| Born Ruffians – Hummingbird Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This is about a girl coming to the conclusion that suicide is the only way to make sense of her life. "The grass and the daisies Think a lot more of the days than you And you're you" The world around you finds you insignificant. "The walls of the maze Know the will more than the way than you And you're just you" Play off the phrase, "where there's a will, there's a way." The maze of the world seems to drain her of all her will to keep going. "The buttons on my phone Know I hate to be alone When I dial, I'm in denial" Self explanatory, mostly, but the last line -- in denial that she's fated to be alone, forever. Disconnected, forever. "But now at least I know Where it is I have to go I need supplies before I arrive" "Where it is I have to go" is the first allusion to death in an indirect way -- the place being the afterlife. The supplies, supplies to commit suicide (gun, pills, etc.). ""You're running down my thigh," she said "He's such a wonderful guy," she said "There's pride in wanting to die, I think I'll give it a try," she said" The shift in tone between these for lines almost always causes me to tear up -- it really hits home for me, but I digress: She's just had sex, and is using the most vuglar and unromantic possible way to describe their time together. The next line about him being wonderful sounds utterly hollow after being introduced by the first -- a feeling further reinforced by the next two lines. "Pride," being a particular sticking point because it's very obvious that her dignity was just tossed out the window being that she feels utterly used for sex. ""I can't make it on my own And it's so hard to be alone When I die I'll be alright"" She tried connecting with another human, the boy, and found it hollow. The theme of loneliness comes up again, and she feels utterly helpless to face the "maze" of the world by herself, and being unloved and alone is too hard for her to endure, suicide is finally talked about plainly as the only option. "And now at least she knows Where it is she has to go She'll need supplies before she arrives" And given the context at this point, reinforces the earlier interpretation. It's funny, the acoustic version of the song ends here (off the EP I Need a Life). And obviously, has a far more depressing tone to the song. The version from Red, Yellow, & Blue seems to indicate that the song is about two people, the singer, and the girl he also sings about, because after telling the tale of the girl, he rallies himself and sings: "We're not gonna die like this (oh no) We're not gonna die like this (oh no) Sing it with me, it goes like this We're not gonna die like this HUM-MING-BIRD Fly away little hummingbird!" He encourages her to get away from the life that's causing her to feel utterly hopeless. I'm not sure if hummingbird is a tie-in to the first stanza, a pointed rejection by the very things a hummingbird needs to survive. Or if it's simply that a hummingbird is small, fragile, and has such special dietary needs and such a high metabolism, it's pretty easy for them to waste away. It could be something completely different. But yeah. Great song. Very sad, sad song. I do prefer the acoustic version, if you can get a hold of it you should listen to it. Obviously, didn't fit in with the almost manically upbeat feel of Red, Yellow, & Blue. |
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