Three Rounds And A Sound

I'd say the lyrics are slightly different than they are posted...i think they are...

They're playing our song They're playing our song Can you see the lights? Can you hear the hum?

Of our song I hope they get it right I hope we dance tonight Before we, get it wrong

And the seasons Will change us new But you're the best I've known and you know me I could not be stuck on you If it weren't true

I was swimming My eyes were dark Til you woke me And told me that opening is just the start it was

Now I see you, til kingdom come You're the one I want To see me for all the stupid shit I've done

(Chorus) Soil and six feet under Kept just like we were Before you knew you'd know me And you know me

Blooming up from the ground 3 Rounds and a sound Like whispering you know me And you know me

So this was our song This was our song I still see the lights I can see them

And the criss cross Of what is true, won't get to us Cause you know me I could not give up on you It wouldn't feel true.

And the fog of what is right Won't cover us cause you know me I could not give up a fight Wouldn't feel right

(Chorus)

And if it is like this then i think it makes a bit more sense. Essentially i think it is about a relationship. The first verse is about how the beginning of a relationship can feel like you lose it all at any moment, with the lines; "I hope we dance tonight, before we get it wrong." I think this means how he wants them to enjoy it all before they maybe mess it all up.

The second verse is talking about change, how people in relationships change, but she knows him and he could not "be stuck on" her if she didnt. Almost like the changes they go through as individuals don't matter because they know the hearts of each other.

The verse about him swimming (or sleeping...i guess it could be either but it sounds most like swimming) really reminds me of the Bright Eyes song "First Day of My Life"....the idea of meeting someone who opens your eyes and makes you feel as though your life is just beginning. That his eyes were dark...as opposed to being bright...and that opening your eyes to everything is just the beginning.

"Now i see you, to kingdom come, you're the one i want"....i think this is obvious. He'll love her till they reach heaven (kingdom). How he wants her to see him for him, even if he does stupid things, things that are out of character maybe, because she knows him, she'll still see who he really is inside.

The chorus i think is just about death, how even when they are six feet under, and kept just like they were when they were together....how they eventually turn in to flowers "blooming up from the ground". The title of the song comes from a military tradition during funerals: to fire 3 rounds of fire and then playing a tune on a bugle.

Basically i just think it is about being with someone and loving them for who they are. Believing in your relationship above all other things...but then this is all just what i get from the song, i think it means different things to different people.

I see only beauty in this song. The man has pulled some stupid crap so he's thrilled to have found someone who sees his potential. They are in love (not romantic love, but true love which involves friendship). What is "true" are all the mistakes he's made in the past...mistakes she acknowledges but forgives. This is one of my favorite tracks on ANY album, and this album happens to contain not one bad song.

Israel Once told me about a custom in some foreign coutry, where as a wedding gift you give the newly weds 3 rounds and a sound. "A clock, a spool of wire, a bicycle rim, and a transistor radio."

I like to think of my wife and myself as those newly weds and that I'm the narrator singing to my wife, and that the wedding gift Israel gave us is the song "3 rounds and a sound".

"Kept just like we were before you knew, you'd know me and you know me."

I'm a little confused with the interpretation of this as a love song, it seems like it's quite the opposite of that.

Meaning:

The singer is witnessing a relationship beginning and is reflecting on his past relationship. He realizes that his relationship is dead but wishes he could go back to the early days as he remembers it fondly.

Lyrics:

They're playing our song suggests he is at a wedding watching a first dance between a new couple. He thinks back to a past partner who called the song "their song", and asks if they remember.

He hopes this new couple will get it right in the ways they were unable to, he hopes he can relive the memories of their relationship before, ultimately it fails again.

He reminisces about his former partner and how he considers her the best person he's known, that's why he can't seem to forget her. Almost trying to convince himself that's the reason he's dwelling on the relationship.

He talks about how he felt lost until his relationship, and how his partner stirred feelings he didn't know were there. This opening up continued as their relationship bloomed.

He believes that his former partner is his soulmate, he hopes that she can overlook his misgivings and love him even still.

The chorus talks about how the relationship is truly dead. In his words it's six feet underground. 3 rounds and a sound refers to the military tradition of sending off the person. He talks of flowers blooming from the ground, which represents his fond memories of something long gone. The key part is he wishes they could go back to before she knew him, but she knows him, and how he acts, meaning they can never go back.

We go back to reminiscing about the relationship and how he is refusing to give up the idea of how good they were together and how he can't give up on her.

We then take a turn. He talks of a fog masking who he is from her, and that the fog was preserving their relationship. However, it has cleared and she knows who he is, someone who never gives up on fights. This indicates he couldn't let things go in the relationship and was ultimately the reason for its end.

The chorus repeats with him accepting that the relationship is gone, and that it is his fault, she knows who he is and they cannot go back. He talks again of the relationship being dead and gone but he still cannot put the thought of his past partner out of his mind.

best song on the album IMO. I heard it on Chuck and immediately fell in love. It's on the fast track to becoming my top played song on iTunes

It is a song for his mother, their relationship, her death.

I love this song! it's so soothing and his voice packs so much emotion. Definitely one of the best songs on the album. They will hit it big, I promise you!

MickT, how do you know Israel?

Okay, thank everyone for just saying "this is awesome", and not posting anything about what they think the song means. What's the name of this website again? lol. wow. Anyways. I'm confused, because there seem to be obvious themes of death, and love from beyond the grave or something mixed with some interesting mention of a foreign tradition. but i can't piece any of it together. but i'm sure all of you probably feel that way just a little. what is it that i'm missing? Something about waking up with someone and "seeing" (my eyes were dark till you woke me and told me that opening was just the start) everything laid out in front of him like it would be for the rest of their lives whether their love was right or wrong. finding that perfect person, a song, a wedding(implied by what mickt had to say), spending a life with someone season after season and growing with them and imagining it even after death? it's just the order of things and then the chorus that has me baffled. feel free to pick this apart, i just need someone more clever than me to help me figure this out. ;)

okay, does anyone else hear in the 4th verse swimming instead of sleeping? I hear that everytime I listen to the song but every lyric site I have been to has it listed as sleeping. I just dont understand, he clearly says swimming, at least in the version that I have....