Sleeper 1972

The thing says what the song means to you, so here is what it means to me. When I first listened to this song I cried because it was a sad song, but after my parents divorce I cry because I found new meaning in it. It describes everything so perfectly. So here's my interpretation verse by verse:

"When my dad died, the worms ate out both his eyes. His soul flew right up in the sky. I cried myself to sleep."

For me, my biological dad is still alive, but everything that made him "daddy" disappeared a when he cheated on my mom and ruined my life. So I think of the person that was "daddy" as dead, and the person that's still here is just a shell, the worms ate out his insides and his soul flew away.

"When my mother lies alone on her back at night, adding up hours 'til her demise, she counts herself to sleep."

I can here my mom crying every night before she falls alseep. Counting up the seconds until she has to be awake again.

"When my sister finds my body closed up like the blinds, I tell her I promise it's fine. She cries herself to sleep."

My little sister is usually the one who finds me crying and I always promise I'm okay, that "it's fine." But it always makes her cry anyway, when she thinks I can't hear her.

"The men in the black ties arrive at the house in surprise, to find a little girl by your side, the wood box where you're sleeping."

The person in the box is my dad, and the little girl is the little girl that died when my dad did all of the awful things he did to my life. They're both dead now.

"I still see you inside of this god awful house. You move awfully quiet now. And I still feel you everywhere."

I keep seeing the person that was my dad everywhere in the house I grew up in. I see it in my sister's smile, in the record collection he left behind and sometimes I still see him in that shell of a person that I call my father. Sometimes I swear I can hear him singing me to sleep still.

"You told me this has always been worth living. What's really worth living anymore?"

This verse just really describes how I feel about everything to do with this situation. I'm so sick of everything, nothing makes me happy anymore.

~

So there is my interpretation. It's kind of a personal interpretation so I don't expect people to agree or even take the time to read it. I just want to put it out there to show what a great band Manchester Orchestra is, in the fact that different people can find so many seperate meanings in their songs. Andy is a lyrical genius. Their music has gotten me through everything.