Cat Power – The Greatest

General CommentI think this song is about giving up on your dreams/hopes/goals because you've lost confidence in yourself due to obstacles in life.

The funeral/burial images symbolize giving up on life; it's a resignation to "death" of hope. Death is painted as an inevitable end, but also peaceful (sleeping) and protective (armor) because it's the opposite of life with its hopes & disappointments. She's tired & giving up, when once she felt strong & capable.


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Once I wanted to be the greatest - she had great hopes & dreams for herself
No wind or waterfall could stall me - she felt confidence in herself, able to take on any obstacle to her goals
And then came the rush of the flood - reality hits
Stars of night turned deep to dust - her dreams dissolved in the face of reality

Melt me down
Into big black armor - this is possibly referring to a coffin; it's an armor against life & its disappointments. If you're dead, you cannot feel. This is about a death of hope though; if you cannot hope, then you cannot be disappointed. It's a kind of protection from bad feelings, to go numb.

Leave no trace of grace
suggesting your honor - resignation that she will not be the greatest, that she will not leave any significant mark

Lower me down
To culprit south
Make 'em wash a space in town
For the lead
And the dregs of my bed
I've been sleepin' - the idea of sleeping is peaceful; death is painted as a relief from the disappointments of failing to meet her dreams
Lower me down
Pin me in
Secure the grounds
For the later parade - funeral & burial imagery for the theme of giving up on life

Once I wanted to be the greatest
Two fists of solid rock - she used to feel strong, determined & capable
With brains that could explain
Any feeling - she used to feel smart & able to articulate herself


The rest of the song repeats the funeral/burial imagery.

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