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Sister Europe Lyrics
stupid on the steinway
o sick upon a steinway
the sailors drown
see them talk and see them drown
and see them drink and fall around
upon the floor
sister of mine, home again
sister of mine, home again
lonely in a crowded room
the radio plays out of tune
so silently
the radio upon the floor
is stupid, it plays aznavour
so out of key
sister of mine, home again
sister of mine, home again
broken on a ship of fools
even dreams must fall to rules
so stupidly
words are all just useless sound
just like cards, they fall around
and we will be
sister of mine, home again
sister of mine, home again
ah ssss...
buy a car and watch it rust
sister see them fall to dust
they fall around
in another crowded room
paint me like the shirt i'm in
honestly
sister of mine, home again
sister of mine, home again
ah ssss...
sister of mine
sister of mine
sister of mine
sister of mine
o sick upon a steinway
the sailors drown
see them talk and see them drown
and see them drink and fall around
upon the floor
sister of mine, home again
the radio plays out of tune
so silently
the radio upon the floor
is stupid, it plays aznavour
so out of key
sister of mine, home again
even dreams must fall to rules
so stupidly
words are all just useless sound
just like cards, they fall around
and we will be
sister of mine, home again
ah ssss...
sister see them fall to dust
they fall around
in another crowded room
paint me like the shirt i'm in
honestly
sister of mine, home again
ah ssss...
sister of mine
sister of mine
sister of mine
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I think Butler mentioned in an interview that it was written about his girlfriend at the time who was always jetsetting about Europe, he never knew where she'd be one day from the next. Though I have no bloody idea what this part means in that context: "buy a car and watch it rust/ sister see them fall to dust/they fall around /in another crowded room/paint me like the shirt i'm in/honestly "
@FolsomFred To really get any of the songs on the first album, I think you have to listen to all of the other songs. The "fall around" part gets used multiple times in this song, and it also appears in other songs. So does falling to dust, being alone in a crowded room, people painting each other…
@FolsomFred To really get any of the songs on the first album, I think you have to listen to all of the other songs. The "fall around" part gets used multiple times in this song, and it also appears in other songs. So does falling to dust, being alone in a crowded room, people painting each other…
So, what does it all mean? I don't think Butler himself even knew. He had a swirl of imagines in his head since he was 14, and he was trying to find the songs they fit in, and many of them...
So, what does it all mean? I don't think Butler himself even knew. He had a swirl of imagines in his head since he was 14, and he was trying to find the songs they fit in, and many of them turned out to fit in multiple songs. They all manage to convey what's going on in his head even if you can't understand them.
The world is stupid (his favorite word on this album) in a way he can easily recognize but can't explain clearly, so he has to come at it from different angles. And it doesn't work at all literally, but somehow it works anyway. And maybe that's all that matters.
"even dreams must fall to rules". <3
I think it is about the continent of Europe. I think a lot of the song is from the point of view of the land. Europe is seeing all these people doing stupid things and acting out their petty, futile dramas. Europe is there the whole time through many generations and sees the same mistakes being made over and over and how everyone dies with nothing to show for it and everything eventually falls to dust. I think the person is calling Europe "sister of mine" because he sometimes steps back and sees the big picture and starts to identify with things that are less transitory like the land which could represent the eternal witness or something. When he does this he feels like he's home. I think this song is related to their song Highwire Days (I think it's called). Both songs seem to express seeing more clearly and "seeing through the games we play" to quote the other song I just mentioned.
i first heard the foo fighters cover of this, i think its a cool song. what it means i've no idea, any help out there?
I love the song and the video clip. So...murky.
Now this one could be about "The New World Order",ya crackpot!
Someone below comments it is about a euro girlfriend always travelling. Then the line about buying a car and watching it rust becomes literal - she's not there to drive the car and it just sits somewhere gathering dust. I saw this in blocks of flats in London, top end Mercs just sitting in the car park unused for months...
Beyond this, the song does sound metaphysical somehow, and makes me think of my sister, even if that's not what it's about.
Butler was into cut up lyrics, impressionistic. The lyrics scan well, a rare thing. The gf jetting around sounds right. Maybe Google would resolve