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Behind the House Lyrics
At night I woke up lyin' in the lane behind the house.
Coals were wet and steamin' by the time I figuered it out.
You didn't die in the fire.
'Was the flood that carried you from me.
And the embers of your house still glowin'
Make it hard to sleep. It's hard to breathe.
There's not much room to go more crazy.
A flamin' sword above my head for all of you to see.
Beware my girl, beware.
Beware my girl, beware
of these memories and what is real.
What is real?
I walk this world forever in a dream.
Or is this the land of the living?
Or is this your way to tell me
That I could've saved you.
I couldn't save you.
Coals were wet and steamin' by the time I figuered it out.
You didn't die in the fire.
'Was the flood that carried you from me.
And the embers of your house still glowin'
Make it hard to sleep. It's hard to breathe.
There's not much room to go more crazy.
A flamin' sword above my head for all of you to see.
Beware my girl, beware.
Beware my girl, beware
of these memories and what is real.
What is real?
I walk this world forever in a dream.
Or is this the land of the living?
Or is this your way to tell me
That I could've saved you.
I couldn't save you.
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I always thought this song had a narrator who was dead.
I agree that this song is/may have a narrator that is dead. She is also a murder. Here's my thought: this is a suicide ballad. Death can be a metaphor too if you prefer - the death is of innocence or the person that once was.
The whole fire/flood thing is like the way an initial trauma won't get you but the PTSD will. I had a dream once where I went back to an old house I had lived in during the worst year of my life. In the dream it had burned down. And the hardest part of that whole experience had been sorting through the pieces afterwards. As one does. Like a flood, ya? The sword of damocles works for me too, although I can't see a broader metaphor past my own experience.
Even if that's not what was going on in Neko's head it adds up as a song and work of art, and it is a beautiful song and poem.
I can't believe no one's commented on this song! It's absolutely gorgeous. I listen to it on repeat. From what I can tell, it's kind of dark. I tend to take things a bit literally... like maybe the character she's singing about actually set fire to a house, or the person she's supposed to have saved did, or at any rate there was a fire... some of it sort of sounds like going crazy with guilt over something.
I like to think that, much like Furnace Room Lullaby, this song is also about a murder. She burned the person's house down. I like that better than symbolism. Either way there's a demo version of this song out, so we may see this song on Neko's next album =D
It's hard to tell, but I believe the opening line is actually "Tonight I woke up lying in the lane behind the house", describing a blackout after committing a violent act and/or being subject to some act of violence.
The line "Or is this your way to tell me / that I could've save you" to me implies a huge sense of guilt and failure. She failed to save someone from death or something else, here symbolized by the burning of the house. The line "Tonight I woke up crying in the lane behind the house" is the perfect opener. I love this song.