Wake up, Charlie, rise and shine
Pour the tea, I'll draw the blinds
Sunlight halo, you look wonderful
Darling, Charlie, pale and deathly still
For heavens shake wake up Charlie
Was a full moon last night, I was full of bravado
Dead drunk, dead sure one of us had to go
Raised my hand in anger, hurt you again
Dust to dust and fire to ashes, you can
Thank me for nothing now, Charlie
I was eaten up with jealousy
Bones to pick and rumours to feed
How my heart bleeds, loves a big mistake
Mercy, Charley, oh for pity's sake
Forgive me, speak to me, Charlie
Wake up, Charley, rise and shine
Pour the tea, I'll draw the blinds
Sunlight halo, you look wonderful
Darling, Charley, pale and deathly still
For heavens shake wake up Charlie
For heavens sake wake up Charlie
I'm listening to the version on She Will Have Her Way, so it's more like from a female's point of view.
So anyway, I think she killed this Charlie guy? And she's all sorry and whatever, and she only did it because they were both drunk and she never meant to actually kill him. Charlie might have been having an affair, when it says 'I was eaten up with jealousy, bones to pick and rumours to feed'.
BUT of course because it was written by males, either Charlie is a girl in some sort of relationship with the guy the song is coming from, or Charlie is a guy who was maybe messing around with this guy's girlfriend and then guy got drunk and angry and killed him. But that doesn't sound so likely because it talks about a 'sunlight halo, you look wonderful' and guys don't usually talk like that to each other.
Lol, not rly sure about that one. : )
i agree that this song is about a girlfriend being killed. i think the last verse is the singer waking up ("sunlight halo") and realising what hes done.
FYI Charlie is a common girl name in New Zealand
The guy was drunk, became enraged with jealousy, physically abused Charlie like he had before, but took it to far this last time and is now somewhat in denial about it.
One of the most haunting, moving and chilling songs I have ever heard. Clearly, the singer killed Charlie, whomever she/he was, and as the song ends, the singer is only just coming to terms with what they've done. So, so, so sad. Amazing song.
@Ttrickett Totally agree. The music disappears completely during the last verse as the protagonist begins to feel overwhelmed with horror, fear and guilt. With the possible exception of 'Semi Detached', this is the best song Tim Finn ever wrote.
@Ttrickett Totally agree. The music disappears completely during the last verse as the protagonist begins to feel overwhelmed with horror, fear and guilt. With the possible exception of 'Semi Detached', this is the best song Tim Finn ever wrote.