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Changer Lyrics
If I can't keep it,
at least let me call it by name.
That was called falling, this is called pain,
it's called love, what I'm losing.
I know love is a stranger,
I know that changes come,
I know love is a changer.
I'm gonna go quietly,
you dont have to tell me to.
Just let me lie a little longer next to you.
Not tryin' to bother you,
I'm just tryin' to breathe you in,
and then I will leave you there
where you are sleeping.
Speaking of loving you, I do.
I'm telling you stranger to stranger.
Whatever changes come to you,
i'm telling you changer to changer.
Morning has stolen your shadow from me,
but I hold its shape in my mind,
the shape of your back when you turned it on me, one last time.
And out in the waking world,
nobody understands exactly how light it is,
exactly how free I am.
One minute I'm laughing, and the next one I'm lost.
I'm watching the birds fly by, watching the highways cross.
Speaking of loving you, I do.
telling you stranger to stranger.
Whatever changes come to you,
I'm telling you changer to changer.
If I can't keep it,
at least let me call it by name.
at least let me call it by name.
That was called falling, this is called pain,
it's called love, what I'm losing.
I know love is a stranger,
I know that changes come,
I know love is a changer.
you dont have to tell me to.
Just let me lie a little longer next to you.
Not tryin' to bother you,
I'm just tryin' to breathe you in,
and then I will leave you there
where you are sleeping.
I'm telling you stranger to stranger.
Whatever changes come to you,
i'm telling you changer to changer.
but I hold its shape in my mind,
the shape of your back when you turned it on me, one last time.
nobody understands exactly how light it is,
exactly how free I am.
One minute I'm laughing, and the next one I'm lost.
I'm watching the birds fly by, watching the highways cross.
telling you stranger to stranger.
Whatever changes come to you,
I'm telling you changer to changer.
at least let me call it by name.
Song Info
Submitted by
elation Army On Jun 08, 2007
More Anaïs Mitchell
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Old-fashioned Hat
If It's True
Your Fonder Heart
Before the Eyes of Storytelling Girls
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I am amazed that nobody has written anything about her. I've been listening to her since the Brightness came out and I can say all of her songs have done so much for me. This one is about a farewell and everytime I listen to it I can get a picture of how sad is when somebody you love leaves-
I don't think it's about adoption, because she mentions "the shape of your back when you turned it on me, one last time", which can't be about a newborn baby. I do agree the "if I can't keep it, at least let me call it by name" line evokes a mother giving up her child, though. But actually it's meant to be about love. She's acknowledging the love she feels, even though she knows it can't last.
To me, this song is about two people who were together for a long time, but growing up and growing old has changed them. And despite these changes they still love each other so much, but they aren't the people they used to be. It was loving each other that made them different people and the mistakes they made and the heartache they put each other through was too much to bear, and even though they'd break up and get back together, they knew that this time it was for real. So they spend one last night together, and even after they've been apart they still hold each others memories in their head and the shadow of the person they loved will always haunt them.
I think this song is about the minutes or time a mother spends with her child before she has to give her up for adoption, a newborn. When she talks about "going quietly" its that she knows that its going to be better in the long run for the child, and when she talks about not being able to keep it but being able to call it by name, and how its not fair and she'll never be the same.
I too think this song is about adoption, but it could be about love too. "If I can't keep it, at least let me call it by name" is what sways my decison towards adoption. I absolutely LOVE Anais. But I have one correction...I think it's "morning has stolen your shadow from me but I hold its shape in my mind". not sure though. But that would make more sense.