Half a Week Before the Winter

i saw her at this lounge thing in nashville and she explained that it was about the music industry (the newcoming artists, her, record execs., etc.) hopefully that settles some confusion. i like to interpret in other ways pertaining to my life. thats why it is so good.

I think i have a feeling about this song. I am a boy, 16 years old and I love evanescence, vannessa carlton, lacuna coil...much gothic music. This also happens to be my favorite VC song.

I believe this song to be about an abusive father. Think about it. the opening two lines: "Half a week before the winter The chill bites before it comes" they seem to be refering to how things are not always what they seem(like being raped and how life is supposed to continue as normal)

"He sits behind a desk of mahogany He whispers dreams into my ear Though I've given him his empire He delivers me my fear" (This may be referring to how she looks up to her dad and how being abused makes her feel towards her future husband. She will eventually give her father grandchildren, but by being violated, all she can think about is those abuse sessions)

"All the weight of empty promise As I stand swallowed by the light Flickering above the highway I hold my head and know the streets are mine tonight"(she feels she can no longer take the abuse so she decides to leave home. perhaps the empty promise is about how her dad promised to stop but it was just words)

the "unicorn" and "vampire" lines seem like they refer to again how one moment she feels innocent and the next, she feels ashamed and doesnt want to be looked at by anyone(especially her dad)

"I carry on..."(She holds everything in and continues to live her life in a healthy numbness)

I thought this was a pretty good idea of the what the song meant. If its really about the music industry, then I will be upset cuz my idea seems so much more deep...lol.

Oh, quick sidebar: A lot of artists\poets do that unintentionally, but I wouldn't put it past Vanessa Carlton to have written the song intending there to be multiple logical interpretations for exactly the reasons I outlined. She's a brilliant artist.

NESSA'S BEST SONG YET! :) love it so much! i'm very happy that i'm the first writing about this song! but i hope that doesnt' mean no one else like's it! PLEASE POST YOUR THOUGHTS! i don't really understand this song...i guess its about trying to concear your fears.."he delivers me my fear"...thats all i really get out of it...lol...but i still love it! its so BEAUTIFUL!

xoxo kandie!

NESSA ROX! PEACE! :)

"Winter is about umm, good things coming to an end in the music industry.

Unicorns are the people who are good, innocent and deserving and the vampires are the cause of there fall..

something like that~"

this came from someone sol arianni from the Vanessa Carlton message boards. yay fun! :)

"The Vampires are growing tired, the coats of white all turn to red, my heart burns with desire, i carry on i carry on"

I think that she sees all the good things coming to an end but she just carrys on. Like she wants to do something about it (my heart burns with desire) but she just moves on ( I carry on I carry on)

This song is absolutely amazing. I don't know why but ever since i first heard this song i thought it was about her dad. it made me think of a dad working all day, and she's a child that loves when he's around, but he's almost never there.

"Half a week before the winter The chill bites before it comes And I'm a child of the pleasure That he brings before he runs "

It sounds like this is while everything is still good, but she knows that bad things are coming, like their relationship will turn sour, and she's just appreciating what they have though she knows he'll leave/doesn't have enough time for her.

"He sits behind a desk of mahogany"

This is what really made me feel like it was about her dad/a father figure. Someone working behind the desk all day, trying to make money for the family etc.

"He whispers dreams into my ear Thought I've given him his empire He delivers me my fear "

He tells her that he'll be there for her, and all these things. She gave him his 'empire' cuz shes his little girl, and he orignaly started workign for her. "He deliver me my fear" He's a serious person, and he scares her, even though she feels like she gave him all she could.

"The unicorns are riding high Powerful in coats of white I turn to look but burn my eyes I carry on, I carry. . . "

Vanessarox is right, the unicorns represent Vannessa's childhood and innocence. Shes a little girl and is happy and naive, but now that Vanessa looks back, she realizes it wasnt that happy, maybe because her lack of a relatinoship with her father, but she's strong so she just carrys on..

"All the weight of empty promise As I stand swallowed by the light Flickering above the highway "

The dreams, that her dad had whispered in her ear, and his promises of being there, but he just can't be because of work, and keeps on breaking his promises to be there for her.

"The vampires are growing tired The coats of white all turn to red My heart burns with desire I carry on, I carry on "

Her child hood is no longer so innocent, her father's absence has caused her to grow up and hurts her, the unicorns are no longer free and wild, but they are turning red and the vampires, another fantasical creature, are starting to fade also. It seems like when she says "my heart burns with desire" she's talking about the longing for attention/her dad's time.

So it hurts, but she carrys on, and doesn't look back because it hurts.

I don't know , this is just what the song means to me, I'm sure its totally wrong, but that's what i got from it. Well whatever it means, its still beautiful.

I'm not sure what it's about myself, but I do like it. It's beautiful.

i think leelu is right. i would have never thought of the thing about the vampires, except that she's obsessed with them.

It's about dreams, and fears of the unicorns as the vampries contrast them. It could be seen as Female /vs/ Male if you want to look at human evolution..

LOL .. she said in her concert that she loves vampires and she would die if there weren't any in heaven ... and she had a fascination for unicorns which she said was 'so cliche' .. but she still loves them anyways ...