The Gardener

I think the song is about unwanted pregnancy and giving birth to unwanted child

Sorry for the setback I know i let you down

mother is telling about the pregnancy and who is the father, creating problems for him

Turn back the clocks and step back And spring might come around

irony about the time that cant be turned back

My little misbegotten... You're quite a stubborn bud!

to her fetus...misbegotten=bastard

If we can't make you open We will take it out in blood

if there is no dilation, there will be caesarian

We'll make a man out of you yet! We will plant brambles in your bed!

to the father...warning about what will come he will become a man/father/parent

Just close your eyes and count to ten... This is as close as you will get...

restless nights

Oh is our little willow weeping? Flutter to your knees The untilled things before me, Oh the possibilities

the mother accuse the father for being scared to be a parent

Thank you for the warning, But i still see the sun... A little global warming Never hurt no one...

cant understand that one, if someone have an idea please share...

At last my pretty flower Is getting put to use You've always been a failure But now you're bearing strange new fruit...

the mother to herself... the flower and the fruit being metaphors for womb and fetus

The insides are all useless

she's been told she wont have another child

But the rest is fertile, so

she is healthy otherwise...

I will take the belt from off the hook And watch the garden grow

so she's forced to punish herself and carry the child, despite she does not want it...because this is her only chance to be a mother

We'll make a man out of you yet You won't know what will hit you next The gardener's coming to collect You wanted love? That's what you get...

Blaming the father for the pregnancy, threatening she's giving birth to the child

The gardener's coming to collect

Doctors are coming to extract the baby

THESE ARE BRILLIANT VERY POWERFUL LYRICS!!!!!!! THANK YOU AMANDA!

these lyrics are all wrong

try this:

sorry for the setback i know i let you down turn back the clocks and step back the spring might come around

uh oh, oh, oh uh oh, oh, oh

my little misbegotten you're quite the stubborn bud if we can't make you open we will take it out in blood

we'll make a man out of you yet we will plant brambles in your bed just close your eyes and count to ten this is as good as it will get

uh oh, oh oh uh oh, oh oh

know this my little willow weaping flutter to your knees the untilled things before me oh, the possibilities

uh oh, oh oh uh oh, oh oh

thank you for the warning but i still see the sun a little global warming never hurt no one

we'll make a man out of you yet a crown of thorns around your head get off your knees and have a look this is as good as it will get

uh oh, oh oh uh oh, oh oh

at last my little flower is getting put to use you've always been a failure but now you're bearing strange new fruit

uh oh uh oh, oh oh

the insides aren't wilting the rest is fertile so i will take the belt from off the hook and watch the garden grow

uh oh, oh oh uh oh, oh oh

thank you for the warning but i still see the sun a little global warming never hurt no one

we'll make a man out of you yet you won't know what will hit you next the gardener's coming to collect you wanted love: thats what you get

the gardener's coming to collect the gardener's coming to collect the gardener's coming to collect the gardener's coming to collect

the gardener's coming to collect

it's all about sex, and using people for your own desires. The Gardener is probably the lover and he's 'coming to collect' the price paid for love, in this case, sex. i also got the sadomachism thing too.

besides the obviously dark meaning (whatever it may be), how sexy is this song!?! the bass, the continuous, stripped-back drumming, amanda's amazing voice going impossibly deep... how the two of them keep their hands off each other i will never know.

well to me this song doesnt seem to be about sexual abuse, more just physical abuse. the lines: 'I'll take the belt from off the hook And watch the garden grow'

the garden that is growing could be scars from the beatings, god knows scars can be like a garden.

thats my two cents, anyway

these lyrics are all wrong

try this:

sorry for the setback i know i let you down turn back the clocks and step back the spring might come around

uh oh, oh, oh uh oh, oh, oh

my little misbegotten you're quite the stubborn bud if we can't make you open we will take it out in blood

we'll make a man out of you yet we will plant brambles in your bed just close your eyes and count to ten this is as good as it will get

uh oh, oh oh uh oh, oh oh

know this my little willow weaping flutter to your knees the untilled things before me oh, the possibilities

uh oh, oh oh uh oh, oh oh

thank you for the warning but i still see the sun a little global warming never hurt no one

we'll make a man out of you yet a crown of thorns around your head get off your knees and have a look this is as good as it will get

uh oh, oh oh uh oh, oh oh

at last my little flower is getting put to use you've always been a failure but now you're bearing strange new fruit

uh oh uh oh, oh oh

the insides aren't wilting the rest is fertile so i will take the belt from off the hook and watch the garden grow

uh oh, oh oh uh oh, oh oh

thank you for the warning but i still see the sun a little global warming never hurt no one

we'll make a man out of you yet you won't know what will hit you next the gardener's coming to collect you wanted love: thats what you get

the gardener's coming to collect the gardener's coming to collect the gardener's coming to collect the gardener's coming to collect

the gardener's coming to collect

^Yes, I posted them.

Those lyrics are not incorrect, and it's not about sex.

On the new release of No, Virginia, the lyrics are completely different of that, but that is an early version of the song. If you pay attention, a lot of Amanda's songs are completely different from the original writings. Artists constantly work on and change songs and Amanda said it herself: She can't always remember the lyrics to her songs and often switches parts around or puts in different words.

"the gardeners coming to collect..." - sexual conditioning- as in abusive relationships- he's made what s/he wants and now s/hes going to harvest it for all it's worth...he might replant/rebuild or he might leave it barren and dead and start all over with a new 'garden'.

I mostly agree with iggy1110 on the lyrics corrections; however both my recording and the version when I heard them perform have slightly different lyrics from even that (out, not around; ARE wilting rather than AREN'T; plus parts of the song were in a different order...) Besides that... There's actually a neat thread in the Shadowbox (the Dresden Dolls' official forum) where someone posted the lyrics, and they tried to discern what the actual lyrics were and started discussion the meaning. There was a neat idea that it's about the relationship between God and Jesus (cast in a very negative sense), which if you think about it makes sense. Here's the thread if anyone wants to look at it (I think you can read it without an account): http://www.theshadowbox.net/forum/index.php?topic=2448.0