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Amy in the White Coat Lyrics

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 velour
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 made you, it's the bond that we share
You see, we're all trying to endure
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 you rise
But you keep your eyes shut
The alarm clock lies
Get to school on time
Where you're a bag of warm fluid
Where you're the corpse in the class
You walk so near to the lockers
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

But 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?

Isn't it, isn't it, isn't it, isn't it
Isn't it, isn't it, isn't it, isn't it?
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173 Meanings

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Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

This song is so haunting. I get chills from listening to it. It's really quite sad. Aside from the fact that "Amy" is a victim of molestation, her disgusting father makes her feels as if it is her obligation to let him molest her. "We all follow the rules, We can't very well go and break them now, can we?"

On top of that, she has a terrible school life where she is picked apart and critisized.

It's truley heart-wrenching that when (the singer) attempts to talk to her, she ignores him and keeps walking. I imagine she isolates herself because she doesn't know how to react to kindess or friendliness, which is a shame.

The worst part is that this sad song is true for many girls in the world today.

Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

what a haunting song... pretty obvious it's about a father molesting his daughter. but it's interesting because it doesn't make the father out to be a completely bad person, since it's told from his p.o.v. hence the line, (and i think it goes) "you know we're all tryin to be pure... but it isn't a very easy thing now, is it?". very good song.

he doesn't make the father out to be a bad person? that line you quoted doesn't make him any humaner. what about when he said: "And the way that you hate me, and the length of your hair It's the reason I made you, it's the bond that we share" he's practically rubbing it in her face. and none of it is in his point of view. first it's the narrator but he describes how Amy's feeling, then it's from the point of view of the boy who saw Amy walking.

Not Valid

okay, what the hell, Firefox said "humaner" was a word, so I tried it but dictionary.com confirmed my suspicions and told me it's not.

Not Valid

THANK YOU! THANK YOU Othatzsokewl! Everywhere I go, people are constantly talking about how this song in written in three perspectives. IT'S NOT. It's written in ONE. He never actaully sings from the girls or the father's prespective, first of all when he's talking about the girl he sings in second person, as if he's telling a story, it's in SECOND person, as if he's talking to HER. Can't talk to herself in the song! And if she did why would she refer to herself as "you", she wouldn't because it's not in her PERSPECTIVE. And also when it gets to the part about the...

Not Valid
Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

I know what you mean by intense... sometimes I can't stand to listen to it, the way his voice is barely above a whisper as if singing a lover to sleep but uttering lines like "you're a bag of warm fluids" or "your older sisters, I've had them too". It actually makes me feel a little sick, but that's part of the beauty of the song.

Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

the first time I heard it, I couldnt make out exactly what was said, and thought conor was just being nasty and blunt 'Your older sisters, I've had them too'. but when I realised what it was actually about, oh it hurts to listen to it. It seems wrong to like a song so much thats so horrible. 'But there's no feeling, just weight on you'

Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

This has always been one of my favourite songs by Conor, but a couple months of a go I listened to it, really LISTENED, and I understood, and it broke my heart. Very rarely do songs make me cry. This was one of the few exceptions. Until about an hour ago, I thought it was her principal molesting her, because of the line about him, but then someone mentioned her father, and it all clicked together even more. Such a tragic song.

Oh, and I thought you should know, the line is "You looked cold still, your collar was high", not "your colour was high." :]

Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

I thought I already commented on this song...?? anyway for me it's the saddest song he ever did. It's full of compassion for everyone of the characters, and the line at the end could be referred to the abused girl feeling guilty even if she doens't have any reason why (something that happens often to abused people methinks), the boy that would like to do more for her but he can't, the people she knows at school that are somehow mean with her, and even the father that is guilty but tormented. It's easy doing a song about incest and rape saying "ah the poor victim, lets kill and/or put in prison that bastard", but doing something so subtle, and hopeless, and compassionate, and sad...it's another thing completely. I like how he describes the girl not taking care of her appearance, she is depressed because of her home life and probably she does everything not be attractive since her experience of sex has been warped and full of sorrow. I like the whole desperate routine feeling of the lyrics, I like the kinky-sad-guilty-sympathetic whispering. I like the longing for something better than gets frustrated by how sucky reality really is... wonderful.

Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

i love this song so much. it hits so close to home.

"i don't know which i said then, hello or goodbye." the way i see that line is she may have killed herself. "hello," that he wanted to talk to her, maybe start a friendship but "goodbye," it was his last time seeing her. i don't know, i can't really explain it.

Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

this song hits home and reminds me of certain family members who have been through an experience such as this. kills me when i hear it. really makes me picture their faces.

you go through high school or even elementary school teasing and degrading other children and now (@ 22 years old) it kills me to know i was such a..child when i was younger. heh. when the fact of the matter is..you have no earthly idea what that individual could be going through the moment they walk in the door of their home.

Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

This just breaks my heart.

Cover art for Amy in the White Coat lyrics by Bright Eyes

I like how he pronounces some words like broken, like when he sais ''pure'', like if it is so hard to be pure you can't even pronouncethe word

sorry for my english :3