| Annie Lennox – Gift Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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I have looked around the net and I am not completely satisfied with the answers. Some say that this song has to do with Annie's involvement with Dave Stewart from the band Eurythmics. But I don't think this is the case. As I recall they were on good terms when she went her solo. The verse that makes me doubt the song's possible relation to her connect with David is "Take this guilted cage of pain, and set me free. Take this overcoat of shame, it never did belong to me" has no relation to her connection with Dave Stewart. I don't see any shame or guilt between the two of them. I'm going to guess that this song is about being in an relationship that was basically like living a lie and was perpetuated up until a point. Annie sings, "we have tumbled from our shelves, to face the truth about ourselves" which,in my opinion, means through the process of no longer living in a lie, turmoil ensues along with resistance until she finally lets all of that go to be able to accept the truth about herself. Possibly she now realizes that what worked for her in the past can no longer allow her to function. She's tired of "living in this same sick joke", now she is letting that facade go and faces/accepts her truth. I personally think "the gift" was the process of being forced into recognizing the lies that some of us indulge in and that steer us away from our truth/true identity. But through the turmoil and devastation of "tumbling from our trees" and "falling from our shelves" (basically being forced out of our comfort zone) we now have faced the truth about ourselves and who we really are. And when you let go of the lies that cloud your judgment you gain a sense of crystal clarity that you never knew could possibly exist. Because if you did then you'd never choose to live in a lie in the first place. Hence, "I can almost hear the rain falling" which metaphorically serves as a purging or a cleansing to wash away what she once deluded herself with and "it feels so good." So for me The Gift is reaching a profound level of inner personal growth that relationships can provide for us. Even if they end on bad terms (e.g. "take this overcoat of shame, it never did belong to me") we learn so much about ourselves through the process. I have been a fan of Annie since the early 1980's. Her lyrics are sheer poetry. She's amazing! |
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| Annie Lennox – No More 'I Love Yous' Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This song has a special meaning for me. I do concur with others who have already contributed that this song is about abuse. But perhaps it's a bit more complex than what we might think child abuse might mean. For me Annie is singing to her mother saying, "And you know what, Mommy? Everyone was being really crazy. There are monsters outside." This little naive girl with her chipper upbeat voice is talking to her mother about how everyone is being crazy. When in fact, the craziness is actually in her own home environment. She eventually realizes this as she pursues relationships later in life. The thing is, many of us tend to love and draw people in our lives that mirror the relationships we have with our parents. A girl with an abusive father might find herself as an adult being attracted to men just like her abusive father. But now as a woman she realizes that something is off and that how she approached relationships throughout her life no longer works for her. This is how I interpret the part, "The language is leaving me." The actual language is how her parents taught her to love and be loved. And the language is now "leaving her" because she now realizes that the love she received as a child was not healthy and this dynamic played out again and again until she finally realizes that she needs to find her own language of love that works for her. Hence, "No more I love you's" (because your idea of love is not true for me). And now as the "language is leaving me" "changes are shifting outside the words" (the way her parents taught her to love) and changing within her so that she can now inwardly seek and find what love truly means for 'her.' |
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