| The Mountain Goats – No Children Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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Sorry guys, but I’m about to bust some knowledge into your Kleenex of understanding. This song is about a married couple who is drawn into a cult and is left feeling hopeless, confused, and a little Satanic. I hope that our few remaining friends Give up on trying to save us I hope we come out with a fail-safe plot To piss off the dumb few that forgave us This starts to build insight into the fact that the couple in this song has been drawn into a cult. Some of their friends are trying to lead their lives back to Christ while others have given up and instead accepted that their friends’ souls may have been compromised. I hope the fences we mended Fall down beneath their own weight And I hope we hang on past the last exit I hope it's already too late The first two lines in this verse refer to the fact that the couple was at one point Christian, and tried to live by Christ’s example, being good to all people. However, as the darkness of the cult has taken their souls, they no longer care to keep up with relationships forged during that time. The next two lines indicate that the couple is happy with the possibility that their souls may be too far gone to save. And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here Someday burns down And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away And I never come back to this town again in my life The junkyard, of course, is how the man describes their former church. The black smoke is their cult, and he hopes that he and his wife can leave the good life they built in that town for their new path: Satan. I hope I lie And tell everyone you were a good wife And I hope you die I hope we both die Since this song is from the first person perspective, we’re not privy to the wife’s thoughts on the cult. Since the narrator expresses that he wants his wife to die, it could be taken that she wasn’t completely devoted to the cult, and for that reason he resents her. And since he has a skeptical partner, he is not pure in the eyes of the cult, and must therefore die as well. I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow I hope it bleeds all day long Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises We're pretty sure they're all wrong The man, believing he is impure, starts wishing for death. He starts small. He wants to bleed to death and have it look like an accident. The friends mentioned earlier in the song, the ones still trying to save them, are trying to give him hope for salvation, but he disregards it. I hope it stays dark forever I hope the worst isn't over And I hope you blink before I do And I hope I never get sober The cult has taken over his life and deeply affected his mood. Still wishing for death, he begins to wonder what will happen if his wife dies (‘blinks’) first. Will the absence of her impurity keep him from becoming distanced from the true nature of the cult? And I hope when you think of me years down the line You can't find one good thing to say And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out You'd stay the hell out of my way The man is still hoping he can be devoted to the cult, and believes that if he pushes everyone out of his life, he might still have a chance. Obviously, this would negatively impact his friends and family, so they wouldn’t speak kindly of him. Conversely, he entertains the idea that if he were to leave the cult, no one in his life would make a big to-do about it. I am drowning There is no sign of land The man believes that he has failed his cult and cannot be redeemed. You are coming down with me Hand in unlovable hand He decides that his wife must be punished for not following the cult as he did. They are both seen as failures in the eyes of their leader. And I hope you die I hope we both die The man, angry at his wife, decides on a murder-suicide rather than face the shame brought on by their beliefs. |
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| The Decemberists – The Rake's Song Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| A rake gets married and has children, but longs for the freedom to gather leaves all day long. After his wife dies, he kills his remaining children and regains his freedom | |
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