| Vienna Teng – Recessional Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I have a different interpretation, or rather, a story that arises out of the song. There's a man who had a child out of wedlock with an old girlfriend. He wants to have a separate life from them, because things don't work out or he becomes overwhelmed by it, or for whatever reason. He pays his child support and always wonders about his daughter, but he goes on with his life. Then one day, when his daughter has become a preteen, the mother suddenly dies in a car crash. There's no one who will take her in, so that leaves him. He agrees. I imagine that this song describes their first meeting in the airport when he goes to pick her up, and it describes the strange feelings that he's having by finally meeting and getting to know his daughter. "It's so beautiful here", she says, "this moment now." And this moment, now. And I never thought I would find her here: flannel and satin, my four walls transformed. It is a beautiful moment. Father and daughter are finally reunited, but he never thought that he would ever be a part of her life. But she's looking at me, straight to center. No room at all for any other thought. And I know I don't want this. Oh, I swear I don't want this. There's a reason not to want this but I forgot... There's a reason that he didn't want to be in her life. He's more of a loner, more of a person who wants to keep to himself. He could have just said that he didn't want to take her in. But now that he's seeing her, he's getting that connection that every father feels to his daughter. In the terminal she sleeps on my shoulder, hair falling forward, mouth all askew. Fluorescent announcements beat their wings overhead: passengers missing, we're looking for you. And she dreams through the noise, her weight against me, face pressed into the corduroy grooves. Maybe it means nothing... maybe it means nothing... maybe it means nothing, but I'm afraid to move. Her sleeping on his shoulder, so comfortable, establishes that father-daughter connection. She's so innocent, happy to see her father, but perhaps she is still too young to recognize how powerful it really is. But he does, and he doesn't want to move, doesn't want to ruin it. And it's as though she's been a missing passenger in his life, but he hasn't realized it till now. And the words, they're everything and nothing. I want to search for her in the offhand remarks. Who are you, taking coffee, no sugar? Who are you, echoing street signs? Who are you, the stranger in the shell of a lover, dark curtains drawn by the passage of time? oh words, like rain, how sweet the sound... I imagine that this is after he's taken her home, and as they start to talk he's finding out about all of the little quirks that are part of her personality. She's a preteen but she's already drinking coffee, and she takes it with no sugar. She has voice like rain. And he also notices that she is really beautiful--because she looks just like her mother, the "shell" of a past lover. It's as though a dark curtain was cast over her, because he didn't see her grown up. He was just alone and then--suddenly--he has this daughter to take care of. "Well anyway," she says, "I'll see you around..." But the fact of the matter is that she is a preteen, as she's at that age where she's getting closed-off. She also probably feels very awkward, suddenly being in the care of her father who had almost nothing to do with her for her entire life up till now. Not to mention that her mother just passed away. It's going to take a long time before they can really connect, but there is hope in both of them that they can. |
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| Vienna Teng – I Don't Feel So Well Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This is a short film I made based on my interpretation of the lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJT112XKNls Enjoy! =) |
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