Valentine's Day Is Over

Song is about domestic abuse, from the perspective of a battered wife/girlfriend.

'You've gone to the dogs again' is a clever line, potentially refering to a gambling addiction (greyhound racing) or to someone/something becoming worse.

This guy is saying to his chick, you know, like Valentes Day is like over, LOL. In London, England guys have to buy flowers and stuff for chicks on a special day, not just on there birthday. Total bummer, huh?

I find this quite an uplifting song. It's actually about a female victim of domestic abuse who has decided that enough is enough and ended the relationship.

The title - Valentine's Day is Over, and many of the lyrics: 'We used to want the same thing', 'Poetry and Flowers' etc. refers to the how it is at the start of a relationship. The girl thinks that her partner is amazing and that their love will last forever.

'Some day boy you'll reap what you've sown' means that one day the abuser will try it on with someone who will hit back even harder.

'You'll catch a cold and you'll be on your own'. I see this as a play on how needy men are when they are ill, but also in many other situations rely on their loving partners. All that support is of course fotgotten when they are in the mood to batter their partners senseless.

'What's wrong with me' refers to the fact that the abuser thinks (and tells) the partner that it is her fault he does what he does, and the next line which talks about everyone having the same problem, refers to the abuser being the real problem.

'You've gone to the dogs again' has a double or even treble meaning. The phrase 'gone to the dogs' means letting yourself go or turning into someone / something less desirable / moral etc. than before. 'The dogs' may also refer to dog racing or even a pub, both places where lots of alcohol is consumed.

When she says that she can't see him coming home 'anything but blind', she means that he will be drunk (blind drunk) and therefore more likely to hit her. (In the UK, Stella Artois lager is often referred to as 'wife beater' because of the effect it has on lots of men.)

The girl's strength starts to come through in the next verse when she tells him that if he wants to talk about it he should call her i.e. she's not going to come grovelling back to him telling him that she understands his violence and the fact that it's probably her fault. 'Don't come around reminding me again how brittle bone is' could be seen as a plea for him not to hit her any more but I see it more as a threat i.e. If you know what's good for you you'll leave me alone! It also makes clear that they are no longer living together so she has finally made up her mind not to take it any more.

The God and The Devil bit is about how we are all capable of cruelty and the fact that it's easy to forget how to be good and hurt people in the process.

Possibly my favourite line of the song: 'That brutality and economy are related, now I understand' implies that the frustration of poverty and social deprivation leads to a rise in domestic abuse which is tragic as people in those situations have it hard enough already. This is also evident in the following verse which talks about the abuse getting worse as 'it all gets tougher'.

'The girl with the hour glass figure' refers to the girl in the early days of the relationship, probably when the guy showered her with love and gifts and was proud to have her on his arm. Whereas 'time runs out very fast' is referring to the inevitable process of physical aging and also the fact that relationships also degrade over time if they are not worked at.

The most uplifting part for me is the final verse. The girl has the strength to go through the things she has to thank her abusive partner for: The things he bought her and the cards (bithday, valentines day etc.) but also that in abusing her he taught her about life and the nature of relationships and in particular, that she was not prepared to be a victim any longer. It was a hard lesson but a worthwhile one nevertheless. I think that the fact that she has learned that lesson the hard way means that she will not get caught in an abusive relationship ever again.

'Until that's true, you'll find your gear all stacked out on the landing!' actually means that she has thrown him out and not just fled their home. This makes her even stronger in my opinion.

PS I am male...

I see this song as maybe once a year the husband treats his wife with love and compassion on the one day of the year that is valentines day, but for the rest of the year he goes back to his abusive nature, "surprise surprise" this suggests that the song could be set shortly after valentines day and when the husband has "gone to the dogs again" and that the wife doesn't expect him to come home "anything but blind" this backs up my point of the one day of the year where the husband treats his wife right, over.

"And lately it seems that as it all gets tougher, Your idea of justice just becomes rougher and rougher" this part of the song further backs up the theory of the song being about a woman that is being abused by her husband, the longer and longer their relationship goes on the husband is getting worse and worse, because as things for them are getting tougher, he is abusing her even more than ever before.

This last bit of the song "Thank you for the things you bought me, thank you for the card. Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard. That love between two people must be based on understanding ,until that's true you'll find your things all stacked out on the landing, Surprise, surprise! Valentine's day is over, it's over" This part of the song suggests that at first the husband treated the wife in the right way, brought her things and cards, and then started to physically abused her, and then in the end she realises that for two people to love each other, "it is based on understanding" and as she realises that that is not what her husband has, understanding of her, she kicks him out, and then saying "surprise surprise, valentines day is over", she is telling the husband that for them to be together everyday she needs to be treated like she is on valentines day, and that the physical abuse has to stop.

This song is definitely about domestic abuse. With these lines of the song:

"Poetry and flowers pretty words and threats You've gone to the dogs again and i'm not placing bets On you coming home tonight anything but blind

If you take me for granted then you must expect to find Surprise, surprise Valentine's day is over, it's over"

I don't take Valentine's day to be literal here. To me, this refers more to the cycle of the abuse. "Poetry and flowers" referring more to the "honeymoon phase" of abuse, when after mentally, emotionally, and physically abusing her, he comes home with the flowers and cards and fake apologies. "Poetry and flowers pretty words and threats" This is the phase where the abuser makes promises to change, but change never comes and the cycle begins again, the poetry and pretty words turn into threats again. She no longer believes in the apologies or promises to change. "If you take me for granted then you must expect to find Surprise, surprise Valentine's day is over" Again, I don't take this to be Valentine's Day literally. He's taking her for granted again because it's the cycle and he doesn't expect he actually needs to change, "Valentine's Day is over" I think is more like, it's NOT Valentine's Day at all, she likely doesn't get flowers for Valentine's Day, only when he's trying to "make it up to her" for all his abusive behaviors: "Thank you for the things you bought me thank you for the card Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard." So she's saying to him, why are you bringing me flowers? Valentine's Day is over. It's just his lame apologies to make his abuse okay again.