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Mattresses Underwater Lyrics
There are places
Some of us can't face yet
And even though we see it
We just swear God's sleeping
So we say,
"Ash to ash, dust to dust,
We're all gonna die so we have to
trust in something"
But it's probably nothing
There's gotta be something
Now we mean it in our homes where we're sleeping
We call it mattresses underwater but the gutters are seeping
So we say,
"Ask and ask and we'll return
The same favors till its our own turn"
We got ash in our pockets and dust in the urn,
Another forty years for you
And yours to learn
Love was made like a ship at bay, never to see waves
We'll probably all crash anyway
When we see it we don't believe it
We've got our faces made for smiling, but we are weeping
We got ash in our pockets and dust in the urn
Another forty years for you and yours to learn
You say, "all you ever talk about is dying and it's getting so old"
And we say, "love was made
Like a book or a page just ripped out but we never read anyway"
And you say "love was made like a ship at bay never to see waves"
We should probably get used to it, but we don't
Now I see it...
She's got her hands in her pockets and she's walking around
She's got a face made for smiling but she's making a frown
She says, "all you ever talk about is letting us down
If you ever see me dying, just put me in the ground"
Some of us can't face yet
And even though we see it
We just swear God's sleeping
So we say,
We're all gonna die so we have to
trust in something"
But it's probably nothing
There's gotta be something
We call it mattresses underwater but the gutters are seeping
So we say,
The same favors till its our own turn"
We got ash in our pockets and dust in the urn,
Another forty years for you
And yours to learn
We'll probably all crash anyway
We've got our faces made for smiling, but we are weeping
We got ash in our pockets and dust in the urn
Another forty years for you and yours to learn
You say, "all you ever talk about is dying and it's getting so old"
Like a book or a page just ripped out but we never read anyway"
And you say "love was made like a ship at bay never to see waves"
We should probably get used to it, but we don't
She's got a face made for smiling but she's making a frown
She says, "all you ever talk about is letting us down
If you ever see me dying, just put me in the ground"
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
beautiful.
As a close personal friend of Mr. Copenbarger, I know that this song is about Henry Kissinger
oh, and his name is definately spelled "coppenbarger"
such beautiful imagery; the sea, the rocks, the boats and lighthouses
the sea of nose sweat, the rocks of aged skin, the tiny boats of plaque flowing in the saliva, the lighthouses of his eyes. beautiful.
To me, this song is about trying to describe the most religious experiences of life in palpable terms, so that these experiences might be communicated from one individual to others.
First of all, let's start at the end. "If you ever see me dying, just put me in the ground". The dying, to me, means stagnation. Sitting still. This guy, the narrator, is like an artist, and this line refers to the "he not busy being born is busy dying" / "rust never sleeps" concept [never sleeping on rust colored mattressess underwater, if you like].
Moving on... love is the most noble topic that a songwriter, poet, speaker, human being can address, and to even attempt to describe it originally requires Muchos Huevos Grandes, as Steve would say, and I am of the opinion that the narrator achieves this. What I take the lyrics about love to mean is that the human race is aware of love but on the whole does not live by it.
So what do these two ideas that I've mentioned so far have to do with each other? Well, perhaps the narrator feels like his "art" is to tell people about love, and that if you ever come across him and he is doing otherwise, then, like he says, just put him in the ground.
Now, to end at the beginning, the first lyric reminds me of the first step of Jung's individuation process, which says that we must overcome the "shadowy" elements of our own personality before we can become whole human beings.
And as for the ash and dust references, they can either refer to the "artistic" dying mentioned earlier or they can reference literally to a physical death, in which case the lyrics would still indicate the narrator's awareness that he needs to do his mission now while he is still above ground and not in a jar.
Of course, this is only one interpretation, and I know I maybe have wandered down the wrong path, and that some of you may think that I am a crack pot. And I am. But my crack is colour, and I am high all of the time.
I can't even express how I feel about this song
purely amazing.
very nice interpretation hope on a stick..great song.
i think this song is about the way people live and love.."We've got our faces made for smiling, but we are weeping"..too many people smile not because they're happy but because they think they should..and "Love was made like a ship at bay, never to see waves We'll probably all crash anyway" ideal love is supposed to be perfect, but it's not and never will be..i think this song is about living and loving the way society says to but some of us know that there's more to it..but "there are places that some of us can't face yet"..who knows?