| Warpaint – Undertow Lyrics | 5 months ago |
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This song evolved from a cover of Polly by Nirvana, and that was the title initially. I see it as Polly from Polly's perspective. A girl expressing her agency in the only ways she can in a horrific situation of kidnap and rape. "Your brown eyes are my blue skies. They light up the rivers that the birds fly over. Better not to quench your thirst. Better not to be the first one diving in, though you caught me and you know why you breathe in the deepest part of the water." His eyes are the sky and she is the river underneath him, she is warning him it's better not to 'be the first one diving in' even though he has caught her for this purpose. The sky is a powerful image but the undertow of a river, while invisible, is also powerful. The river also shows the sky a reflection of itself. "What's the matter? You hurt yourself? Open your eyes and there was someone else Now i've got you in the undertow. Now i've got you in the undertow. Why you wanna blame me for your troubles? Ah ah ah you better learn your lesson yourself. Nobody ever has to find out what's in my mind tonight." He opens his eyes to see he has become someone else, his actions have hurt him as well as her, they have turned him into a monster. He has got her, but she has 'got' him, he will also never be the same again. The blame line alludes to how abusers find ways to blame their victims for their actions. I'm the original song, the perpetrator is trying to guess what Polly wants and what she thinks. But the power and agency Polly holds onto is that he will never know what is in her mind. "Let tonight pass us by. Do you really want to be the one to fight? And i said "You're better not to light that fire. It will take you to the darkest part of the weather."" In the true story Polly was based on, the attacker uses a blow torch. The weather (in the sky that's his eyes) is made darker because of his actions, and again she reflects that back to him. "Nobody ever has to find out what's in my mind tonight. Nobody in my mind. Nobody in my mind. I feel it in my heart tonight. I lay on the floor, pressing in my eyes. Seeing little lights. Please light these decisions that only one could make I wanted to stay home but i went running running running running from the troubles running running running running from the troubles" Again, she's resisting letting him into her mind to retain a form of control. She presses in her eyes so she doesn't have to see the darkest part of the weather in him, and to break any connection between them. The running part could represent when Polly managed to flee from his truck. The song could also be using Polly as a metaphor for the writer's relationship, that she felt snared and trapped in but managed to escape from. |
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