Acid Tongue

Sorry, folks, but it is "snake OIL cure."

I've always thought the line went, "There was no snake oil cure for unlucky in love."

This song just seems so intimate, and even with everyone else on-stage and singing, Jenny manages to evoke this connection with the audience where you just hang on the words and the melody. She knows exactly how a song should sound.

This song may be one of the most stunning things Jenny Lewis has ever done/created. Once again, she is providing listeners with a story, but this time it is truly about herself - the most personal I think she's ever gotten in a song.

Hopefully one day I'll hear this live =P

when it comes to most lyrics its open to interpretation and for the most part it means whatever we want it to mean and how we feel while were listening to it. to me this in this song when someone tries to help her when they see her sad or blue she refuses saying that she is okay but its a lie and shes a self proclaimed liar when in reality she has been thru a lot of shit and she is exhausted from it all and she doesnt want to try when it comes to love in more shes done trying...

I think the meaning is pretty obvious. In fact, the first time I heard her sing this, it literally took my breath away.

To be lonely is a habit Like smoking or taking drugs And I've quit them both But man, was it rough Now I am tired

That struck me quite hard. It's so intimate. I feel like Jenny is holding nothing back.

Hmm, does anyone know what the man is saying in the beginning of the recorded version. it sounds like "Someone's always paying for that bouncer baby

This song is basically Jenny Lewis' statement of being drug free now and the wistful/awful aspects of her road to recovery. I'll go into depth in a minute. If you didn't get that that's what this song was about, don't feel bad. I didn't either. It took me about 20 listens. What is it with these indy artists? They make you work so hard with their poetry and their symbolism for things only they know well enough to decifer.

So the first part is a Shakespeare reference as noted by other commenters. This could mean multiple things, really. But in general she was offered assistance (From God? Her friends? A little voice in her head? We don't know.) and she says she's not looking for a cure (from her addiction?). But here's the cool part: Seen enough of my friends / In the depths of the godsick blues.

She doesn't want to be cured like them. She doesn't want to be cured like her friends were "cured", because even that cure left them sick. Godsick. So was the cobbler she was referring to some sort of Christian missionary, volunteering to help her to allow Jesus into her heart or some such? If so, then the passage makes sense as her way of saying that finding the church didn't seem to help her friends all that much with their existential angst. They're still "In the depths of the godsick blues."

I don't get the liar chorus. Maybe she's pronuncing that she's hopeless and doesn't deserve help which fits in with the drug addiction/recovery theme.

She goes into detailing her first drug experience mingled with her rock bottom. But then--and this is why it was hard to figure this song out at first--we're suddenly moving from drugs to romance. And on the initial listen it's like "What is with you, woman? With your drugs, your lies, your love life, and your godsick cobblers? The hell?" But I'm sure, now, that recollecting your big drug journey might also cause your mind to wander to other things that have shaped you, particularly romance. Especially if you were in one at the time of your addiction.

"To be lonely is a habit Like smoking or taking drugs And I've quit them both But man, was it rough"

And then she ties it all together. Hot damn. This girl is good.

"Now I am tired It just made me tired Let's build ourselves a fire Let's build ourselves a fire"

__ P.S: Although it's also entirely possible that she wrote this entire song about something trivial, like her shoes. Damn indy artists.

--My take

I went to a cobbler To fix a hole in my shoe He took one look at my face And said, "I can fix that hole in you" -- Cobbler is part of the Julius Caeser reference. It's a guy offering her drugs.

I beg your pardon I'm not looking for a cure Seen enough of my friends In the depths of the godsick blues -- Doesn't want the drugs because she's seen friends on them...

You know I am a liar You know I am a liar Nobody helps a liar -- Did she say friends? She meant herself. That's why she's a liar.

-- The next stanzas are a recollection of that experience. It's a story about jumping into a relationship because she's lonely. They try to keep the relationship 'fire' going by doing drugs together.

Because I've been down to Dixie And dropped acid on my tongue Tripped upon the land Until enough was enough

I was a little bit lighter And adventure on my sleeve I was a little drunk And looking for company

So I found myself a sweetheart With the softest of hands We were unlucky in love But I'd do it all again

We build ourselves a fire We build ourselves a fire But you know I'm a liar You know I'm a liar -- They "built a fire", i.e. they bonded, but she was a liar. She knew the relationship wasn't meant to be.

And you don't know what I've done

By the rolling river is Exactly where I was There was no snake oil cure For unlucky in love --More reference to the use of drugs (a snake oil cure) to fix the relationship.

To be lonely is a habit Like smoking or taking drugs And I've quit them both But man, was it rough --Boom. Couldn't be clearer what this song is about.

Now I am tired It just made me tired Let's build ourselves a fire Let's build ourselves a fire

in the live versions i've heard it's "i've seen enough of my friends in the depths of the godsick blues" & "i was a little drunk". also, in one version i have it definitely sounds like "no snake or cure" but on the internet, everyone is saying it's "no simple cure", which would make more sense. anyways, this is definitely my favourite song that i have seen/heard jenny lewis perform. rumour has it that it will be a rilo kiley song.

I saw Jenny play live 3 times but she never played this song! It's my favourite song, too...

Nevermind, but I swear that is, too me, the most beautiful song I've ever heard. Everything about it