8 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
How Am I Different? Lyrics
I can't do it, I can't conceive
You're everything you're trying to make me believe
'Cause this show is too well designed
Too well to be held with only me in mind
And how, how am I different?
How, how am I different?
How, how am I different?
I can't do it so move along
Do you really want to wait until I prove you wrong?
And don't tell me let me guess
I could change it all around if I would just say yes, yes
But how, how am I different?
How, how am I different?
How, how am I different?
And just one question before I pack
When you fuck it up later
Do I get my money back?
I can't do it and as for you
Can you in good conscience even ask me to
'Cause what do you care about the great divide
As long as you come down on the winner's side
And how, how am I different?
How, how am I different?
How, how am I different, different, different?
Just one question before I pack
When you fuck it up later
Do I get my money back?
Just one question before I pack
When you fuck it up later
Do I get my money back?
Just one question before I pack
When you fuck it up later
Do I get my money back?
Basically she is speaking of wondering if it is worth the risk to give this guy a chance because he has a bad past....from the outside she can't trust him and wonders how she will make him settle down when he hasn't for past girls.
Agree 100%
Agree 100%
Knowing Aimee Mann's struggles with management and record labels, I could see this as a breakdown of her wariness of them, dressed up as a cautious love song. Entertainers of all stripes have to watch out for unscrupulous people and businesses who prey on our ambitions. In the end, it's very similar to a smooth-operating Don Juan, wooing a wallflower.
@SirenAsunder Good idea! the mention of money makes more sense in this interpretation.
@SirenAsunder Good idea! the mention of money makes more sense in this interpretation.
This is totally a break-up song. That's what "the great divide" is, and the "winner's side" says what her position is. She's packing, so it's obviously all over and she's just trying to make sense of it all.
I recently felt the deepest connection to this song when friends of mine came to me and told me that ever since I'd started dating my current boyfriend I seemed different. Not necessarily in a bad way, but apparently in a noticeable way that they didn't exactly like. I found myself asking "How am I different?" and I completely felt that they wouldn't be happy until they "came down on the winner's side."
...in the end I'm not friends with some of those people.
*no longer friends.
:( You are so wrong.
She is in a new relationship with a man, and it's too good to believe. But, she is intimidated by his past relationships, and she is also insecure about her own role. Is she special enough for this? She wants to know how she stands out against his history of girlfriends and lovers -- how can she possibly be special when he has had so many? (a revelation of her lack of self-worth -- she will prove him wrong by being herself.....) Her most poignant question is whether she gets her money back when he fucks it up -- she's packing her bags (and committing to him) -- can she get some kind of guarantee? Isn't that what everyone wants to know? She is going to prove him wrong by "saying yes" (marrying him). But she wants a refund once it all ends.
I can't do it and as for you Can you in good conscience even ask me to
What is he asking her to do?