Prisoners

What more could be said about this song? I suppose, literally, it should be taken that a criminal, in prison obviously, is speaking about her dreams of being free, which happen to be in common with the rest of the prisoners.

The line "and [if] hans christian anderson could have had easy his way with me" is interesting as I take it to mean that her childhood was not the normal one where parents might read books to their children. HCA is an interesting choice because he wrote fables about human nature, and it seems to say that had she had parents that taught her the lessons to be a good person, she wouldn't be where she is now, in prison.

Later, she mentions how her mother thinks she is grown up but that she is, in fact, just little. It's as if, even with her tough exterior of tattoos (as tough as mermaids and swallows can be anyhow) she recognizes that she is still just a small child inside in need of love and comfort and ultimately, a parent.

I am most interest however in what she is waiting to remember. It seems to be an important part of the song. Any suggestions?

I like to start at the literal level and then go deeper if need be, because I feel like a lot of" is a symbol for this, is a symbol for that, and everything is a symbol". I'm not saying that that's necessarily a bad way to interpret things, but I just prefer my way. So, with that said...

"all of the prisoners serving life sentences wait for the earth to suddenly shake for the walls to somehow suddenly come crumbling, tumbling and for the bars to somehow magically break"

Prisoners don't want to be in prison.

"oh there's nothing wrong with them that a thousand books can't fix that a thousand arms can't hold down"

Our law books, our psychology books will set them straight, and if they don't, then all our cops and guards and their arms (both body parts and guns) will have to do the job.

"on the ground they're tattooing the stones with cusses like cavemen your momma was here"

That stereotypical image of a prison... out in the yard breaking the stones, and instead of just chipping away at them, they graffiti them. I've never been to prison so I'm not sure if that actually goes down, but you always see it in the movies; it's a common image.

"but they wanna run through the air with no barriers or obstacles gunmen or guard dogs or priests and to rise from the mud and start over and over with the people all DEAD"

This is such a hopeful part until the last word. To me this whole part, with the lighter music and the images of running freely --with the people all dead!-- is like a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that this is some f'ed up shit that these life-sentencers are thinking... or maybe it's some f'ed up shit we're thinking the life-sentencers are thinking.

"uh uh uh uh uh if hans christian anderson could have had his way with me then none of this shit would have ever gone down"

I don't know. I'm kind of following the "goodness and morality" argument here. Especially since it has to do with childhood (HCA and his fairy tales commonly read to children, I mean). But I'm still unsure.

"in my cell i'm tattooing myself with mermaids and swallows and though i do swallow my momma thinks i'm grown but i'm really just little"

I do swallow -- hello, male inmate prison behaviour? This doesn't seem like there should be much of an issue on interpretation. The other parts that evoke images of childhood ("mermaid and swallows", "i'm really just little") just mean, to me, that "I'm" just misguided, not a bad person.

"and someday i will remember someday i will remember someday i will remember"

Again, not sure. But I do like when she chops the words up into a million pieces!

Oh, I should have mentioned, I see Regina as singing from a male perspective in this song. But the rest of the song... I've pretty much got it down in my head. Even if it's all wrong, that's how I like to see it.

Maybe this song is tied into "Apres Moi". This songs talks about rising from the mud and starting over and "Apres Moi" talks about "I'm not my own, it's not my choice." When you are a prisoner, you are not your own free woman/man.

Plus, since this song is right after "Mary Ann" on the CD "Meets the Gravediggers and Other Short Stories", this prisoner should most likely be Mary Ann. (she killed Stan Butler and now she's in jail for it)

I think "and someday i will remember" means that she'll wake up, still little, with none of that ever having happened.

I'd also like to add the lyric "dirt" is wrong it's supposed to be "and though I do swallow".

Are you all sure that it doesn't say "I love the prisoners serving life sentences"?

Another thing that is interesting but I have no idea how it pertains to the song is that Hans Christian Anderson was rumored to be a homosexual. He also never took a woman to his bed, and they found in his journal that the only satisfaction he had was masturbation. So who knows what the "If Hans Christian Anderson could have had his way with me" reallly means.

I love this song. The composition of it and her voice... flawless.

I think that the much debated about Hans Christian Anderson line is more in reference to what fairy tales were invented for: To scare kids into behaving. So therefore, "If Hans Christian Anderson could've had his way with me" (If I had gotten what he wanted me to get from his fairy tales: morals, sense of good and bad), "Then none of this shit would've ever gone down." (Then I wouldn't be locked up in this hell hole, would I?) Makes sense, no?

Love the song though..... Regina rocks.

Sorry, i just listened again and i think it goes

and someday i will remember HER someday i will remember HER someday i will remember HER

probably as in her mother.

well, H.C. Andersen wrote the Little Mermaid, so I think that pretty well explains the mermaid tattoo reference. No one else said that, so I thought I might as well point it out. As for the rest of the song, what the rest of you said.

I think this song is, in general, about prisoners wanting to break free of their cells and start over trying to be good people again. The narrator still feels confused and bewildered at the world like a child, which probably caused her to commit the crimes that landed her in jail. I'm not sure what the Hans Christian Anderson reference could mean (though the topic of his sexuality is interesting), nor the line 'Someday I will remember', though.

'Oh there's nothing wrong with them that a thousand bucks can't fix That a thousand arms can't hold down' These lines speak strongly to me because they are about, I guess, futility. There's nothing wrong with the prisoners that's really irreparable, she's saying, and them and their feelings and ideas aren't unstoppable, they can be restrained. So it's a bit sad, thinking about those prisoners beat down by everything. But at the same time, I think this is a bit sarcastic, with the idea of money being a panacea and a great number of people conspiring to hold down one person that thinks differently from them.

I am developing an unhealthy obsession with this song. 'Someday I will remember' and onward is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard in music. No lie.

'but they wanna run through the air with no barriers or obstacles gunmen or guard dogs or priests and to rise from the mud and start over and over with the people all dead' To me, it seems like the prisoners just want to be freed and almost forget what it is that they've done, so their consciences will be light and 'run through the air.' The mud seems like a play on the archetypal baptism and instead of being cleansed in water, they can overcome their crimes without being actually cleansed of them. That, and the dead part seems like they truly hate the ones who judge them and in their angry mindsets, they want them all to die. xP

...And I could've sworn the line was 'and oh, I do swallow,' a reference to oral sex.