| The Clientele – Losing Haringey Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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My intuitive reaction to that (brilliant) line has always been that the dreamlike nostalgic experience that the protagonist undergoes in the song (and the realisation of time's inevitable passing) puts his current troubles (job, failed dates, money) into perspective. The realisation that everything we do, everyone we love and even everything we are ourselves are ultimately fleeting and will pass away ("All gone, gone forever") can be extremely saddening (which is the protagonist's first reaction; he's "inconsolably sad"), but it can also be humbling and liberating, if you are able come to terms with it. What the hell does it matter, when all is said and done, that I can't "really" afford to go have that drink, or that I don't "really" have the time to meet up with a dear friend I haven't seen in a while (etc.)? The nature of our very condition is so peculiar and humbling - wondrous and sad at the same time - that we should not really put undue emphasis on the more mundane troubles that confront us in our everyday lives. As you can tell from the preceding paragraphs, it is hard to express this feeling adequately in words without sounding like a complete twat. :p That is the brilliance of the song, which expresses it all and much more so much more elegantly, where the final line to me has always seemed key. For the most part, the song focuses on capturing the hopelessness of the protagonist really well, describes an intense and humbling emotional experience, and then - with the final verses (don't the "oncoming gang of kids" represent the fact that as we grow older and slip ever further from the kind of emotional innocence and immediacy that the protagonist longs back to, there will always be new individuals who are in the middle of all that?) and especially the very final line. Everything seems to open up to some sense of grace, even optimism. Now I've managed to sound like that complete twat again, so I'll stop. Anyway, that's what I get from the song. I love it, and I love the Clientele equally when they are at their best. Just listen and see if this makes any sense to you. |
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| Elliott Smith – Sweet Adeline Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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| Elliott Smith – Sweet Adeline Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Absolutely brilliant song, lyrically as well as musically. I just wanted to add that the final line of the first verse to me sounds more like "or hate'll SING the ending that love started to say", which makes it an even better lyric. |
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