwar song. | |
| Guster – Red Oyster Cult Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| suicide | |
| Guster – The Captain Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I can't believe none of you guys pick up on the irony in this song. | |
| Neutral Milk Hotel – Naomi Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I don't see the need to read prostitute or stalker into it. Its just a love song. | |
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