He wants to die in a lake in Geneva
The mountains can cover the shape of his nose
He wants to die where nobody can see him
But the beauty of his death will carry on so
I don't believe him

He greets me with kisses when good days deceive him
And sometimes we're scorned and sometimes I believe him
And sometimes I'm convinced, my friends think I'm crazy
Get scared and call him but he's usually hazy

At one in the morning, day is not ended
By two he is scared that sleep is no friend
And by four he will drink but he cannot feel it
Sleep will not come because sleep does not will it
And I don't believe him, morning is mocking me

I?ll wander the streets, avoiding them eats
?Til the ring on my finger slips to the ground
A gift to the gutter, a gift to the city
The veins of which have broken me down
And I don't believe him, morning is mocking me

Oh, the Gods that he believes never fail to amaze me
He believes in the love of his God of all things
But I find him wrapped up in all manner of sins
The drugs that deceive him and the girls that believe him

I can't control you, I don't know you well
These are the reasons I think that you're ill
I can't control you, I don't know you well
These are the reasons I think that you're ill

And since last that we parted
Last that I saw him down by a river
Silent and hardened
Morning was mocking us, blood hit the sky
I was just happy, my manic and I

He couldn't see me, the sun was in his eyes
And birds were singing to calm us down
And birds were singing to calm us down

And I'm sorry young man, I cannot be your friend
I don't believe in a fairytale end
I don't keep my head up all of the time
I find it dull when my heart meets my mind

And I hardly know you, I think I can tell
These are the reasons I think that we're ill
I hardly know you, I think I can tell
These are the reasons I think that I'm ill

And the Gods that he believes never fail to disappoint me
The Gods that he believes never fail to disappoint me

My nihilist, my happy man, my manic and I
Have no plans to move on

But birds are singing to calm us down
And birds are singing to calm us down


Lyrics submitted by junkiesong, edited by ghostyyy, SimmaDownSimba, abadonnas, duskmite

My Manic and I Lyrics as written by Laura Beatrice Marling

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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My Manic and I song meanings
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  • +8
    General Comment

    I have never believed "My Manic" as an actual person, but a personification of Laura's or the speaker's manic depression. At first the song describes a plagued man which may be just a plagued mind; a dark side of Laura or the speaker. Like another personality of a bipolar disorder. This would explain how the gods switch from "amaze" to "disappoint" and from how "you're ill" to "we" and "i."

    She doesn't want to believe that her "friends think I'm crazy," but by the end of the piece, she finally accepts she is just this way and let's birds' singing to calm her down aka anti-depressants. In turn, this kills her manic and blinds him yet she knows she can never let go of her depression and "move on."

    Bloody deep, really makes you think.

    clairemuzikson January 07, 2009   Link

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