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Chance Lyrics

Chance, chance, chance, chance

Friday bank card yours got stuck
I loaned you a phone quarter, said "Good luck"
Where are you now?

Me and glasses Saturday slump
You and your shopping, I looked up
Our eyes met, mine are green
You'd had a peroxide thing
Call now, look me up

Sunday walk, Weaver's Park,
I was on the lakeside
Where the playgrounds meet
In bare feet
You said, "Mighty cold today"
You never see what I think
You didn't like your daytime job
I was born to travel

You were a camera, I dropped my keys
I'm on the northbound, you were asleep
I said, "Are you holding?"
"You wanna ride the silent sky?"
I wrote a story on the fly
You in the tabletop
I said, "I've had enough of the city."

I held a bag of apples
You at the last table
I had had a soy dog
Cafe streetside, Tuesday bloom
You wanna be on fire, I said I hung the moon

Wednesday grocery, corner of Vine,
You were in the checkout line
I dropped my frozen dinners, you helped pick them up

Thursday cab rush, our block,
You with broken accent, my heart stopped
You laughed, I worry

Chance, chance, chance, chance
Swarming like a dozen crushing blows
All those glances, midtime dances
Chance

I never looked it up
You hit the sidewalk talking
Said, "I'd read the ads"
Do you?
Where are you? Will you read this? Can I see?
This is surely moving faster than I can think

A minute shy, a passing eye
I know I saw you there
Will you read this? Can I see? What did I see?
Chance, chance, chance, chance
Swimming like a dozen crushing blows
All those midtime dances
Chance

Guys, this is very tedious... stop!
2 Meanings

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Cover art for Chance lyrics by R.E.M.

My name is Chance.

So this song thrills me lots. Ha.

Cover art for Chance lyrics by R.E.M.

Would someone bright and musically knowledgable please please please interpret this song. I wanna know what it means, but I have no clue...and so far some guy named Chance liked it because of his name. Geesh! I'll toss in the cherry on top if you interpret it tonight:) Oh, that may be misinterpreted. Nevermind...

I think it's a personal ad or a "missed connection" on Craigslist. The song is structured to go through the days of the week (Friday bank card, Saturday slump, Sunday walk, Monday, Tuesday bloom, Wednesday grocery, Thursday cab rush), so every day of the week, this guy is seeing this other person, and he's written this down as a clue so they will recognise him.

The first line, "I loaned you a phone quarter", was my first clue. "Gave" and "loaned" have the same number of syllables, so both would musically work, but R.E.M. chose "loaned", showing listeners...

I agree with Avacyn completely. Chance details a series of supposed "chance meetings" that lead to an on-going romance of sorts, or at least a number of hook-ups. Avacyn is right again, when he/she says the couple live close to one another, or are staying in nearby hotels while in town temporarily. There is subtle humour in this tale, as well as a sense of urgency in the narrator's passion for the other person.

 
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