Pierrot The Clown

this song is sooooooooo sad...probably the saddest of the new album...

I personally think this song is about two men locked in a "Perfect Storm" of a relationship or a lack thereof. The voice singing to us is a pitifully lonely person. His love for the person is so extreme that he will take the abuse if it means he can be with him another moment. The lines "Leave me bleeding on the bed" and "See you right back here tomorrow" suggest he's used to the viciousness of the sex. That's it's fine as long as he's not alone, and with the guy he loves. And when he pleads "Be sure to come around", it's text book abuse victim. But it's pretty sad because the story teller lets us know his happiness sort of hinges on the next time he'll see this guy.

It's so obviously about two people in a BDSM relationship, one who's into that sort of thing, and one who isnt and is only putting up with it for the other person, the second one being the 'pierrot' archetype and narrator of the song...

Trust me, I would know when it comes to BDSM...

"Leave me dreaming on the bed See you right back here tomorrow For the next round."

i.e. I'm dreaming of more than just kinky sex, but that's all I'm getting and I know you'll be back to do it all over again...

"Keep this scene inside your head As the bruises turn to yellow The swelling goes down."

i.e. when doing something BDSM it is referred to as 'a scene' between the two people (eg, a 'scene' where you dress up like a schoolgirl and i put a ball gag in your mouth and get the riding crop out)... The 'bruises turn to yellow' bit is because in BDSM black and blue is just like 'fisher price baby steps: my first beating' and the beating goes on till the bruises turn yellow and brown, and the welts rise up off the skin, so the whole bit translates as "remember the BDSM game we played, even after the bruises change colour and all the big bulging welts you beat on my ass go down."

"And if you're ever around In the city or the suburbs Of this town Be sure to come around I'll be wallowing in sorrow Wearing a frown Like Pierrot the clown."

i.e. I'll still keep doing this, any time you come calling, pretending that the suffering is all just fun and games (like the clown) while really I'm heartbroken on the inside...

"Remember all the thing's you'd say How your promises rang hollow As you threw me into the ground."

i.e. You talked me into it by feeding me lies, and then threw me around like a rag doll for rough sex.

"When I dream , I dream your lips When I dream , I dream your kiss When I dream , I dream your fists Your fists, your fists."

i.e. the Pierrot archetype (probably Brian himself i'm guessing) is equating the BDSM stuff with love... 'fists' could either mean the BDSm breaking down into full violence ('outside of the sex game', because most BDSM practitioners don't punch in a scene), or could be a reference to fisting, which happens to the subby one A LOT...

"Leave me bleeding on the bed See you right back here tomorrow For the next round."

i.e. like the first bit again, only 'bleeding' this time either because of the BDSM stuff, or the actual violence (if it was punching and not fisting in the last bit)

I think the other person that Brian is singing about is actually not a real person , but the heroin . Just think about it guys,heroin gives him the pleasure he needs "i dream your kiss , your lips" but then the after effects leave him "bleeding on the bed....till the next round" When he says "remember all the things you said , how your promises rang hollow" - that's the sense of pleasure that heroin promises , but after the effect has gone , he just "throws him into the grown" , "wearing a frown like Pierrot the Clown" . He's unhappy , he knows his miserable and he know's what the heroin does to him . It's a violent relationship , a relationship that every junkie has with his drug of choice - a mix of pleasure/pain (kisses,lips/fists)

Don't try to look to deep into it....it is about an abusive relationship. Just like in Peeping Tom, the singer feels so low that craves someone so much that bears with the abuse.

I don't think that the person is talking to her/his abuser directly.

It seems like the person is talking to herself but is addressing the abuser as if they would be in the room with them.

There's no story told because there's no revelation or action taken that puts the protagonist in a crisis.

She/He doesn't have a decision to make because they have come to accept the way it is. They are okay with being beaten and abused and even though they feel the pain they will still act as if they enjoy it: 'I'll be wallowing in sorrow, wearing a frown, Like Pierrot the clown.' - Just to please their abuser.

They need to please him because he/she loves them so much that they want them to come back to them.

And that's crazy.

The protagonist lacks a mentor/guide who helps them see the truth of what they are doing. But this love obsession is doomed to fail.

Pierrot:

(p´´r´) (KEY) [Fr.,=little Peter], character in French pantomime. A buffoon, he wore a loose white tunic with big buttons, balloon sleeves, and white pantaloons. His face was painted white. A creation of Giuseppe Giaratone or Geratoni (fl. 1639–97), Pierrot was introduced to early 19th-century France by Deburau.

-The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05.

imagine this... a drug dealer, who's comparing himself to pierrot the clown, is in love with one of his clients. he sees her around, he sells her brown, he wants her to stop, he makes her promise to give up taking and when she doesn't, there comes to fist fight... she leaves, she runs away but pierrot is sure that she'll come again (maybe right back here tommorow) and he wants her not to forget this sight of him left after the fight. i'd go even futher and say that he subconciously prays thet she wouldn't come back. it might be a big overinterpretation but still i think it fits quite well. and a nice song actually.

I interpret this song as about a guy who loves a woman, and every time she comes to see him she hits him but he always wants her to come back again. this has caused him to be in a state of misery whilst she isn't with him because he associates the beatings with being with her. She does things he doesn't like her doing (like taking heroin "never seen you-... -look so brown."

I like plainsong's interpretation :)

maybe this is like a lot of placebo's songs, having a love/drugs theme.