| Jason Isbell – Elephant Lyrics | 11 years ago |
|
1. I'm guessing the relationship he describes is more of a deep friendship, rather than a relationship. I get the sense that there was a potential blossoming of a relationship that remained a friendship once she had the cancer diagnosis. He seems to describe them as the kind of couple who give each other a hard time in a joking way, but now she's so weak that she doesn't have the energy for that. 2. I don't get the sense that he also has cancer. I mentioned in another post that my interpretation of the "giving up my place in line" lyric is that he has set aside the normal course of his life, whether it be a job or other pursuits, to be with her and take care of her. He is in grief about the impending loss, which trumps whatever else he had committed to in his life. 3. I always thought of "cry about what we used to be" as simply reflecting on the past and youth when things were care-free. Telling stories of their past, etc. From hearing some interviews, I don't think this was necessarily what Jason himself went through. He talked about a bar that he regularly visited growing up, and how he noticed the "regulars" were more and more often being lost to cancer over time. This was part of the inspiration for the song. |
|
| Jason Isbell – Elephant Lyrics | 11 years ago |
|
I think you're right, when he says "I buried her a thousand times", he is dreading the day that she dies and he is imagining it over and over in his head, just knowing that the day will come sooner or later. As far as giving up his place in line, my interpretation is that he has set aside the normal course of his life, whether it be a job or other pursuits, to be with her and take care of her. He is in grief about the impending loss, which trumps whatever else he had committed to in his life. Gut-wrenching songs. "No one dies with dignity" gets me every time. |
|
| Josh Ritter – A Certain Light Lyrics | 11 years ago |
|
This is one of Josh's most (seemingly intentionally) direct songs, lyrically. "Any anymore, it'd stretch the rhyme" Intentionally keeping his message simple, he's happy and content. "And she only looks like you In a certain kind of light When she holds her head just right" He still thinks about his previous relationship on occasion, but it's fading away because he knows his newfound love is so much stronger. That line almost seems a bit bitter, as if letting her know that he's forgetting about her. |
|
| The National – Graceless Lyrics | 11 years ago |
|
Your first sentence could be a great summation of this entire album. It is very existential. The only part I would differ with you on is when you say "he knows God still loves him." When he says "God loves everybody, don't remind me", I think he's saying that people keep trying to comfort him by telling him about religion, but he doesn't believe, hence being "Graceless". |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.