| Band of Horses – Cigarettes, Wedding Bands Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[Anaiza3durval:35360] I haven't heard of them, but I'll check them out. I'm surprised by getting a response to this twelve years after the fact, but I hope my take helped you somehow. | |
| Band of Horses – Cigarettes, Wedding Bands Lyrics | 18 years ago |
|
I think this is how it goes. "The working man's day, we just piss it away. We sit out in the weather. Familiar," he said, "times do breed contempt. Wash you hands of it forever." The violence, it ripped through the old dogwood fence. See the whole scene unravel. The drunk brother said he could reason with them... While they lie tonight, they lie tonight, while they lie. 2x The picture was left on the front porch. The back said, "I love him, don't you ever think of me. If my body goes, then to Hell with my soul. We don't even know the difference." The dead folks in the clouds are crying out loud... While they lie tonight, they lie tonight, while they lie. 2x "And why did we live so long?" Long 2x The house, not the same since we left it that day. Old friends seem to wander. In our parents' hands, cigarettes, wedding bands... While they lie tonight, they lie tonight while they lie. 2x And why did we live so long? Long 2x While they lie tonight, they lie tonight, while they lie 3x Oh... ------------------------------------------------------------ And now, my analysis. The whole song outlines a marriage that's on the rocks with the parnets probably only staying together because of the kids or for religious reasons. In the first part, you hear the father speaking, saying that even though life isn't necessarily hard on them he's getting bored with life as it is and he and his wife are growing apart. I believe the husband threatens the wife with divorce when he says, "Wash your hands of it forever." (Husbands out there, never say the D word. It can cause a lot of emotional damage even if you don't mean it.) This is followed by a fight out in the yard. The violence mentioned in this song isn't necessarily physical but I believe that's what it's speaking of when "it ripped through the old dogwood fence". The kids may have been on the other side of the fence listening to the fight, and it "ripped" emotionally from the kids overheaing the fight. The older (presumably) older brother is drunk, but he tries to break up the fight. The chorus is cool, because the word, "lie", has a double meaning. They lie while they are lying in bed, basically. A man and woman sleeping together is supposed to be symbolic of love, but the parents don't love eachother. I believe the next verse is talking about an affair the wife is having. She leaves a picture of the guy she's cheating with, with a note on the back. The wife has gotten to a point of not caring about whatever religious reasons they had for staying together. While they were together, it was destructive to the kids for them to be arguing all the time, but this is just as bad when one parent suddenly decides to leave on bad terms. this is why "the dead folks in the clouds are crying out loud". After the split, their lie is that this is somehow better, but the kids are still being hurt by all of their problems. This is followed by the question, "Why did we live so long?" This is a powerful song, because even those who haven't these types of isssues at home know what it feels like to think that their life is just dragging on with no hope for a better tomorrow. Somehow a song like this brings some comfort when you realize that there are people who know what you're going through. Any young people being affected by this, call 1-800-HIT-HOME God bless, Nemamiah |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.