Red Vines

this is harry potter and ron weasley's favourite aimee mann song

This song is about being in love with someone who doesn't love themselves and compensates for it by trying to be everybody's best friend. On one hand, the narrator is simultaneously captivated by the fact that this person is charismatic and admired by everyone around them. On the other, the speaker is frustrated about the fact that this person is so miserable, self-critical and difficult to deal with in private. Ultimately, the narrator is helpless to do anything about the situation.

i have two ideas about this song. my first is that its about trying to keep a marriage that shouldnt have been in the first place together. they are still on their honeymoon where everything else is fun and new and exciting and she is the only one who knows that the fun (disneyland) is about to close and end. the spouse is running around trying to keep everything going, catching the lightning bugs, and poking holes in the lid so that it wont die once its bottled up.

my other idea, and it might be from left field, is that this song is written from the point of view of a woman who has been sleeping with the husband of another woman and shes observing the marriage.

man its soooooo fucking lonely in this part of songmeanings!!!!!! more people must listen to aimee mann, I command it!

Red Vines are the red licorice twists that are known as "Twizzlers" in some parts of America.

I'd say it's about people who are more mature dealing with someone who doesn't have their feet on the ground and is still sort of peter pan ish. Like a woman who would love a man if he were not so doomed to being childlike.

To me this song is about when your parent's have separated and your mum is in a new relationship. The honeymoon reference seems to me that really uncomfortable voyeurism you have as a child looking at a parents new relationship.....your new stepdad buying you red vines and your mum and him the cigarettes. It gives me a feeling of the helplessness you have as a child and being totally dependent on your parents' decisions. I have a vivid recollection of just this type of situation and the first time I heard this song it rang so true to me. The 'disneylands about to close' line makes me think of an end to childhood. But my absolute favourite lines are, 'would it really kill you, would it really spoil everything...etc. because I have been a child of a broken home and have children who have suffered a broken home is the whole thing about blaming yourself for how things have turned out......I just love this song and the emotions it evokes. Aimee is a great songwriter.

"They're all still on their honeymoon" Refers to the happy start of a relationship

"But I'm the only one who knows, that Disneyland's about to close" Refers to the inevitable ending of the relationship, most likely do to self sabotage hinted at in much of her music- (Now that I've met you, would you object to, never seeing each other again)

"I don't suppose you'd give give it a shot, knowing all that you've got are cigarettes and red vines." Refers to there being no nutritional value in either cigarettes or red vines, so they can sustain a person. She is suggesting that she is not of value and can't sustain the relationship.

"I'll be on the sidelines, with my hands tied watching the show" Is comparing the relationship to a football game. The cheerleaders are on the side line cheering the players on to victory. In this case she lacks confidence in her partner's ability to save the relationship and she is doing nothing to help because she is jaded by the failure of past relationships.

This is echoed again in the line "so you're running round the parking lot, till every lighting bug is caught" He is grasping at straws trying to save a failing relationship while she "waits in the car" and that line hints at another song of hers where she is (driving sideways) getting nowhere in a relationship due to her failure to act and do her part to repair it.

By the end she is releiving him of any guilt or responsibility with the line "would it really spoil everything if you didn't blame yourself" The whole 'It's not you it's me' bit, because she finally acknowledges that she is the cause of the failed relationship.

Anyway, that was my interpretation. Let me know if you agree or if I helped bring a perspective that you hadn't considered.

its really postmodern. i know it is im just not sure why. something about the line disneylands about to close makes me think that this is the dopest song. That line is just cool as hell. Its like everyone thinks they are gauranteed hapiness but they are not. also the song is just really good. i can just imagine myself stopped at a gas station smokin a cig chompin on some red vines. its kinda a depressing scene. all her songs are a little depressing though. okay fine they are really depressing.

haha i agree, this is my favorite aimee mann song. my mom's been listening to her forever. she's cool. my mom is. and aimee mann.