Drip

No one has stepped up to the plate to figure this one out... so I guess I will... Okay, the first time I heard it, I thought it was about sex, which I thought was odd for Charlotte Martin anyway, but I think I understand it a little better now...

To me, it's about a struggling relationship that ends and the narrator of the story doesn't want it to. She holds this guy up on such a pedestal that she can't see the truth. She just keeps trying and pushing. But ultimately they fight and break up. Then she sees him out and girls are hitting on him, and she still wants to be with him... That's my overall summary.

"Some more attention, honey Put your hand on my hand Left to the clover And I can't roll over 'Cause you do it so You do it so well" *This shows how she wants him to love her. It's practically left to luck on whether or not he'll show her any love, but she's so wrapped up in him that she keeps on trying anyway.

"You're seeing in the future Here without the sutures Oh you say it now And say it real well" *This part confuses me a bit, but it sounds to me like he talks about marriage with her, but she knows he's more just saying what she wants to hear b/c their relationship isn't held together enough for marriage.

"Tumbling down with you on the ground Can't train myself to hold back any longer Breath mint fornicator I can bear it If you do her now Just do her real well" *I could be wrong about this part, but I take it as her finally having enough and they fight and break it off. Then she sees him out and possible witnesses him kissing another girl or predicts that he will kiss some girl and is preparing herself.

"There's enough provision here to fix my vision" *I feel like this line could be referring to either alcohol or possible suitors as her provision.

"Mathematician Wants a nice physician But you told her off I'll tell her off well" *You could take this line literally as mathematician and physician being the ex and random girl's jobs or possibly more something like personalitiy traits... Not sure if that made sense... But the told her off part is probably saying that he blew this random girl off and now the narrator wants to tell her off, too. I feel like it's that natural cattyness in girls, you know.

Wow, that was long... But hopefully this helps someone to better understand this song...

Charlotte sings about the amazing chemistry she experiences with a lover:

"Jawbone clenched A little drip drip drench Some more attention, honey Put your hand on my hand Left to the clover And I can't roll over 'Cause you do it so You do it so well"

The underlying story: her lover is using her for physical and emotional gratification while promising her something he (or she) can't deliver - a long-term, romantic relationship between equals built on love and honesty. Charlotte really loves this person, but the relationship they have is inherently flawed. When she sings...

"Oh you can't start letting me Can't start feeling me slide Oh you can't start letting me Can't start feeling me Can't start watching me roll on by Oh you can't start letting me Can't start feeling me"

...she's echoing her lover, who's telling Charlotte to stay in the niche the lover has built for her in his/her life. 'This is all you can have of me.' Also to that effect is this lyric:

"No more labor, I must sit and savor In the knots you're putting inside my stomach" (Stay in your niche)

"Need more water if this gets much hotter Oh you me so You see me too well" (You know how to touch me, inside and out - how to pull my strings)

The refrain lyric, "Can't start watching me roll on by" also seems to be a note of possessiveness on the part of her lover - 'What I give isn't the best you could have with someone else, but I can't see you with anyone else, so stay in your niche.'

The lover says a fantasy is possible, and reinforces that promise with orgasms:

"I'll feel the anointing coming over me And the thickness of it running down to my feet You're seeing in the future Here without the sutures Oh you say it now And say it real well"

Here's the fantasy again, and the pathos of the love spurring her denial of the reality of the situation:

"My imagination Of your fascination That I swore existed in a new dimension Come a little closer to the engine motor I could love you so I love you so well"

In the short bridge, Charlotte says she wants to untangle herself from the emotional and physical conundrum, but she doesn't know how:

"I'd really like to understand this Pedestal that's blowing my mind this Try, might be the last one landing boy"

Even though she knows she's in a bad situation, she believes her lover and tries to stay within the lines, so to speak - but the lover has blurred the lines so many times before, she can't hold out anymore and ends up in bed with him or her yet again:

"Tumbling down with you on the ground Can't train myself to hold back any longer"

And in the second part of this verse, Charlotte tells her lover to help her brick-up her emotions by appeasing her libido:

"Breath mint fornicator I can bear it If you do her now Just do her real well"

This verse throws me a little; I'm not sure about it because it sounds like it's tied-up in an inside reference that only she and her lover would understand. I think Charlotte is trying to say that she feels like she and her lover have somehow managed to suppress the overwhelming desires they have for each other - but it also sounds like she's amazed by the depth and power of what they become when they're with each other.

"There's enough provision here to fix my vision I swear I think I have a superpower Mathematician Wants a nice physician But you told her off I'll tell her off well"

This song makes a lot more sense if you consider it in the context of the entire album (Stromata), which is obviously about her experience as 'the other woman.' Being involved with someone who's ultimately unavailable is a difficult situation to comprehend unless you've been in it before - and even then, if you are in that situation, it can be confusing.