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You'll Only End Up Joining Them Lyrics
tonight i'm posed and popping like a peacock.
i'm pressing flesh; i'm smiling big.
my spinning head sings "stop, just stop."
'cause what used to calm me down
just rips my life to ribbons now.
so i keep smiling. i find my window and quick cut out.
these days, my hangman's hunger makes my gut kick.
my sleeping mind could map it blind:
a flask, a key, a bag, a fifth.
i try to will myself away
while shouting habits plead their case.
so when the sun seers through my eyes,
my beggar's brain can't compromise.
i splash cold water, i draw the curtains, i stay inside.
so i can't say that it's a sickness,
more like a stranger i asked in
and later realize it was a strangler
slipping nooses in my den.
but i was lonely, so i asked him,
"could you tie that one on me?"
it wasn't his fault; i was eager and i was weak.
so as i inched towards resolution,
yeah, i'm not sure which life feels right,
a narrow noose or the wading water.
the hanging head, sore open eyes.
i know my brother, he went one way
and at the fork i heard him say,
"don't you follow. don't go making my mistakes."
and i realized what he meant:
don't kill yourself to raise the dead.
it never works.
you'll only end up joining them.
it never works.
you'll only end up joining them.
i'm pressing flesh; i'm smiling big.
my spinning head sings "stop, just stop."
'cause what used to calm me down
just rips my life to ribbons now.
so i keep smiling. i find my window and quick cut out.
my sleeping mind could map it blind:
a flask, a key, a bag, a fifth.
i try to will myself away
while shouting habits plead their case.
so when the sun seers through my eyes,
my beggar's brain can't compromise.
i splash cold water, i draw the curtains, i stay inside.
more like a stranger i asked in
and later realize it was a strangler
slipping nooses in my den.
but i was lonely, so i asked him,
"could you tie that one on me?"
it wasn't his fault; i was eager and i was weak.
yeah, i'm not sure which life feels right,
a narrow noose or the wading water.
the hanging head, sore open eyes.
and at the fork i heard him say,
"don't you follow. don't go making my mistakes."
and i realized what he meant:
don't kill yourself to raise the dead.
it never works.
you'll only end up joining them.
it never works.
you'll only end up joining them.
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i saw him live the other day and he said it was about his brother, michael, who died of aids.
yes. it's pretty clear. his older brother died of aids. this song is about him being very depressed and using drugs. and being tempted to die, to be with his brother. but then deciding to choose to live instead. "don't kill yourself to raise the dead, it never works, you'll only end up joining them."
yes. it's pretty clear. his older brother died of aids. this song is about him being very depressed and using drugs. and being tempted to die, to be with his brother. but then deciding to choose to live instead. "don't kill yourself to raise the dead, it never works, you'll only end up joining them."
"was a strangler slipping nooses in my den"? maybe. that's what i hear.
i agree with the above comment. i hear, "den" as well.
also.. i'm pretty sure "bleed" is really "plead"... "i try to will myself away while shouting habits *plead their case."
what's a bag of fifth in reference to? i figure it has something to do with drugs/alcohol, i've just never heard it before.
I assumed a bag as in a bag of marijuana... a fifth (bottle) of liquor
I assumed a bag as in a bag of marijuana... a fifth (bottle) of liquor
i'm assuming a paperbag with a fifth in it. 1/5 of a gallon of hard liquor.
or... i think a bag of fifth is also the name of a mixed drink you'd get at a bar.
i'd say he says "a flask, a key, a bag, a fifth" a bag being a baggie of coke, and a fifth of alcohol
I agree with splitintwo although "a bag" could also be a reference to pot (nickel or dime bag).
This album is soooooo good.
there's a great b-side version of this song here: http://ashinynewmachine.wordpress.com/2006/10/28/kevin-devine-covers-pedro-the-lion/