The National – You've Done It Again, Virginia

"You've Done It Again, Virginia" as written by and Matthew D. Berninger Aaron B. Dessner....
You had fun, but you couldn't get him out of the car
I guess mama's boys only go so far
You went in and put a record on
To make it sound like someone was home
And thanked yourself for pouring yourself a drink

Try to figure out and laugh yourself to the showers
Burn yourself alive and join the monster squad
They say in this place you can reinvent yourself

Well you've done it again, Virginia
Made another masterpiece while I was dreaming
How does it feel to feel like you?
Brilliant sugar, brilliant sugar, brilliant sugar, turn over

A cool, tall, drink of water
is all you ever wanted to be
And if you had another wish to wish
you'd be fun and moving

But you can't talk to people, right?
You can't tell a story
You're tall, long legged
and your heart's full of liquor
And me and everybody are just ice in a glass

Try to figure out and laugh yourself to the showers
Burn yourself alive and join the monster squad
They say in this place you can reinvent yourself

Well you've done it again, Virginia
Made another masterpiece while I was dreaming
How does it feel to feel like you?
Brilliant sugar, brilliant sugar, brilliant sugar turn over


Lyrics submitted by holybuble, edited by Brooksskoorb

You've Done It Again, Virginia song meanings
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42 Comments

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  • +3
    General CommentHe knows it's ending. He's enjoying the last few seconds with whatever's ending. He wishes with all his heart to stop the time right there but he knows he can't. He's just paralyzed with sadness. Making the last effort and checking for the very last time if there's something he can do to change anything...
    And that is what is breaking his heart.
    SuperSistaon January 20, 2007   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • +3
    General CommentLive version from the new EP is really good.
    whatchamacallmeon May 20, 2008   Link
  • +3
    General CommentI guess it doesn't really matter in the end, because it IS all up to your own interpretation, but I personally do think that this song is about a relationship that's ending. The first time I heard it, I was pretty overwhelmed because I have felt so totally similar. It was one of those crazy moments when you hear a song that just fits something in your life so perfectly that you feel like the artist must have read your journal when they wrote it. This song is so incredibly meaningful to me. To me, it's definitely about a relationship that is ending, that has gotten to a horrible stage where they're not even talking to each other, because they know it has to end soon. The breakup is hard of course, but that stage when you both know it's going to end, and you're just in this miserable waiting period, that is the worst thing in the world.
    thisisanoutrageon November 14, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General CommentThis is one of the few really straight forward National songs. The end, where he asks if she is still awake and then asks how close he is to losing her is really vivid. I can totally see the scene in my head. The whole thing makes me sad.
    SomethingCleveron May 21, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General CommentI think the song is about definitely losing someone.... to death. The lyrics "Tonight you just close your eyes, and I just watch you, slip away... Hey, are you awake, Yeah I'm right here, Well can I ask you about today..." kind of gives me the vision of him sitting beside someone in a hospital bed. Doesn't even have to be about a woman. He makes no reference to gender at all.
    slidesongon August 18, 2007   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +2
    General CommentI think this song is about the discord between Virginia's reality- which is awkward and loveless and her fantasy- which is loved and beautiful. I also think that the alcohol could be viewed as the catalyst that helps her achieve in her fantasy.
    saniadelianon March 16, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Commentthe most beautiful National song.
    woomusicon January 03, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Commentthis song is so sad. i think its about the guy knowing that his relationship is coming to an end. and yeah it is really vivid, i love it
    onacorneron June 15, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI've read this particular assessment in a number of places, but I disagree about it being the end of a relationship. I think it is about his realization that he's wrapped up in himself and has barely noticed the other in his life. "You were far away, what could I say? I was far away"
    This is the realization of ignoring her. I find the ending "Can I ask you about today?" to be slightly optimistic. Sometimes, all it takes is asking how someone is, to start talking again.

    I particularly like the music in this piece, especially the the "heartbeat" like drums. It feels very alive and real.
    RepairmanJackon March 09, 2007   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    General CommentIts not the most compliacted lyrics, but its one of those where you really need to hear the way he sings it. It has this amazing detached vocal, he sings it in such a resigned way, you really feel the meaning of the song better than if your read it. To me its a song about one simple emotion - that of being in a relationship that was once close and has now drifted apart
    coyote78on April 05, 2007   Link

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