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You Are What You Love Lyrics
This is no great illusion
When I'm with you I'm looking for a ghost
Or invisible reasons to fall out of love
Or run screaming from our home
Because we live in a house of mirrors
We see our fears in everything
Our songs, faces, and second-hand clothes
But more and more we're suffering
Not nobody, not a thousand beers
Will keep us from feeling so all alone
But you are what you love
And not what loves you back
That's why I'm here on your doorstep
Pleading for you to take me back
And the phone is a fine invention
It allows me to talk endlessly to you
About nothing disguising my intentions
Which I'm afraid my friend are wildly untrue
It's a sleight of hand, a white soul band
The heart attacks I'm convinced I have
Every morning upon waking
To you I'm a symbol or a monument
Your right of passage to fulfillment
But I'm not yours for the taking
But you are what you love
And not what loves you back
So I guess that's why you keep on
Calling me back
I'm fraudulent, a thief at best
A coward who paints a bullshit canvas
Things that will never happen to me
And at arm's length, it's Tim who said
I'm good at it, I've mastered it
Avoiding, avoiding everything
But you are what you love, Tim
Not what loves you back
And I'm in love with illusions, so saw me in half
I'm in love with tricks
So pull another rabbit out of your hat
When I'm with you I'm looking for a ghost
Or invisible reasons to fall out of love
Or run screaming from our home
We see our fears in everything
Our songs, faces, and second-hand clothes
But more and more we're suffering
Not nobody, not a thousand beers
Will keep us from feeling so all alone
And not what loves you back
That's why I'm here on your doorstep
Pleading for you to take me back
It allows me to talk endlessly to you
About nothing disguising my intentions
Which I'm afraid my friend are wildly untrue
It's a sleight of hand, a white soul band
The heart attacks I'm convinced I have
Every morning upon waking
To you I'm a symbol or a monument
Your right of passage to fulfillment
But I'm not yours for the taking
And not what loves you back
So I guess that's why you keep on
Calling me back
A coward who paints a bullshit canvas
Things that will never happen to me
And at arm's length, it's Tim who said
I'm good at it, I've mastered it
Avoiding, avoiding everything
Not what loves you back
And I'm in love with illusions, so saw me in half
I'm in love with tricks
So pull another rabbit out of your hat
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
They are both correct, as Jenny has sung them both ways.
I can't believe no one has commented about this yet. It is such an amazing song.I realise it is hard to get thought because even my version is a wobbly live one.One point though, there's a tiny wee mistake in these lyrics int he very last verse it goes like this : "And I'm in love with tricks so saw me in half I'm in love with illusions" I saw Rilo Kiley last night live and they were awesome, they are so funneeeeeeeee!
This song is on Jenny Lewis' new album. It's fabulous on there.
nah fuck that the overproduced jenny lewis version is nowhere near as good as the live rilo kiley version i've got. Also, I'm pretty sure she got the idea for this song from the movie Adaptation.
it sounds like she feels like shes more in love with him than he is with her. But in some parts it sounds like shes trying to make up excuses for it, like shes trying to pretend like theres nothing wrong and shes just trying to kill it for no reason, when really she knows that they're not really in love anymore
"I'm fraudulent, a thief at best, a coward who paints a bullshit canvas things that will never happen to me and at arm's length, it's Tim who said I'm good at it, I've mastered it avoiding, avoiding everything"
I'm almost entirely sure this is a reference to Tim Kasher from Cursive/The Good Life, respectively. Tim often deals with avoidance, self-deprecation and the destruction of "good things" in his lyrics. I love the incestuous side of Saddle Creek, all the little references to others on the label [given Rilo Kiley isn't signed to SC anymore, right?]. Bright Eyes also referenced Tim in "Nothing Gets Crossed Out:" "Yeah, Tim, I heard your album and it's better than good." It's fun to kind of pick them out.
I doubt he'll ever come back, but to that guy Jay...why do you think this is inspired by Adaptation? I'm curious to know what you meant by that.
In the movie Adaptation, Donald Kaufman says:
"You are what you love, not what loves you, I decided that a long time ago."
And I agree with smorgasborg. I really wish this version had been recorded.
i love any version of this song.
I heard the live version of this song, and I loved it! I actually bought the Rabbit Fur Coat album, but I'm not crazy about the studio version. It just sounds...wierd..I don't know?
But anyways, I love this song!