Rubber And Soul

This song is a simple tale of realization, devastation, and liberation. The song begins with this individual crumbling in the hands of a disengaged lover. “In my mind I’m crawling on your floor Vomiting and defeated”.

Due to the “reluctant” words of their lover this person is left writhing in the confines of his/her own mind. The inability to hold it together causes a “total absence of grace”.

These “rubber bands” are much like “barriers” or “walls”. In effort to protect ones self from the devastation associated with heart break (“crawling”), the individual has also become blocked from the pleasures and joy in life (“falling”).

“In my repeated dreams you stare at me with an empty gaze” the thought of rekindling love finally dissipates when the individual grasps that love is in fact lost. “You turn your back on me, and you search for more intriguing days” describes his/her realization that they have been abandoned for the possibility of something or someone better.

In my opinion, “Loathing this” conveys the disgust one feels toward themselves for being weak, the situation for being painful, and their lover for being cruel. “Controlling this” could illustrate the attempt to mask erratic behavior and emotions. And last, “Let me get a hold of this” may be the attempt to pick up the pieces and start over.

The following line, “And then when you are not in my dreams and not in my mind but we are at the same place at the same time” captures the true beauty of liberation. His/her wounds have finally healed and discarded the pain that had once plagued their every thought. He/she is now ready to “search for more intriguing days” as well. The “rubber” wall can “no longer hold” the new found strength within one’s soul.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.

I mostly agree with jrlaffrey, except for the end of the song. "And then when you are not in my dreams and not in my mind but we are at the same place at the same time rubber no longer holds the borders of my soul" Since she sings the rubberbands "keep her from crawling and falling" when she thinks or dreams of him earlier along in the song, I think that when she is in fact confronted with her ex-lover, she can no longer keep it together. His presence makes it impossible for her to pretend she's fine.

jrlaffrey's vision of this song could explain a lot of things. But the way I viewed it, the song doesn't speak about any form of a happy ending. There's her heartbreak and that's all there is--how she lives through it, how she sees it and what it is to her.

"If my mind I'm carawling on your floor/Vomiting and defeated" might refer to how she feels before or as the relationship's falling apart. She's stuck trying to pick herself together and trying to make sense of the situation, sickened by everything. "Total absence of grace" registered, to me, as her begging not to be cast away, not to be rejected and left to herself. "Your reluctant voice saying/You decide your own fate" seems to reflect the other party, the one breaking up. He's torn to see her that way--still cares, we assume--and we know here that she's done something, inched the relationship forward into the abyss. He doesn't want to leave her like that, in the state she's in, but she's going to have to pick herself up, chose how she wants to live this.

She says she wears rubberbands around her soul; like anyone else, we have ways of coping with hard situations. She's trying to hold herself together with what little she has. You know it isn't much. It's a classic joke, fixing pipes with rubber bands, duct tape and paper clips.

The following verse, "In my repeated dreams/you stare at me with an empty gaze", could maybe be taken literally. Or it could be interpreted as her thinking about after the breakup, how she feels about what's ging to happen and how things will be between them. "You turn your back on me/and you search for more intriguing days". She knows he's going to turn around and go look for another girlfriend, someone else.

"Loathing this/controlling this/let me get a hold of this" seems to talk about the fact that it breaks her even more to think about how miserable she is over everything, how she hates that he still has so much control over her even if it's over, how she wishes she could just take her life in her hands and move on, too.

The last part talks about he seeing him afterwards. Either alone or with another girl; she says that when they're in the same room together, she can'T keep it up. She's able to keep herself together when they're apart, but if she sees him... she's done for. She'll come apart, and what little she has holding her togeter is just going to vanish and she'll be right back where she started.

...That's how I saw the song anyways.

Ane Brun's voice in the song gives me chills.

Ane Brun's voice in the song gives me chills.

I agree love the lyrics so hurtful and painful but amazing song

eating disorder....

loathing this controlling this let me get a hold of this thats how i feel all day