All night I lay on my pillow and pray
For my boss to stop me in the hallway
Lay my head on his shoulder and say
Son, I've been hearing good things
I wake up without warning and go flying around the house
In my sauvignon fierce, freaking out
Take a forty-five minute shower and kiss the mirror
And say, look at me
Baby, we'll be fine
All we gotta do is be brave and be kind
I put on an argyle sweater and put on a smile
I don't know how to do this
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
Baby, come over, I need entertaining
I had a stilted, pretending day
Lay me down and say something pretty
Lay me back down where I wanted to stay
Just say something perfect, something I can steal
Say, look at me
Baby, we'll be fine
All we've gotta do is be brave and be kind
I pull off your jeans, and you spill Jack and Coke in my collar
I melt like a witch and scream
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
For my boss to stop me in the hallway
Lay my head on his shoulder and say
Son, I've been hearing good things
I wake up without warning and go flying around the house
In my sauvignon fierce, freaking out
Take a forty-five minute shower and kiss the mirror
And say, look at me
Baby, we'll be fine
All we gotta do is be brave and be kind
I put on an argyle sweater and put on a smile
I don't know how to do this
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
Baby, come over, I need entertaining
I had a stilted, pretending day
Lay me down and say something pretty
Lay me back down where I wanted to stay
Just say something perfect, something I can steal
Say, look at me
Baby, we'll be fine
All we've gotta do is be brave and be kind
I pull off your jeans, and you spill Jack and Coke in my collar
I melt like a witch and scream
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
I'm so sorry for everything
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The character in this song (maybe Berninger himself, in his younger days?) yearns to be given reassurance that he's doing a good job at work ("Son, I've been hearing good things") but when that isn't forthcoming, tries to give himself a pep talk instead:
"Take a forty-five minute shower and kiss the mirror
And say, look at me
Baby, we'll be fine
All we gotta do is be brave and be kind"
God, that's beautiful/melancholy/pitiful. He's saying, look I know you "don't know how to do this" but suck it up, and be a nice person, and you'll get by okay. Fake it if you have to ("put on a smile") but don't let anybody know how insecure you feel inside.
He lets his lover know how he's really feeling though. He says "I've had a stilted, pretending day". He wants her to tell him he'll be fine, because he's been trying to convince himself of the same thing and it isn't working. I think he even feels like he isn't a fully functioning human, the spilled drink making him "melt like a witch and scream", just like holy water would burn a vampire.
What is he sorry for? For being an anxious, insecure fuck up, I think. So many of Berninger's lyrics make me want to give him a bear hug, but this one is just devastating.
But it doesn't happen, so he turns to sex, a physical feeling to fill the emotional ones he's missing. When it goes wrong, in the tiniest way, such as spilling a drink on his clothes caused him to snowball.
The song is, essentially just "tell me you love me"
Forty-five minute showers, Jack and Coke and waking up from a night of Sauvignon are all attempts at soothing ones self. In the end, trying to seek more comfort with sex he has a cold drink spilled on him and sadly is the one who keeps apologizing.
Unfortunately there is very little confidence in the lyrics of this song. Very beautiful, but truly sad.
The first part of the song definitely seems the person trying to find justification in life through his work life which he never gets. And this may be because of his relationship with his wife. I haven't heard such a complex and nuanced song about a relationship in a while.
Love love love this song.
Sweater weather.
I dunno, a lot of the song is still a mystery to me.
The last part about jack and coke....that is a funny/sexual memory that he has with his past lover. He closes by reminding her of a great memory they share in an effort to woo her back. Hey, just my interpretation of the situation that is...