| Kings of Convenience – 24-25 Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I think that this is a sad, pessimistic song. It's about a breakup. About somebody realizing that he is much better off alone, and that he is now paying a heavy price for having been in a relationship. Specifically... => "She'll be gone soon, you can have me for yourself" The person whom the taleteller is with is soon leaving, allowing another to supposedly have the taleteller for herself. But it looks like the taleteller isn't really interested in the new person that he's talking to, since the second part of the sentence ("you can have me for yourself") appears emotionally detached. In particular, the taleteller isn't talking about himself or expressing his feelings; he isn't saying "we" can be together, nor is he even expressing a desire to be together. He is just coldly, perhaps cynically, referring to what the new person wants, as if he has no part of it. => "But do give, just give me today, or you will just scare me away" A pessimistic, probably more realistic, view may interpret the phrase "give me today" as give up on me quickly, because, after what happened with the aforesaid "she" (whom will be gone soon), the taleteller became scared of being (or is perhaps simply unwilling to be) in a long relationship. A more optimistic view, if you must have it, may perhaps interpret the same phrase as the taleteller requesting from the new person to quickly show she is generous (= she's a "giver"), possibly because that other person he's breaking up with was not. I tend to think the pessimistic view is more consistent with the rest of the lyrics and with the spirit of the song. => "what we build is bigger than the sum of two" This is, of course, the cliche, the romantic view of being together, the goal. => "but somewhere I lost count on my own, and somehow I must find it alone" And this is the disillusionment of the taleteller from the cliche. Like most of us, his intent was to build something bigger. But in reality, for him and that other person, it didn't work out that way: the taleteller ended up worse than he started, and he must now pay a price. He must attempt to find again what was lost. No assurances he'll succeed. => "24 and blooming like the fields of May, 25 and yearning for a ticket out" The story of the aforesaid disillusionment. The taleteller was 24 when he and "she" started, and back then he was blooming; a year after and he desperately wants out of the relationship. => "dreams burn, but in ashes are gold" The taleteller --- the dreamer --- is much better off without the dream; the dreamer realizes that he should let the dream die and move on. Perhaps the dream turned out to be a nightmare, and giving up on the dream possibly allows the dreamer a (golden) chance to heal. |
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