Cotton Crush

I came.

Obviously we all know this is a Kevin Devine song, we're in the fucking Kevin Devine section of the site. There is nothing wrong with appreciating Jesse Lacey's guest appearance.

an amazing song, although that word does not do it justice. this is just my interpretation of it, but anyway you look at it, it never loses its beauty.

i see this song as a lament for the pressures life bestows. in the first stanza, the bricks are a metaphor for the things in life we try to create for ourselves. inevitably, everything will come apart. it's a desperate commentary on the things that aren't permanent in life.

kevin then goes on to talk about the fact that you can't ever really trust anyone but yourself. "your friends won't wait"; no one is going to be there for you no matter what, so you need to learn to rely solely on yourself. he then finds himself trying to deal with his problems on his own, stoned in a park because it's hard to deal with it all. the girl he sees wearing his shirt & humming his song is interchangeable with any fan of his who is dedicated to his music. he feels like a failure; he can't live up to the expectations his fans & the world have for him.

then the song just explodes into a metaphor for the way we waste our lives and take things for granted without ever realizing it. the southern states represent the way we should be living; working hard and valuing everything we are fortunate enough to have. we just waste everything we're given and don't realize the importance of it all.

the microphone is yet another metaphor for the complexities of life and how you're forced to face them on your own. people will listen to your troubles to a point, but at the end of the day, they'll just go back to their own lives without truly caring.

he then talks about the fact that we should constantly be reevaluating ourselves, because we are continuously in need of change. you should always contemplate what you're doing and how it's affecting your life. and if you don't like the place you're in, "hollow yourself out" and start anew. grow up and take care of your problems instead of trying to rely on others to do it for you. sort out your problems and clear your mind so that you can move on with your life.

and God, kevin and jesse's voices mixing together is just flawless.

Kevins Father passed away last year, he had quite an hard time, as any decent and loving human would with that, alot of the people he thought were his friends ended up not being there for him, (he makes references to the failure of friendship in a few songs) he had been very let down byt the people he thought could be there to help him through tat hard time, I assume he ended up spending alot of time alone, stoned, and saw some girl wearing one of his shirts (more likely a Miracle of 86 shirt, but you people have no idea anyway) and seeing that and having the mixture of feeling of being let down by people you trusted, feeling the loss of his best friend (his father), and thinking of the band he disbanded and moved on from where too much at once he was done.. he just wants life to be good again, simple.. the simple sounds of life, not the static [the drama]

i think what kevin devine signifies about him being stoned somewhere and the girl walking by with his shirt and singing his song, thats supposed to show that she doesnt even recognize him as she walks by. though shes obvioulsy a fanatic of his music for randomly humming his song and stuff like that, the fact that she doesnt recognize him and that hes in such a sorry state basically says "youve dwindled down to nothing, and you arent as good as the songs you used to write anymore." thats why the next line says "thats when you're done."

To me the song always felt like:

• You have a plan in life. You start to carve out your path to get there. Life digs up the bricks you lay to get there. Constantly.
• Self-reliance is important. There are very few friendships that can endure a crisis. Not really in the song, but if you have a friend who can be there for you in your darkest hour, you truly are lucky; try to be that friend to someone else.
• The whole stoned in a park/girl in his t-shirt, cotton crush might just be a cruel reminder of the path you were planning to be on, the one you thought you would still be on. Regrets of where you are, and laments that you are wasting your life not going for it.
• "The quiet can scrape all the calm from your bones, but maybe it should. Maybe we need to be hollowed to get up and grow, and stop fucking around, to kick off our braces and start straightening out." is my favorite part of the song, because it resonates personally. Tragedy, loss, and despair and how we deal with it is what I think really forges us as humans and helps us find meaning in life. I truly believe that no happiness exists in the world other than the happiness we make for ourselves.
• Life is a chaotic mess. You have to make meaning of the chaos to have a life worth living.

i love this song so much.

the only part of this song i can really explain is the obvious "Then you'll be stoned in some park, just nodding your head and pinching your arms, when a girl walks along. She's humming your song, with your t-shirt on. That's when you're done, Oh, that's when you're done..."

its like when kevin devine sees someone with a tshirt of his and it's just surreal and creepy to see someone with his shirt and humming to words he wrote.

god damn this song is awesome.

I love this song so much. My only complaint is that it's too short.

.ashley;

such an awesome song. jesse and kevins voices are so similar.