So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
How come he don't come and PLP with me
Down at the meter no more?
And how come he turn off the TV?
And he hang that sign on the door?
We call and we call
"How come?" we say
Hey, what could make a boy behave this way?
So he has learnt all of the lines now
And every time, he don't stutter when he talks
It's true! It's true!
He sure has acquired this kinda cool
And inspired sorta jazz when he walks
Where's his jacket and his old blue jeans?
Well, this ain't healthy, it is some kinda clean
That means
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love
I don't believe what you're saying to me
This is something that I've got to see
Is he here?
I look in the poolhall
Well, is he here?
I look in the drugstore
Is he here?
No, he don't come here no more
I'll tell you what, I saw him
He was sitting behind us down in the pantages
And whatever it is that he's got up his sleeve
Well, I hope it isn't contagious
What's her name?
Is that her there?
Oh, Christ, I think he's even combed his hair
Is that her?
Well, then what's her name?
Oh, it's never gonna be the same
But that's not her
I know what's wrong
'Cause Chuck E.'s in love
With the little girl singin' this song
Don't you know?
Chuck E.'s in love, yeah yeah
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love, my my
Chuck E.'s in
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love
He's in love
Love with me
Down at the meter no more?
And how come he turn off the TV?
And he hang that sign on the door?
We call and we call
"How come?" we say
Hey, what could make a boy behave this way?
So he has learnt all of the lines now
And every time, he don't stutter when he talks
It's true! It's true!
He sure has acquired this kinda cool
And inspired sorta jazz when he walks
Where's his jacket and his old blue jeans?
Well, this ain't healthy, it is some kinda clean
That means
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love
I don't believe what you're saying to me
This is something that I've got to see
Is he here?
I look in the poolhall
Well, is he here?
I look in the drugstore
Is he here?
No, he don't come here no more
I'll tell you what, I saw him
He was sitting behind us down in the pantages
And whatever it is that he's got up his sleeve
Well, I hope it isn't contagious
What's her name?
Is that her there?
Oh, Christ, I think he's even combed his hair
Is that her?
Well, then what's her name?
Oh, it's never gonna be the same
But that's not her
I know what's wrong
'Cause Chuck E.'s in love
With the little girl singin' this song
Don't you know?
Chuck E.'s in love, yeah yeah
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love, my my
Chuck E.'s in
Chuck E.'s in love
Chuck E.'s in love
He's in love
Love with me
Lyrics submitted by InSilenceEasy, edited by soulmach
Chuck E's in Love Lyrics as written by Rickie Lee Jones
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I don't reckon it's self-explanatory! What the hell is it about? Who the fuck is Chuck. E? The only thing that I can gather is she's a bit off at the fact Chuck. E has moved on or something.