Help me mama, for I have grinned
Save me daddy from where I'm goin'
Call out to me from the ages beyond
Help me remember how to be good

How to continue when I feel I really shouldn't
How to remember how to be good
How to continue when I feel I really shouldn't

Help me granddaddy to see the swans
Strike me granny with your golden pump
Teach me now what I could never learn before

How to remember how to be good
How to continue when I feel I really shouldn't
How to remember how to be good
How to continue when I feel I really shouldn't

Teach me Great Uncle to hear the talk
Show me Aunt Avis with your ageless chalk
Scratch it out for me on my cloudy retina

How to remember how to be good
How to continue when I know I really shouldn't
How to remember how to be good
How to continue when I know I really shouldn't
How to remember how to be good
How to continue when I feel I really shouldn't


Lyrics submitted by SuperKind311

Aunt Avis Lyrics as written by Vic Chesnutt

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Aunt Avis song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    This is a really great dark song. The lyrics are pretty ambiguous which could be a good thing, people can fill in their own meanings. Here's what it means to me - You're on your own and your a victim of your circumstance; past events, it all makes you who you are at the present. Wether or not you can help what happened to you you can help what you must do now, which is not always easy. To me the entire song is a desperate cry to one's family, which unlike friends are perennial. It really is a desperate cry though, because he's asking for something that no one can help him with but himself.

    Of course this is just how I interpreted it at the current moment. I'd love to hear the actual story behind the lyrics. I've gotten away from panic in the past few years. As a guitarist I've gotten into jazz and classical music in an attempt to further myself as a musician, I've always been able to play rock and blues without any problem. Jazz is not coming as naturally and while I appreciate the intricacies now I think maybe getting into these genres made me unfairly dismiss Michael Houser and Widespread Panic as musicians. They had a different objective, but they nailed it. There's no substitute for expressing shitty times through music. This song has a dark edge to it, and no matter how much theory I learn or however complicated styles of music I learn I can't lose sight of what's real in terms of emotion. The Greeks completely nailed music in their ethos theory. That's all I'm going to ramble, but to those of you who are reading this savor every moment we have, not only the good but that bad. 90% of life is climbing up a hill. If you don't enjoy the journey up what the fuck are you doing it for?

    bkabbotton November 22, 2008   Link

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