| Interpol – Not Even Jail Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I think it's about someone who's been institutionalized for a severe hallucinatory disorder and develops feelings for another patient: "I'll lay down my glasses" - Probably refers to eyeglasses, not drinking glasses as others have suggested. The narrator promises not to trust his vision, or his perception more broadly- to metaphorically refuse to see what he can clearly perceive but knows is not real. Maybe the act of taking off his glasses has something to do with the visual nature of his hallucinations, or helps him distinguish them from reality (though that's the opposite of standard practice: people with visual hallucinations are usually advised to wear their eyeglasses, since the brain is less likely to misinterpret clear images). An obsession with eyes or eye-wear is also associated with Schizophrenia, though it takes too many forms to narrow down any precise meaning the narrator attaches to his glasses. "I'll lay down in houses" - Not sure. Presumably the narrator is promising to shut down, stay put, and ground himself if he experiences his symptoms, rather than acting on them; more darkly, it could refer to the sedative effect of anti-psychotic medication. "if things come alive" - meant literally. The narrator is describing hallucinations or delusions involving inanimate objects, well, coming alive. "I'll subtract pain by ounces, Yeah, I will start painting houses, if things come alive" - The narrator promises to use various coping strategies as an outlet. 'Subtracting pain by ounces' perhaps refers to general mindfulness exercises, or, more likely, to anti-psychotic drugs again. 'Painting houses' might refer not to painting walls, but to painting pictures of houses as a form of art therapy. "I promise to commit no acts of violence, Be it physical or otherwise, If things come alive" - Reacting to his hallucinations, he either has hurt someone close to him or is in danger of doing so- he's promising not to do similar in the future. "I'll say it now[...] Cuz I want it now" - He's saying he'll cooperate with his treatment. "When personality is scarred tissue," - referring to the narrator's perception of his psyche as damaged by his illness. "We travel South with disuse" - not sure what travelling south refers to, but the 'disuse' could refer to his feeling that he and his fellow inmates are cut off from or abandoned by the world outside the institution, or that he feels that he hasn't been able to express parts of his personality because of his illness, or that he's experiencing flattened affect as a symptom or side effect. "I'm subtle like a lion's cage Such a cautious display" - The narrator perceives himself- or a part of himself- as a captive predator, made more dangerous by the fact that it's frightened and trapped, and lashing out might be its only option. The 'cage' refers to his feeling exposed- either the institution is the cage, and he's being gawked at by the doctors and staff like an animal in a zoo or circus, or he himself is the cage, and he's cautiously allowing his therapists to observe the dangerous parts of himself while holding them at bay. "Remember take hold of your time here Give some meanings to the means To your end." - The narrator is likely psyching himself up here, repeating to himself the words of a doctor or therapist telling him to make the most of his time in treatment. "Not even jail." - The therapist is reassuring the narrator, telling him not to think of his (perhaps involuntary) commitment as a punishment, or himself as a criminal, and perhaps claiming the institution isn't that bad. "It's not a prison- heck, it's not even jail." "We marshal in the days of longing," - He and his fellow inmates spend long, tedious days pining for the outside world, but try to take stock of the situation and pull through. "We tremble like anyone's children," - The inmates' illnesses don't make them freaks or monsters; they're human and have parents just like anyone else, and they're disoriented and scared of their situation- both their symptoms and their surroundings. "And wink towards the fire." - This, perhaps refers to muscle tics, spasms, and sensitivity to light as side-effects of various anti-psychotic and anti-anxiety medications, or as symptoms of mental illnesses or neurological disorders. The 'trembling' in the previous line might also have a secondary meaning to much the same effect. "I'm erring on the side of caution, Betraying no other symptom, But girl, you shake it right." - The narrator is trying his best to cooperate with treatment and control or hide his symptoms, but he develops an attraction to a fellow inmate. "I will bounce you on the lap of silence," - The narrator's affair with her would have to be conducted quietly, in secret. (At the very least, mental hospitals don't allow patients in each others' rooms, and certainly not for anything that involves bouncing on someone's lap) "We will free love to the beats of science," - Their affair would take place against a backdrop of clinical research and medical treatment in the institution. "And girl, you shake it right" - Dat Ass. "Oh, but hold it still, darling, your hair so pretty" Can't you feel the warmth of my sincerity?" You make motion when you cry" - The girl is crying. It could be something the narrator did or said to make her uncomfortable (like all those sexual references in the last verse), or she could be having a psychotic break or anxiety attack, or was reminded of some past trauma- she's a patient in a mental institution after all. But whatever the case, he's trying to reassure her that he sincerely cares for her. 'You make motion when you cry' could be the narrator's physical attraction for the girl developing into a deeper, more emotional connection. "You're making people's lives feel less private. Don't take time away" - The narrator addresses the staff, who he feels are intruding on he and the girl, limiting their time together and looking over their shoulders. "You make motion when you cry" - The girl's crying again. Maybe this time it's because she's started to reciprocate the narrator's feelings and is frustrated at being separated from him by the staff, or else she's troubled by something else, and the narrator is angry that he can't be there to comfort her. "we all hold hands," can't we all hold hands," When we make new plans?" - Probably a group therapy situation where the patients are working on developing techniques to cope with their illness in the future or plans for their lives after release. I suspect the narrator is seated next to his love interest, and is suggesting that the group hold hands so that he can share a bit of physical contact with her. "I pretend like no one else To try and control myself[...]" - The narrator is trying to control or hide both his symptoms and his attraction to the girl, but he feels that he's only pretending. "Remember take hold of your time here, Give some meanings to the means To your end Not even jail" - These lines echo the lines from earlier- but this time, he's referring not only to controlling or recovering from his mental illness, but to laying the groundwork for a future he hopes to share with the girl. Whether the girl appreciates the narrator's attention, is scared by him, or even notices him at all, and the extent to which his promises to cooperate with treatment are sincere vs. just telling the staff and doctors what they want to hear so he can get out quicker or avoid extra restraints depends on how cynical you're feeling at the moment. |
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| The Pogues – The Sick Bed Of Cuchulainn Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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'S about an Irish nationalist and anti-fascist looking back on his life, and about Gaelic Self-destruction, as said above, and about Irish Folklore. Specifically, it sounds like the Narrator was involved in the Spanish Civil War- John McCormack and Richard Tauber were famous tenors of that era, and Frank Ryan was an IRA member who led Irish Volunteers against Franco's Nazi-backed Fascists- the 'fucking blackshirts' who ran the death-trains; it sounds like the narrator was a member of Ryan's International Brigade, 'Connolly's Column'. After the war, the narrator descends into Alcoholism (the second verse describes a single drunken rampage in London, while he's pretty much gone in the bridge), and dies a classic Gaelic death- drunken, furious, passionate to the last- Cloughprior, in this case, refers to a cemetary in County Tipperary. At the same time, the narrator's life parallels that of the doomed Irish Hero Cúchulainn. A great warrior, he was said to fly into unquenchable rages in battle, and who, when his strength was finally sapped, tied himself to a rock to face his enemies, in order to die on his feet- an echo of the narrator's defiant love of liberty to the end. As a side note, Cúchulainn was decapitated after his death- "But you'll stick your head back out and shout 'we'll have another round'" takes on a slightly different meaning with that in mind |
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