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The Competition Lyrics
He met this girl from Reno
Whose life was a competition
She looked just like a china doll
With porcelain skin
She knew he'd let her win
He fell for her
As if he fell from his mother
To the arms of a lover
And he swore not to leave her side
For better or for worse
Whichever comes first
Sadly, the latter arose
She met this boy from Omaha
Whose life was handed to him
But still he wanted everything
His dreams were his ruin
But she couldn't wake him up
The bough broke, and he fell
Like the time he fell from his mother
Into the arms of a doctor
So he cried like that first day of his life
He knew he had broken
This beautiful porcelain
And how their world be the same?
So it never was the same
She whispers his name
"I'll stay if you want
But I could never be
Who you imagine me to be
I'll stay, I don't know what else to do
But I can't change for you
I won't change for you"
Whose life was a competition
She looked just like a china doll
With porcelain skin
She knew he'd let her win
He fell for her
As if he fell from his mother
To the arms of a lover
And he swore not to leave her side
For better or for worse
Whichever comes first
Sadly, the latter arose
Whose life was handed to him
But still he wanted everything
His dreams were his ruin
But she couldn't wake him up
The bough broke, and he fell
Like the time he fell from his mother
Into the arms of a doctor
So he cried like that first day of his life
He knew he had broken
This beautiful porcelain
And how their world be the same?
She whispers his name
"I'll stay if you want
But I could never be
Who you imagine me to be
I'll stay, I don't know what else to do
But I can't change for you
I won't change for you"
Song Info
Submitted by
flashfyer On May 22, 2002
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this song goes in circles and catches its tail. there's like 5 different sub-ideas running through the lyrics, the idea of her being porcelain, of the difference between the two of them, a comparison between the biblical definition of marriage (a man leaves his mother to cling to his wife) and then the end of the marriage like being born, into a world that's cold and cruel. first he talks of his real mother then compares the marriage to the safety of being in the womb.
and then caps it off with the reason it didn't work "i can't change for you" and furthermore " i won't change for you" how sometimes no matter how much you want to change, you can't, and the reasons is simply because you won't, because maybe you don't know how, or maybe a completely different reason.
always people WANT to do things but they WON'T.
I love the last line in this song....
So it never was the same She wispers his name, "I'll stay, if you want, but I could never be who you imagine me to be, I'll stay, I don't know what else to do, but I can't change for you. I won't change for you"
:)
This song is heartbreakingly beautiful through the combination of his lyrics and the tune and melody. It's gorgeous.
God, the weight and sorrow that hits you when he mumbles, ". . . so it never was the same . . ."
God.
a very lovely little song
favorite song from the good life...its just great.
oh wow...i can't even tell you how much i needed to hear the last few lines of this song...It describes my 'relationship' with this guy so well...It's scary...Good tune, for sure.
I'm so glad people have commented on this song. It's my favorite song from The Good Life as well and it's so bleepin' sad, it's unbelievable. Honestly, I can't listen to it that often because it just crushes me. So beautiful and tragic. The whole CD of Novena on a Nocturn is truly described by the "overwhelming sad" he sings about in the opening track. Anyhow, I think this is just an amazing song about the beginning and end of his relationship with his former wife.
oh wow...i can't even tell you how much i needed to hear the last few lines of this song...It describes my 'relationship' with this guy so well...It's scary...Good tune, for sure.
amazing song.. favorite good life song by far.. one of those songs where you put the CD in just to hear that song.. yeah.