"Poor Places" as written by and Jeffrey Scott/bennett Tweedy....
It's my father's voice dreaming of
Sailors sailing off in the morning
For the air-conditioned rooms
At the top of the stairs
His jaw's been broken
His bandage is wrapped too tight
His fangs have been pulled
And I really want to see you tonight
There's Bourbon on the breath
Of the singer you love so much
He takes all his words from the books
That you don't read anyway
His jaw's been broken
His bandage is wrapped too tight
My fangs have been pulled
And I really want to see you tonight
Someone ties a bow
In my backyard to show me love
My voice is climbing walls
Smoking and I want love
My jaw's been broken
My heart is wrapped in ice
My fangs have been pulled
And I really want to see you tonight
And it makes no difference to me
How they cried all over overseas
It's hot in the poor places tonight
I'm not going outside
They cried all over overseas
It makes no difference to me
It's hot in the poor places tonight
I'm not going outside
Sailors sailing off in the morning
For the air-conditioned rooms
At the top of the stairs
His jaw's been broken
His bandage is wrapped too tight
His fangs have been pulled
And I really want to see you tonight
There's Bourbon on the breath
Of the singer you love so much
He takes all his words from the books
That you don't read anyway
His jaw's been broken
His bandage is wrapped too tight
My fangs have been pulled
And I really want to see you tonight
Someone ties a bow
In my backyard to show me love
My voice is climbing walls
Smoking and I want love
My jaw's been broken
My heart is wrapped in ice
My fangs have been pulled
And I really want to see you tonight
And it makes no difference to me
How they cried all over overseas
It's hot in the poor places tonight
I'm not going outside
They cried all over overseas
It makes no difference to me
It's hot in the poor places tonight
I'm not going outside
Lyrics submitted by Yoshiidino, edited by cordoba
"Poor Places" as written by Jay Bennett Jeff Tweedy
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It's my father's voice trailing off sailors sailing off in the morning to fight the war,
For the air conditioned room at the top of the stairs, at the head of the table... there's a face on every smile
and it makes no difference to me, how they cried all over overseas,
cause its hot in the poor places tonight
I'm not going goin outside.
There's bourbon on the breath of the singer you love so much, he doesn't care
If he takes all his words from the books that you don't read anyway
It makes more sense this way, but is missing the absolute glory of this song--the slow buildup and climax, the degrade into noises and fuzz.
The original version is also very piano-driven and upbeat. I'm glad they changed it.
in the demo, the verse:
"there's bourbon on the breath
of the singer you love so much
he takes all his words from
the books you don't read anyway"
is followed by:
"for the air conditioned rooms at the stairs at he head of the table with a face that never smiles."
so the corrupt singer is doing it all for the person in power who sent everyone overseas.
then here:
"it makes no difference to me
how they cried all over overseas
when it's hot in the poor places tonight
I'm not going outside"
i think he's saying that he's not too worried about the effects of the people in charge (the suffering overseas). he's more worried about the fact that it's hot in the poor places while the people in charge are in air conditioning.
in other words, he's mostly worried about the big problem, the separation between rich and poor and how the rich don't care.
finally, i think he says "i'm not, going outside" to give an example of what rich and middle class americans are thinking. sure, they're concerned with the poor people, but they're not going to sacrifice what they have and go outside in the heat (lower their standard of living).
i don't know what the verses mean where he says "i really want to see you tonight". they weren't in the demo and don't seem to fit with the theme, but it might have changed or i might just be plain wrong.
his jaw's been broken
his bandage is wrapped too tight
his fangs have been pulled
and I really wanna see you tonight
These lyrics about fangs being pulled apply to the narrator's father, his favorite singer, and to the narrator himself. A person's father and his favorite singer can presumably be called his heroes, or at least, people he looks up to. Not even these people are immune to life and the things that can happen in it. Their jaws (spirits? pride?) have been broken, and their hearts have been broken and are wrapped in ice. His fangs have been pulled and he can't even defend himself anymore against anything. All he wants is a meaningful distraction, some kind of cure: to see this person tonight.
And with all that's happening in his personal life -- he's got enough pain. He's so hopeless, so jaded, so cynical...he doesn't even care about the worse things that are happening in the world. He's just trying -- and it's taking all of his trying -- to save himself.
"Ther's bourbon on the breath
of the singer you love so much"
It's funny how such a small element of the song can mean so incredibly much. I think Tweedy is refering to someone he cares about having misconceptions of him. He feels badly about himself and the way he hurts others, but he/she still feels that they are perfect. This concept can also be applied to his listeners. Surprisingly, i love songs where Tweedy is on the giving end of the pain.
"His fangs have been pulled" could mean his attempt to show strength. I think in total its an incredibly vulnerable statement. He might be saying, I'm tired, I'm not strong, I need to see you.
That "you" is probably the same imagined audience that he directs "there's bourbon on the breath of the singer you love so much" to. I think that he is the singer in question, not his own favorite singer. He is one who takes his words from the books "you" don't read anyway. I think its pretty clear that the "he" and and the "I" are the same person. He slips in and out of third person, claiming the self and setting a distance between him and that self.
about the "poor places". Could be that the "poor places" refers to the parts of himself that normally don't express this kind of vulnerability, this kind of longing and pain.
Then maybe he sort of flips that on its head when it says "it makes no difference to me...", perhaps suggesting that this whole enterprise/expression is extremely self involved. Or its just a fact thats reported, that in his distress, nothing is more important than these feelings that are running hot in the poor palces. The listener can then make a judgement about how bad that is.
yankee...hotel...foxtrot...
yankee...hotel...foxtrot...