Last Song Lyrics
all our lives
not a breath
the grass unmoved
to sleep inside the stillness
without air
all the stares
averting eyes
this was what’s worse than dying
just like the sun’s red
but now the sun is setting
there have been some
that cut me good
the blood was there for letting
can change your life
unfold your arms
one last surprise
something before we die
once more will not roll
this killing is good killing
despite the red and years and years of sinning
elizabeth is winning
in st. andrews
under pines i’d let you win
canada is purity
that has nothing to do with our skin
the pitch of pines
grass stained shirts
and fucked up hair
to breathe outside the stillness
and the air
withstand the stares
straighten eyes
we do not fear this dying
once more will not roll
this killing is good killing
despite the red and years and years of sinning
elizabeth is winning
forget these lights
we don’t need so much explaining
elizabeth is winning
my name is elizabeth, so obviously i appreciate it. it makes me nostalgic for spring, senior year of college. it's the kind of song that only belongs in the warm months, or to cheer you up in the cold ones.
the song certainly is a beautiful song.
It seems to me that its about someone who lived a very simple and civilized life. no adventures or passionate moments, just calm living. then on some life-changing weekend night this elizabeth girl comes along and shows him her side of life, full of excitement and daring fun. "my mind was set, just like the sun's red, but now the sun is setting" probably just explains how he had a very strict view of how his life would be played out, but now things are changing.
the man seems to have this recurring fear of dying, probably not actually death but a little more metaphorical. He sees elizabeth's life as a ticket down the drain, but slowly, through their relationship begins to trust her. "despite the red and years and years of sinning, elizabeth is winning" possibly winning his heart?
then on this bike trip in st andrews, he gives in. he gives up his "purity" realizing that life is so much more than strict complacency.
this purity could mean alot of things, but i specifically think it means sexual purity, and with the next line hinting at rolling around in the dirt and getting a little roughed up - it seems clear that they made love, probably his first time, and finally, he's begun to breath outside the stillness he's lived in so long.
and with this "rite of passage" so to speak, he's not afraid of the metaphorical dying like he was before. forget all the people that judge him, because he doesnt care anymore because hes learned to enjoy life.
I love this, this is my favorite mmpa song. And i really agree with thefiddlehacks, they couldn't have hit the nail on the head any better.
who doesn't dance to this song?!
it's like the narrator is remembering a relationship he once had with a girl and he is saying he doesn't regret letting it go. The music contrasts it though, because it is so somber.
"our eyes closed once more will not roll this killing is good killing despite the red and years and years of sinning"
we're not watching it really fall apart, and we won't let ourselves get tangled up in this again. The fact that this relationship is ending is good, even after everything we did together, sinning, might be alluding to things of a sexual nature.
I feel like "Elizabeth" could perhaps be an allusion to the Elizabethan era and Victorian Eras and how we're not much different from back then, even despite all of the mistakes we've obviously made, etc. I think this song is about breaking preconceptions and removing ones self from this rigid society, and making a life for yourself in which you can actually breathe, and fuck the grass up, roll in it even, with fucked up hair, and make eye contact instead of averting your eyes. It's about becoming free by liberating yourself from the bullshit constructs of habitual, repetitive cultures.