Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
It's one o'clock and time for lunch (hum de dum, de dum)
When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench
I can always hear them talk
There's always been Ethel
"Jacob, wake up, you've got to tidy your room now"
And then Mister Lewis
"Isn't it time that he was out on his own?"
Over the garden wall, two little lovebirds
Cuckoo to you
Keep them mowing, blades sharp
I know what I like
And I like what I know
Getting better in your wardrobe
Stepping one beyond your show (your show)
Your show
Sunday night, Mr. Farmer called, said
"Listen son, you're wasting time"
"There's a future for you in the fire escape trade"
"Come up to town"
But I remembered a voice from the past
"Gambling only pays when you're winning"
Had to thank old Miss Mort for schooling a failure
Keep them mowing blades sharp
I know what I like
And I like what I know
Getting better in your wardrobe
Stepping one beyond your show
I know what I like
And I like what I know
Getting better in your wardrobe
Stepping one beyond your show
When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench
I can always hear them talk
Me, I'm just a lawnmower
You can tell me by the way I walk
When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench
I can always hear them talk
There's always been Ethel
"Jacob, wake up, you've got to tidy your room now"
And then Mister Lewis
"Isn't it time that he was out on his own?"
Over the garden wall, two little lovebirds
Cuckoo to you
Keep them mowing, blades sharp
I know what I like
And I like what I know
Getting better in your wardrobe
Stepping one beyond your show (your show)
Your show
Sunday night, Mr. Farmer called, said
"Listen son, you're wasting time"
"There's a future for you in the fire escape trade"
"Come up to town"
But I remembered a voice from the past
"Gambling only pays when you're winning"
Had to thank old Miss Mort for schooling a failure
Keep them mowing blades sharp
I know what I like
And I like what I know
Getting better in your wardrobe
Stepping one beyond your show
I know what I like
And I like what I know
Getting better in your wardrobe
Stepping one beyond your show
When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench
I can always hear them talk
Me, I'm just a lawnmower
You can tell me by the way I walk
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Lguidici
I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) Lyrics as written by Phillip David Charles Collins Anthony George Banks
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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We may never fully understand the meaning of a lyric as sometimes they're very personal and at others generic, or both. In this case I've been listening on and off to this song since around 1974. Personally I think this song is either (auto)biographical or is just written in that style. There are also more questions than answers, firstly being: Who is, or was Ethel? Mother; Grandmother; Aunt; Foster parent; Adoptive parent? Who is Mr.Lewis? Is he a friend of Ethel or simply trying to be? "Isn't it time that he was out on his own?" Perhaps he's trying to get rid of Jacob so that he can move in on Ethel? "Over the garden wall, two little lovebirds, Cuckoo to you." I don't think that Jacob is a "hired hand" as has been suggested on here on the basis that a hired hand wouldn't be told to "tidy your room now" whereas a teenage son may well be. Mr. Farmer is also trying to persuade him to make something of his life. Is it possible that he's also trying to clear the way to a relationship with Ethel? As to the "upper class British Aristocrats" referred to above, they didn't tend to talk "Over the garden wall". That's a far more working class scenario. Incidentally,The Garden Wall was a name that Banks and Gabriel used in the very early days of their relationship. I certainly don't think that the protagonist is rebuking modern society, he's just a feckless youth encouraged to get on with his life, again recalling the lines: "Isn't it time that he was out on his own?" "There's a future for you in the fire escape trade, come up to town." He seems to have been mowing the lawn so, again, "Keep those mowing blades sharp" could well be along the lines of "Keep your chin up; Keep your nose to the grindstone; Keep your head down.....Keep those mowing blades sharp. With regard to the line "I know what I like and I like what I know," he also states that "Gambling only pays when you're winning, I'd like to thank Miss Mort for schooling a failure." If Miss Mort (Miss Dead?) was a teacher then she could have encouraged him to play life safe, not to gamble with his future and that was what he was doing, is it a case that he feels secure in that he knows what he likes, and therefore likes what he knows? He doesn't like what he doesn't know, the unknown. But then, I may be well off course with this whole post. Who knows?