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Unguided Lyrics
In every story, every secret told
You are not the first to wake up
To learn your lines before you have the part
You woke up early and you woke up torn
You're the temporary border
The heat wave humming in the house of cards
You spun chapter into rapture there
Yeah, you were as brave as traffic
You chased the spotlight into her arms
And you forgot that you could fight
But not that you were still the person sleeping
The heat wave humming in the house of cards
A play for the girl, a cross for a hook, sinking into the greasy wonder
Under the sea, walking the floor, over the waves that we lived under
Something's unguided in the sky tonight
There is something unguided in the sky
You wrote yourself into a corner safe
Easy to defend your borders
A fallen saint into a whispered time
Killing time because they have to, why?
Because it isn't mine, remember?
Killing time because it wasn't mine
You're earning your stripes, you're counting your stars
You're winding your barely-working watch
You're lucky to be on the lam like you are
You're lucky you've already been caught
There's something unguided in the sky tonight
There is something unguided in the sky
And why wait for the weakened state
To lie next to the weaker sex?
And why wait for the weakened state
To lie next to the weaker sex?
You're earning your stripes, you're counting your stars
You're winding your barely-working watch
You're lucky to be on the lam like you are
You're lucky you've already been caught
There's something unguided in the sky tonight
There is something unguided in the sky
You are not the first to wake up
To learn your lines before you have the part
You woke up early and you woke up torn
You're the temporary border
The heat wave humming in the house of cards
Yeah, you were as brave as traffic
You chased the spotlight into her arms
And you forgot that you could fight
But not that you were still the person sleeping
The heat wave humming in the house of cards
Under the sea, walking the floor, over the waves that we lived under
There is something unguided in the sky
Easy to defend your borders
A fallen saint into a whispered time
Killing time because they have to, why?
Because it isn't mine, remember?
Killing time because it wasn't mine
You're winding your barely-working watch
You're lucky to be on the lam like you are
You're lucky you've already been caught
There is something unguided in the sky
To lie next to the weaker sex?
And why wait for the weakened state
To lie next to the weaker sex?
You're winding your barely-working watch
You're lucky to be on the lam like you are
You're lucky you've already been caught
There is something unguided in the sky
Song Info
Submitted by
secondhandsky On Aug 20, 2007
More The New Pornographers
The Bleeding Heart Show
Letter from an Occupant
Myriad Harbour
The Laws Have Changed
My Rights Versus Yours
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I hear "You're lucky to be on the lam like you are," which essentially means being on the run from something, which juxtaposes nicely with "You're lucky you've already been caught."
I don't know that it's about New York, since it would be the second New York song on the album, alongside "Myriad Harbor." It could be, but I think it's simpler than that: just about someone who is unguided in their pursuits of love and life. Maybe.
says Carl Newman from the band's web site:
"My first true epic at over 6:30 in length. This is MY New York song, though no one can tell. It is all about August 2005, everything up in the air, it was very hot, and I was camping out in NY for a week. The big bridge at the end, 'why wait for the weakened state to lie next to the weaker sex?', has nothing to do with the rest of the song, just a good line/universal truth. Kathryn is embarrassed that she had to sing it, yet only she could nail it the way it had to be nailed."
note the correction 'why wait for the weakened state' to the line as written above.
I think the title track, Challengers, might also be about New York, or at the very least placed in New York. It mentions the west village in plains. But that's a topic for another thread...
i really like this song. i overlooked it at first, but im obsessed with it now.
This song just....speaks. It speaks so much, but the strange thing is that it speaks nothing. It almost begs the listener to bring their own interpretation.
Oh, I was lucky enough to be in the audience when they played this live for the first time. MAN! Its so beautiful!
This song really fits on the album. epic. I guess the new york song meanings dissapoint me because I can't relate to them, never even been there.