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Kevin Devine – Cotton Crush Lyrics 18 years ago
The bricks get laid,
and they get torn up,
and laid again,
but the bricks always get torn up again.

[I think that the bricks are metaphors for lifestyles and bad habits; he’s saying that we are forever changing who we are, what we stand for, and how we live; this sets the tone for him breaking out of his drug/alcohol stage]

Your friends won't wait,
so don't believe that shit,
when they say they'll wait.
Trust me; your friends will not wait for you.

[it seems that he’s describing relationships that were based upon a certain lifestyle that he can no longer be a part of; and even though they may say they love him, the foundation is superficial, thus it will crumble when he chooses to go down a different path. Their only worry seems to be finding what they want – drugs and alcohol – and they won’t stop, not even for a “best friend”]

Then you'll be stoned in some park,
just nodding your head and pinching your arms,

[he’s wrestling between staying the same and waking up to realize a new way of life]

when a girl walks along.
She's humming your song,
with your t-shirt on.
That's when you're done,
Oh, that's when you're done...

[I think this is his personal “awakening”; when he sees this girl, he realizes that he is a role model, and that he has the power to influence people greatly. And he’s done with drugs and alcohol because that’s not a message he wants to send.]

There's a cotton crush
down in the southern states.
But back up here, man, we've got
so much thread and space
to waste, waste, waste.

There's a microphone
picking every word up
and it shuts itself off
when it's sure that's its heard enough.....

[this is a metaphor for something we all live by: music is life. He wants to change for himself, but it’s his music and the people that love his music that helped him find the way]

The quiet can scrape
all the calm from your bones,
but maybe it should.
[he’s talking about how at the end of the day we are alone with what we’ve done and who we are, and we begin to question everything, and pick our lives a part until it’s in a thousand pieces; he’s saying that our conscience will shake our very being, and make us rethink everything]

Maybe we need to be hollowed
to get up and grow,

[this seems to say that even though its painful, sometimes we have to get rid of everything toxic in our lives to be born into a new – better – stage of life.]

and stop fucking around,
to kick off our braces and start straightening out.

[bad habits like drugs and drinking really only mask our problems and who we are; and sometimes we use them as a crutch to temporarily forget our problems; he’s saying we have to stop with these illusions and games and get on the right path]

Let's sift through the static
to find a simpler sound
Let's sift through the static
to find a simpler sound...
simpler sound than the shit that's clouding our heads now.

[these last few lines are telling us to shed whatever is getting in our way of achieving a better life; he’s saying we have to somehow weed out the bad – could be bad habits, bad thoughts, anxiety, stress, sadness, anger – that paralyzes us, so we can find some clarity and balance. Sometimes excessive indulgence in these things cloud our heads from seeing what’s really there.]

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