XTC

I Can't Own Her

2 Meanings

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I Can't Own Her Lyrics

And I may as well wish for the moon in hand

I own this river, I own this town
All of its climbers and its winos sliding down

But I can't own her and I never will
No I can't own her and that's a bitter pill
Taken with rain
'Til the gutter shines like the swirling sky
Like the swirling sky

I've got all morning, I've got all year
It's down in my pocket with the daylight folded there

But I can't own her and I never will
No I can't own her and that's a bitter pill
Taken with rain
How I'd wash her hair like the swirling sky
Like the swirling sky

And when I say I can't own her
I don't mean to buy her
It's nothing at all to do with money
I simply want her in my arms
Forever more, is that an odd request?
Is that something so funny?

And I may as well wish for the moon in hand
As there's more chance of that coming true

But I can't own her and I never will
No I can't own her and that's a bitter pill

So I can't own her
Of all the things you've got the thing you want the most is her
And I never will
And she's the one thing that you just can't have
No I can't own her
Of all the things you've got the thing you want the most is her
And that's a bitter pill
And she's the one thing that you just can't have
Taken with rain
Which I swallow down with the swirling sky
With the swirling sky

But I can't own her
And I may as well wish for the moon in hand
No I can't own her
As there's more chance of that coming true

Submitted by

blueandstarry On Dec 20, 2004

Dear God

Making Plans For Nigel

The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead

Senses Working Overtime

Pink Thing

And I may as well wish for the moon in hand

I own this river, I own this town
All of its climbers and its winos sliding down

But I can't own her and I never will
No I can't own her and that's a bitter pill
Taken with rain
'Til the gutter shines like the swirling sky
Like the swirling sky

I've got all morning, I've got all year
It's down in my pocket with the daylight folded there

But I can't own her and I never will
No I can't own her and that's a bitter pill
Taken with rain
How I'd wash her hair like the swirling sky
Like the swirling sky

And when I say I can't own her
I don't mean to buy her
It's nothing at all to do with money
I simply want her in my arms
Forever more, is that an odd request?
Is that something so funny?

And I may as well wish for the moon in hand
As there's more chance of that coming true

But I can't own her and I never will
No I can't own her and that's a bitter pill

So I can't own her
        Of all the things you've got the thing you want the most is her
And I never will
        And she's the one thing that you just can't have
No I can't own her
        Of all the things you've got the thing you want the most is her
And that's a bitter pill
        And she's the one thing that you just can't have
Taken with rain
Which I swallow down with the swirling sky
With the swirling sky

But I can't own her
        And I may as well wish for the moon in hand
No I can't own her
        As there's more chance of that coming true

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When in doubt, ask the crowd

Not sure what they’re singing in that fuzzy bridge? Drop a question in the comments and let the music nerds swarm. Someone always knows.

BlueAndStarry

Submitter

2004-12-20 03:38:44

2 Meanings

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by The Distorted

19y ago

It's not so much about not being able to be with said person, but literally not being able to 'own her', because she is not an object but her own person. It's an obsessively, desiring, possessive song. To coin a Buddhist phrase, this sentiment encompasses the notion of 'self-cherishing' to a tee. It is an unreasonable/unrealistic desire on many levels, and he knows this, ("And I may as well wish for the moon in hand") but such a realisation isn't enough to stop him from still FEELING this.

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by emiliee

20y ago

a beautiful, sad love song. i think its about being completely and utterly in love ith somebody you know that you cnt ever have.

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