| The National – Think You Can Wait Lyrics | 14 years ago |
|
Love dylancampbell's interpretation, but I see the "baby" more metaphorically in this verse: We've been running a sleepless run Been away from the baby way too long We've been holding a goodnight gun We've been losing our exits one by one Running a sleepless run to me just says fear. They're terrified. They've been away from the baby--representing what's important, what's innocent and pure, maybe what their relationship used to be. We've been holding a goodnight gun: We've been on the brink, about to end this thing because it's all going wrong. We've been losing our exits, our chances to take a different course than the one we're on now, our chances to make a change, to make things better. The first verse is in the past tense--his state before he met her, maybe. Maybe she was the island he was looking for. But maybe he's drowning her instead. What I'm thinking is simple I'll sell apples and ice water at the temple I won't make trouble I'll pull the devil down with me one way or another ...In this verse I think he means the "pull the devil" line in the opposite way. He's promising he'll be better. He'll do good things for people (or at least not do anything bad). He'll get rid of the devil on his shoulder, be a better man. But in the end, it's futile. She's all he has, and he's trying to do right by her, but he just can't. As indicated earlier in the song (Did I think you could wait?) he's already lost her. |
|
| The National – Guest Room Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| My interpretation's somewhat close to devilgirl's, but I think the song's from the perspective of one couple, probably a married couple (marriage is the imagery I get from "tie a woman to your wrist"). I also agree with despero that it ties into Boxer's running theme of losing youth. They've been together a long time, the spark is gone. When they got together they were young and rebellious; becoming society's definition of "adults" has dulled them down ("we're starting to stay the same"). That they're in the guest room means that they're no longer in their bedroom: they've become strangers, the intimacy is gone, they're visitors in their own home. It used to be about passion and fun, now it's about money and stability. | |
| Sufjan Stevens – The Dress Looks Nice on You Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I think the song is the realization that you are with the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. "I can see a lot of life in you" works two ways - he sees her spirit, her inner beauty (and her outer, hence the name of the song), but he can also see a lot of HIS life in her. His future is inherently within the person he is singing to. And the rest - see a bed and make it too, see a fireside turn blue - are all the simple things that would come with a lifelong relationship: turning down the bed they'll share for the rest of their lives, sitting by the fire and watching it die out, like the two of them will do together. It is a song of appreciation and the simplest, most beautifully put promise of undying commitment. | |
| The Shins – Kissing the Lipless Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| So obviously they broke up - or maybe they just hooked up once and then he ditched her ("friendship scarred"). Or maybe he broke up with her/wouldn't date her because she wouldn't have sex with him. Anyway, I think those first two lines are The Shins guy calling to check up on her, see if she's still the same, b/c she used to be a "good girl" before he got to her (aligned back and grass growing in bed = no sex). She used to be kind of prude, sweet, innocent - and he broke her heart ("too much to wear on your sleeves; it has too much to do with me") - and now she's trying to hook up/be sluttier to get over/impress The Shins guy, and Shins Guy feels guilty ("secretly I want to bury in the yard"). She's bragging about having sex with the new guy ("talking pretty loud") but at the same time, she's still in love with The Shins guy, and he feels bad. And her "metal of doe's skin and petals" is her trying to be strong and act tough, act like she can hook up without getting emotionally attached, even though in reality she's really too sweet for that - and she's been hooking up with mean guys, the wrong guys, the guys that just want sex - the "lipless" - and they're ruining her, bleeding her sweetness away. And again Shins Guy feels guilty. The only part I don't get is the "criminal eyes"...? Maybe she caught him cheating? | |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.