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Hurdles Even Here Lyrics
So it started in your ovaries
A stone, a seedling
Our bones entwined
A warning from the orderlies
A bulge for bleeding
This will take it's time
So it all ran down the telephone
And saw me clearly
Only nine years old
Calmly cast in styrofoam
In my Tony Lamas
When the shock takes hold
Mom, there are hurdles here
That I cannot seem to clear
Dad, there are demons around
And though I said that I
Said I’d be all right, I lied
I lied
I lied
I lied
So fix your brood and belly now
Get your fingers wringing
Get your loins unstained
It’ll eat you from the inside out
Until it comes out screaming
Until it all falls away
Dad, there are hurdles here
That I cannot seem to clear
Mom, there are demons around
And though I said that I
Said I’d be all right, I lied
I lied
I lied
I lied
A stone, a seedling
Our bones entwined
A warning from the orderlies
A bulge for bleeding
This will take it's time
And saw me clearly
Only nine years old
Calmly cast in styrofoam
In my Tony Lamas
When the shock takes hold
That I cannot seem to clear
Dad, there are demons around
And though I said that I
Said I’d be all right, I lied
I lied
I lied
I lied
Get your fingers wringing
Get your loins unstained
It’ll eat you from the inside out
Until it comes out screaming
Until it all falls away
That I cannot seem to clear
Mom, there are demons around
And though I said that I
Said I’d be all right, I lied
I lied
I lied
I lied
Song Info
Submitted by
constant On Jan 05, 2007
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It starts out with him being in his mother's womb "started in your ovaries" "our bones entwined". It then seems that the child loses his parents at the age of 9 (the imagery of standing the tony lama cowboy boots enforces the idea of a young child dressed like a cowboy) and, even has he grew up, was unable to get over it, and so appeals to his dead parents, saying that even though he said he would be alright, he lied, and that he isn't alright, even though it's many years later. Sad song.
this song is pure Colin Meloy brilliance. much more rooted in the present day, and thus I think much more disturbing. Decemberists should go in this direction on the next album!
I don't think it's about cancer, as everyone else seems to agree. I think it's about pregnancy, possibly an unwanted one, but definitely a stressful one. "It started in your ovaries" is likely a reference to egg production, so that's probably a reference to conception. "A stone" does make it sound like cancer, but i think "a seedling" makes it sound a lot more like pregnancy. The song references orderlies, hospital attendants.
The second verse i can't explain. Perhaps it's something from Colin's person life, I know he did that with Grace Cathedral Hill.
The third verse is probably the girl telling her parents, who she previously told she's OK with the pregnancy, that she lied. You can just feel the despair in the tune, Colin's great at doing that.
"So fix your brood and belly now" The brood is the child(s) and the belly is the womb. "Get your loins unstained" Pretty understandable if one's loins get dirty when giving birth. "It'll eat you from the inside" Babies get their food from the mother, while inside them, so this line is also literal. But It's also showing how the mother now sees her child as a parasite. "Until it comes out screaming Until it all falls away" Most babies fall out the womb screaming.
In the second verse, "It all ran down the telephone" could mean someone confessing over the phone.
In the second verse, "It all ran down the telephone" could mean someone confessing over the phone.
This song is great, wish it was released on the album...
Sounds more like a demo than a complete song to me, to be honest, musically and lyrically. Probably from the "absinthe binge" session. Ambiguous, somewhat disturbed.
yeah, its definately from the absinthe binge session. I'm pretty sure its about ovarian cancer.
yeah, its definately from the absinthe binge session. I'm pretty sure its about ovarian cancer.