Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
You take your clothes off
Right after school
The tea is on
The flame is blue
And you hope it won't take
All afternoon
The TV's waiting
To talk to you
It's your naked body
On white velor
But there's no feeling
Just weight on you
But you get nauseous now
As he speaks to you
Such proper language
For acts so cruel
He says, we all follow the rules
We can't very well go
And break them now can we?
For you, for you, for you
Your older sisters
I had them too
But you're my favorite
You know it's true
You look like your mother
In that thin disguise
Your parting mouth
Your shining eyes
And the way that you hate me
And the length of your hair
It's the reason I make you
It's the bond that we share
'cause you were all trying to endure it
You could easily go and make your own life somewhere
Couldn't you? Couldn't you? Couldn't you?
Couldn't you? Couldn't you? Couldn't you? Couldn't you?"
With the sun beams bright
You keep your eyes shut
Your alarm clock lies
Get to school on time
But you're a bag of warm fluid
You're the corpse in the class
You walk so near to your locker
You lay so low in the grass
Did you get that coat from the principal?
Did you get that bruise on the bus?
You should wash your hair more
You should look more like us
But I saw you walking once
Under powder blue skies
You looked cold still
Your collar was high
And I tried to talk to you
But you walked right by
I don't know which I said then
"Hello" or "Goodbye"
And yet we're all trying to be pure
But it isn't a very easy thing, now is it?
To do, to do, to do, to do, to do, to do
Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?
Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?
Right after school
The tea is on
The flame is blue
And you hope it won't take
All afternoon
The TV's waiting
To talk to you
It's your naked body
On white velor
But there's no feeling
Just weight on you
But you get nauseous now
As he speaks to you
Such proper language
For acts so cruel
He says, we all follow the rules
We can't very well go
And break them now can we?
For you, for you, for you
Your older sisters
I had them too
But you're my favorite
You know it's true
You look like your mother
In that thin disguise
Your parting mouth
Your shining eyes
And the way that you hate me
And the length of your hair
It's the reason I make you
It's the bond that we share
'cause you were all trying to endure it
You could easily go and make your own life somewhere
Couldn't you? Couldn't you? Couldn't you?
Couldn't you? Couldn't you? Couldn't you? Couldn't you?"
With the sun beams bright
You keep your eyes shut
Your alarm clock lies
Get to school on time
But you're a bag of warm fluid
You're the corpse in the class
You walk so near to your locker
You lay so low in the grass
Did you get that coat from the principal?
Did you get that bruise on the bus?
You should wash your hair more
You should look more like us
But I saw you walking once
Under powder blue skies
You looked cold still
Your collar was high
And I tried to talk to you
But you walked right by
I don't know which I said then
"Hello" or "Goodbye"
And yet we're all trying to be pure
But it isn't a very easy thing, now is it?
To do, to do, to do, to do, to do, to do
Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?
Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it? Isn't it?
Lyrics submitted by PLANES, edited by brooch184, Woot100, Mellow_Harsher
Amy in the White Coat Lyrics as written by Conor Oberst Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The Night We Met
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Now, I can especially relate to this song seeing as rape and molestation are pastimes of mine... just kidding. Seriously though, it's more than apparent what's going on, however, it seems that around the line "You should wash your hair more" the narrative changes. Rather than telling about the horrible things that have happened to her, Conor might be talking about how later on she was a friend changed by society ("Your collar was high..."). She ignored him, and then he was sad.
Anyone else think this?