The grave diggers getting stuck in the machine
Picking getting slim, slimmer
I hear them say my name
Regin-ah, regin-ah, regin-a-ah

yes I'm putting the boulder to my ear
And I still can't hear
Whadya think I was an amateur
Playin' with my temperature...

If I hear another song about angels
If I see another feather on the dumb-box
I'm gonna go to Babylon and get me some whiskey
Gonna go to Babylon and get me some whiskey now...
If I hear another song about angels
If I see another feather on the dumb-box
I'm gonna go to Babylon and get me some whiskey
Oh get me some whiskey, get me some whisky, get me some whiskey now

My name is Lucille and I know how you feel
I live downstairs
I hear you taking out your garbage
I hear you loving your girlfriend
I hear you loving yourself too
I hear you flushing your toliet
I hear you turning your thoughts off
I turn mine off too
The only thing I hear is you
And you don't sound nice and you don't sound right
And you don't sound good and you don't sound right

My name is Lucille and I know how you feel
I live downstairs
I hear you taking out your garbage
I hear you loving your girlfriend
I hear you loving yourself too
I hear you turning your thoughts off
Oh, I hear you turning your thoughts off
And it get's quiet...

Pavlov's daughter woke up in the morning
Heard the bell ring
And something deep inside of her made her want to salivate
So she lay there drooling on her pillow
So she lay there, the sun skimming her skin,
And, and...drooling on her pillow
Pavlov's daughter
And it was far away and hazy like a dream
Not a dream, not a dream,
But the ocean, not the ocean,
But forever...

The grave diggers getting stuck in the machine
Picking getting slim, slimmer
I hear them say my name
Regin-ah, regin-ah, regin-a-ah

yes I'm putting the boulder to my ear
And I still can't hear
Whadya think I was an amateur
Playin' with my temperature...

If I hear another song about angels
If I see another feather on the dumb-box
I'm gonna go to Babylon and get me some whiskey
Gonna go to Babylon and get me some whiskey now...
If I hear another song about angels
If I see another feather on the dumb-box
I'm gonna go to Babylon and get me some whiskey
Oh get me some whiskey, get me some whisky, get me some whiskey now

My name is Lucille and I know how you feel
I live downstairs
I hear you taking out your garbage
I hear you loving your girlfriend
I hear you loving yourself too
I hear you turning your thoughts off
I hear you turning your thoughts off
And I turn mine off too
The only thing I hear is you
And you don't sound nice and you don't sound right
And you don't sound good and you don't sound right

My name is Lucille and I know how you feel
I live downstairs
I hear you taking out your garbage
I hear you loving your girlfriend
I hear you loving yourself too
I hear you turning your thoughts off
I hear you turning your thoughts off
It get's quiet...

As quiet as an ambulance checking out the neighborhood,
Waiting for the blade to slip and that final blow,
But nothing happens, it's a cruel joke
As ironic as a ticker tape parade over the rain forest,
As ironic as a ticker tape parade over my head,
As ironic as a ticker tape parade over my head
Going down stream...
To where...it isn't... even... real...rain... at...all...


Lyrics submitted by turpentine_patches, edited by clcsilent

Pavlov's Daughter Lyrics as written by Regina Spektor

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Pavlov's Daughter song meanings
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    My Interpretation

    Many years later, I finally resolved the rest!

    About the grave diggers getting stuck in the machine picking slimmer, I agree with -netmantxon- (songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858559531/)

    About the grave diggers calling her because she's contemplating suicide, I disagree. I think they're calling her because she eventually will die (and it's not her decision) so she feels the pressure.

    About the boulder to her ear reminds me of Luke 40: "I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out." (the difference between a boulder and a stone is the size, and both of them are rocks.) She's not saying anything ("if these were silent") and still can't hear them talk. (This interpretation is based on Luke's context.) -netmantxon- didn't mention about the part of us thinking she was an amateur playing with her temperature. She knows that by saying that the rocks' are not taking she will me judged as a girl with "poor faith" who is playing with her "temperature" that sometimes she's confident but then she can also have doubts.

    About the "song about angels" and that the dumb-box is the TV, I agree and I add that the feather may represent God. A movie of God or something like that.

    About Babylon, I agree but I also add that in the New Testament, is a symbol for every kind of evil. She rather go there for a drink than hearing of religion and God on songs and television.

    About Lucille = Lucifer, I agree with -netmantxon-. Lucille tells her that when she turn her thoughts off it gets quite so I think her thoughts are about God. So Lucifer feels well when she stop thinking about Him.

    About Pavlov's daughter = Us. I couldn't agree more with -netmantxon-. We are conditioned to wake up to the alarm and get up and go to work but we're not feeling fulfilled and quite the opposite we feel our life completely empty. A Pavlov's experiment. Pavlov's daughters and sons. We spend our life living that way and then, one day, we die. "It was far away and hazy like a dream, not a dream, not a dream, but the ocean, not the ocean, but forever..." Back again with the grave diggers picking slimmer and calling her name to speak, but she won't because she simply doesn't want to and instead, she's waiting for the boulder to talk for her. Then again being judged for her doubts and poor faith. She's tired of everything about it.

    About her talking with Lucifer, I agree with -netmantxon-. He knows how she feel. "The only thing I hear is you and you don't sound nice and you don't sound right" is what she tells to him. He tells her again about what happens when she turn her toughts off and is "as quiet as an ambulance staking out the neighborhood". I'm not so sure of that but a stake is a vertical post to which an offender is bound for execution by burning. Maybe, an ambulance, instead of saving people, is killing people. "Waiting for the blade to slip and that final blow", she is the ambulance and she is waiting for the death. "But nothing happens, it's a cruel joke" she doesn't expect to find anything. "Going down stream..." She's dying. "To where... it isn't... even... real..." She still have doubts. "rain... at...all..." Maybe she has got to hell.

    It makes sense to me. Sorry if I have mistakes, it not my first language.

    AnUseron February 05, 2014   Link

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