I Summon You

everyones got their own different interpretations. But what theyre talking about though is definitely long distance relationships. They were talking about it a while before the album came out. I mean just look at this

"And now this little girl She says will we make it all 800 miles is a drive"

self explanatory

"All that you can give is a cold goodbye The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age"

Cant believe the relationship is still surviving despite the separation

"But oh no where are you tonight? And how'd we get here? It's too late to break it off"

Shes not around anymore relationship is to serious to just casually brush off thats why you have a long distance relationship in the first place. Describing the dillema

"I summon you to appear, my love"

Wants to see her

I think richie345 is pretty close to getting it right. Nice job! But I'd like to add that there's a great double bind in the first line:

On the one hand, when you get older you start to feel like your teenage years were the time when you were happy. In a long relationship that's going down the tubes, you start to feel like the early days were when you were happy. When you were younger, you listened to sad music because you weren't actually sad. You paid money for the thrill of pretending to be sad. As a grownup, you know about real sadness. Being a grownup sucks.

But on the other hand, when you were younger you actually did feel sadness more intensely. Music really mattered. When your long relationship started, you felt those emotions really intensely, and music was crucial to you. But then you get older and nothing seems to matter as much. Your relationship gets boring. Everything gets dull, and you wish for some real sadness. You don't bother to keep up with new music anymore. Being a grownup sucks.

Both meanings operate at the same time.

I think some people are reading far too much into this song. Spoon has never been a band to really disguise the meaning of a song like other bands. They typically give it to you very straight, which is something I love about Britt Daniel. The song is clearly about a long distance relationship, if nothing else, "800 miles is a drive" should give that away. "The law enforcement's impressed you've last to this age" could easily be referring to the length of the relationship and how it has made it so long. It could also be referring to surviving without seeing each other "sexually", which is what the signal's a cough line is pointing out. Good song.

I think the dude is stuck in jail and he's thinking about how he messed up not only his life, but the life of the woman he loves. I think I can explain this best by making notes on the lyrics:

Remember the weight of the world It's a sound that we used to buy On cassette and 45

(He's remembering simpler times when they were young and they didn't feel the weight of the world, the heaviness of responsibility and worry. They used to buy music to listen to which would put them in touch with those feelings since they didn't get them through experience.)

And now this little girl She says will we make it all 800 miles is a drive

(With him in jail, she doesn't know if the relationship will survive at all because they have a huge distance between them. I guess he's on the end of west Texas and she's in San Augustine or something. At any rate, she's not sure the relationship is going to last because of the mental and physical distance between them.)

You you got the weight of the world coming down like a mother's eye And all that you can All that you can give is a cold goodbye

(She's worried and burdened and he can see it in her eyes. She is so drained she can only give him a cold goodbye when visiting hours are over.)

The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age Strapped-up soldiers They'll lock you in a cage without goodbye For a nickel bribe

(Maybe someone bribed them to arrest him and that's why he's in jail? This makes it seem like he's being unlawfully incarcerated. Like he did nothing but have a bad reputation in their town.)

But oh no where are you tonight?

(He wonders this because he can't see or call her.)

And how'd we get here? It's too late to break it off

(How'd he get in jail and how'd she get to be in love with a cat that's in jail?)

I need a release

(Sexual, or a mental release, or a physical release from jail)

The signal's a cough But that don't get me off

(I like how Buckets pointed out that the get me off line isn't just about getting off sexually, it could be another allusion to busting out of jail with the "I need a release / But that don't get me off".)

I summon you to appear, my love

(As noted before if you get a summons to appear, you have to go to court and testify. So he's using legal terms to tell her he needs to see her.)

Got the weight of the world I summon you here my love

(He's under a lot of strain and seeing her would release some of the weight of the world.)

Britt Daniel wrote this song in an afternoon after his girlfriend relocated, and he was struggling to come up with new music. He began experimenting with chords, and eventually had 18 different chords in a row. He took a lunch break, and after lunch he started adding words to the song.

He took a lunch break, and then after lunch, came back and started trying to find words that fit the music. Many of the words show how he missed his girlfriend. Some directly address his girlfriends move (i.e. — “800 miles is a drive”, “where are you tonight?”, etc.) He came up with “I summon you here my love” from something that he used to tell his ex-girlfriend on the phone the days after she left. Specifically, he would tell her “I summon you” on the phone.

Not necessarily all of the words carry explicit meaning, as Britt Daniel said about the song, “The chords don’t sound like anything I’ve ever done, the words are far-out yet emotional—some I know exactly what they mean, others I’m still figuring out.”

this, sister jack, and i guess i turn my camera on are really the only songs i like on this cd, but i like them a lot. this is probably my favorite, but sister jack is a close second.

i agree that this cd is not as consistently good as the previous 3 albums, but now i find myself liking the songs as singles more and more... two sides of mr valentine, the infinite pet, and the delicate place are some of my favorites, along with those you named

i agree that this cd is not as consistently good as the previous 3 albums, but now i find myself liking the songs as singles more and more... two sides of mr valentine, the infinite pet, and the delicate place are some of my favorites, along with those you named

Great song. So melancholy.

I can't really tell what it's about. It sounds like her love is a vacation from the unbearable stress in his life.

With all the law and police imagery, I am reminded that a summons is a legal document. I doubt that means anything, though.

But what does everything else mean?

Its about long distance relationships