Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying

The narrator of the song starts out saying he needs a great song because no one writes great ones anymore (think famous hits from the past) and basically says, "I know, I'll write one right here (this song) right now. Oh who am I kidding? I'm an independent artist, I don't stand a chance of making a great song." Then, while on the bus, he is settling into a story that is run-of-the-mill that starts out with a normal guy just like anyone else who believes there's good and love in everything and finds out that not everything is great about life and the narrator anticipated it coming but kept reading anyway (as we all do in our lives- not everything is happiness in life like we like to believe when we're kids, there is tragedy somewhere in life) The narrator always cries at endings maybe the fear of dying or how people always cry at funerals (endings of our lives). Then he picks himself up from his own internal revelation as if to say, "Oh I didn't mean to be a killjoy there, sorry." Doesn't wanna bring the listener down (irony!) so he apologizes for that. He's looking out the window on a rainy gloomy day (just like his mindset) thinking about past lovers and how they never know he's thinking about them unless he writes them a dear john (goodbye/break up) letter and just like in a story, he says "I could kill you with a sword but instead he'll hurt you with words and make you cry (hurt your feelings/break your heart)" This song is basically all of B&S's songs in a nutshell: They're stories or moments that are a revelation of life and what it really is. Most of their songs are upbeat but gloomy because they reveal the real world truth. Sorry if that didn't make sense, I went deep there. The narrator, just like anyone, needs a good song to lift their spirits just for a moment because the world isn't a sweet little fairytale like a children's book will make it out to be.

I thought this song was about someone who's too idealistic for life. When he sings "Get me away from here," I think he means "here" to be the world we live in, which isn't always cut out for idealistic people. He likes himself alright -- he says he has "winning smiles" and "catchy tunes" -- but at the same time, he realizes that those aren't the things that the world appreciates ("we don't stand a chance"). He relates to the boy in the story (who also has a "winning smile", just like him), but understands that the boy is too naive to succeed or get what he wants. The only context where "naivete succeeds" is in a fairy tale.

As for the end of the song... I don't think the singer commits suicide so much as he just comes to the conclusion he's not really made for this world. Suicide -- his "goodbye" -- would be the ultimate revenge, making the world "cry" for him, but the singer decides to make "no declaration" and just accepts that he doesn't necessarily fit in with the jaded, realistic world.

I know that analysis sounds really depressing, but I find this to be an upbeat happy song (the lyrics as well as the music). I certainly relate to the speaker, and I love the conclusion he comes to: we're here on this world, and in the grand scheme of things we may not fit in, but screw it, we're here anyway. The least and best we can do is love life while we're here.

That message has gotten me through many a sleepless night. :)

This song is entirely brilliant lyrically, it has several layers of meaning.

1. The songwriter sitting looking out his window, thinking about what to write

2. The songwriter imagining himself in a fairy-tale type story in a book he's reading, as the naive hero

3. The songwriter thinking about his actual mundane life and the band he's in

4. The songwriter speaking to his ex-lovers, who he abandons and doesn't always contact

At the end 1-4 are brought together perfectly by the last few lines.

I would go so far as to say that:

Oh, that wasn't what I meant to say at all From where I'm sitting, rain Washing against the lonely tenement Has set my mind to wander

And the rest of that verse are the best lyrics I can think of outside a Bob Dylan song, and from me that's very high praise indeed.

Wow, I've heard this song soo many times, but never really listened to the lyrics. It's beautiful.

I think (pretty much like everyone else) that it's about the songwriter being really optimistic and naive and imaginative. He tries to write a song but gets really carried away by it.

Still it was worth it as I turned the pages solemnly, and then With a winning smile, the boy With naivety succeeds At the final moment, I cried I always cry at endings

I think the song he's writing absorbs him so much that he gets drawn into his own story. Then he suddenly realises what he's written, hence the:

Oh, that wasn't what I meant to say at all From where I'm sitting, rain Washing against the lonely tenement Has set my mind to wander

He becomes aware of the naive story he's written, and he's jolted back to reality. I think the "get me away from here I'm dying" is talking about reality/imagination, so it's not a physical escape, just a mental one.

I love "Thought there was love in everything and everyone, you're so naive"

I didn't think it was about dying, I thought the "get me away from here, I'm dying" was about how he's fed up with his mundane life, and is only 'dying' metaphorically.

He's definitely not actually dying. it's a metaphor. he feels trapped the way his life is going and wants someone to 'get him away'. The guy is sitting alone on a bus and starts to reflect - the song is like his stream of conciousness- all that stuff is going through his mind. he feels sad and then wants to listen to a song that will make him feel better, but he can't think of one so he starts to write his own. then he starts to read a book and compares the boy in the book to himself, but then it gets mixed up in the song but he didn't want ther book in the song "that wasb't what I meant to say at all" then he gets distracted by the rain and thinks about his lovers and then he goes back to the book again. it's a great song, and he does make me cry with those words!

Love this song, One of my favourite B&S songs Isn't it "They always reach a sorry ending, they always get it in the end"? and "Falling" instead of "Washing"?

These lyrics are beautiful. I love that all of their songs have such happy tunes, but a lot of the lyrics are sad. I think it kind of describes how people act. Most people don't notice when others are upset because they try putting on a show, but if you actually listen to what they're saying, they aren't happy. I love that about Belle and Sebastian's music. You have to listen close to see the truth.

It's about a person who naively does his best whenever he can. He's innocent and he means well, and he's dying because of it.

He knows he doesn't stand a chance, but he still tries, because if there's any genuine sentiment left in the world, the underdog will somehow succeed in the end.

Everyone roots for the underdog in the movies and books. Not so much in real life, sadly.

Play me a song to set me free Nobody writes them like they used to So it may as well be me

Ain't it obvious? It's about music business and about dissapointment in doing what you like and not being payed for it and for people listening 'wrong' music and so on... It's also about being aware of yout talents and being aware that noone else has to recognize them... One of my favourite B&S songs...