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How a Resurrection Really Feels Lyrics

Her parents named her Halleluiah, the kids all called her Holly.
If she scared you then she's sorry.
She's been stranded at these parties.
These parties they start lovely but they get druggy and they get ugly and they get bloody.

The priest just kinda laughed.
The deacon caught a draft.
She crashed into the Easter Mass with her hair done up in broken glass.
She was limping left on broken heels.
When she said Father can I tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels?

Holly was a hoodrat.
Now you finally know that.
She's been disappeared for years.
Today she finally came back.
She said: St. Louis had enslaved me.
I guess Santa ana saved me.
St. Peter had me on the queue.
The St. Paul Saints they waved me though.
I was all wrapped up in some video booth.
When I heard her say I love you too.

She said I've laid beneath my lovers but i've never gotten laid.
Some nights she felt protected.
Some nights she felt afraid.
She spent half last winter just trying to get paid.
From some guy she'd originally thought to be her savior.
They wrote her name in magic marks.
On stop signs and subway cars.
They got a mural up on East 13th.
That said Halleluiah rest in peace.
Halleluiah was a hoodrat.
And now you finally know that.
She's been disappeared for years.
Today she finally came back.

Walk on back.
Walk on back.
She said don't turn me on again.
I'd probably just go and get myself all gone again.
Holly was a sexy mess.
She looked strung out but experienced.
So we all got kind of curious.
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Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

An amazing ending to an amazing album. Creg Finn is one of the most talented lyricists around today. Most of his stuff isn't even lyrics, more like poems set to music. But regardless, he is an amazing storyteller. The song tells of Holly the hoodrat, finally getting what she wanted. She suffers a near death experience and realizes that there is more to life than getting high and sleeping around. She says that she's laid beneath her lovers but never gotten laid. Meaning that she's had a lot of sex, but never actually felt any sense of love involved. The preist at her church and the deacon laugh at her, writing her off as a lost cause until she comes back clean, sober, and pure. She's a classic example of the underdog. A beautiful disaster. Nobody cared or wanted her to pull through except for the person who is telling all of the stories. (we can assume it's Creg.) And through all she's endured and all the things she's seen, she chooses to live clean. And at the end she is telling people to stay away from her with bad influeces, because she doesn't want to get turned on to it all again. And seperation sunday ends happily ever after. :)

My Interpretation
Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

I CANNOT BELIEVE NO ONE HAS COMMENTED ON THIS!!! This is the end of the Separation Sunday story! Come on people!

Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

I love this song soo much. I can't stop listening to it [[:

Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

The message it send is awesome. Quite a happy ending.

Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

This is a great ending. The song is so triumphant and it's nice that Holly gets this happy ending considering all the shit she went through on the album.

"They got a mural up on East 13th / That said Halleluiah rest in peace." adds to the "Father can I tell your congregation how a resurrection really feels?" line nicely. She was "gone" now she's come back to her previous wholesome, positive life, resurrected in a sense.

For some reason I like the last 3 lines as well. "Holly was a sexy mess / She looked strung out but experienced / So we all got kind of curious." Kinda implies there's more to the story than what we were told. A good way to end the album, no?

Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

this girl that my friend used to date just posted on her livejournal that this song was written about her. Apparently the "whole album" was too, but I can't find the tracklisting that it's on.

here's her entry about it: http://theeviltart.livejournal.com/231047.html

If you know her... i don't think she wants a happy ending.

Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

I don't see how this is a happy ending.

She said, "Don't turn me on again, I'd probably just go and get myself all gone again."

How does that not point to a relapse, probably sooner than later?

My Interpretation
Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

I agree with Lysias

How is it a happy ending?

She "crashed into the Easter Mass with her hair done up in broken glass" and then explained "how a resurrection really feels", contradicting what the Priest and deacon (and Catholic Church) traditionally teach, hence the "really". She's not sober or clean at all, the present is when she enters the church in a bad state and then she mentions her previous life.

"She's been disappeared for years, today she finally came back." When she shows up in the church she has finally hit her bottom. The line, "Holly was a hoodrat, and now you finally know that" is an acceptance of who/where she's been, but that's not who she's going to be anymore as she "walks on back" to who she used to be. It's a happy ending because she's finally self-aware, and who doesn't love a good redemption story?

Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

The whole album is about how it's one addiction or another. Holly is either addicted to God or whatever drug she's on.

Cover art for How a Resurrection Really Feels lyrics by Hold Steady, The

if you don't know anything about the Catholic religion, aside from vague notions, you do yourself a disservice by commenting on this album. Read: you sound stupid.

 
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