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Vampire Weekend – Horchata Lyrics 14 years ago
I like that take on it. You brought up some really cool ideas about the song I hadn't thought of before.

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Vampire Weekend – Horchata Lyrics 14 years ago
The music, I feel, has a tropic vacation vibe to it. The xylophone sounds like an imitation of steel drum style of playing. The tom drumming sounds like something I would imagine hearing on a pacific island in a drum circle.

In December, drinking horchata
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals

When I hear the lyrics in first verse matched with the music I see a man in his low to mid thirty's. I picture him sitting in a tropical environment by himself. He's from a northern area. A balaclava would be common place this time of year in his hometown, in his current environment it would look ridiculous. The cold is to hard to deal with alone.

In December, drinking horchata
Look down your glasses at that aranciata
With lips and teeth to ask how my day went
Boots and fists to pound on the pavement

There are glasses now; he has met someone on his vacation. This person is special. What she says and who she is as a person is most important. They spend time together exploring and getting to know each other.

Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on

After meeting this person he is starting to remember what it is like to fall in love. The chairs and sidewalks are the highlights of his time here.

You'd remember drinking horchata
You'd still enjoy it with your foot on Masada

They grow older together and no matter where they are it's just like where they met. (Massada is in Israel)

Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh you had it but oh no you lost it
Looking back you shouldn't have fought it

She dies; the winter is hard to handle again. He goes back to wear they met and does the things they did together alone. The forgotten feeling of being alone is no longer forgotten. Even though they are alone now and hurting they would not change it.

In December, drinking horchata
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Years go by and hearts start to harden
Those palms and firs that grew in your garden
Are falling down and nearing the rosebeds
The roots are shooting up through the tool shed
Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went
Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement

The pain of the loss fades but she is not forgotten. The house they had becomes disheveled because no one lives in it anymore. He now lives where they met and fell in love. As he walk's the streets they walked together he remembers her.

Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh you had it but oh no you lost it
You understood so you shouldn't have fought it.

The last part reminds me of a round. Like it's a story that repeats itself over and over. Like it's not just his story.

I think it's a really sweet song about true love and that person that will always be apart of you.

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