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We Almost Had a Baby Lyrics
Well you didn't stop
When I told you to stop
And there was a month
That I wasn't sure
The next time I saw you
Out on the river
I'd have something to say
Other than "pay me all of the money you owe"
I would have liked to
To have something above you
To have something to hold
And know I could choose to grow
I would've called you
And I'd have said "hey
You know I'm in control
I'll let you know if you have to come and choose a name"
Well, I am a woman
But before I met you
I was only a kid
You know there were moments
When you thought you would break me
But you wanted to take me
So you did.
And I will think of you now
That we are apart
I've put my hand across my gut
I plan to beat it with a heart
I'm not the girl you remember from the start
I was only a baby
Now I'm what you made me
For once, you hit the spot
Twice, you let it fall
And once I tried to make a light
To keep myself in yours
Do you think of me
When you are playing?
When I told you to stop
And there was a month
That I wasn't sure
Out on the river
I'd have something to say
Other than "pay me all of the money you owe"
To have something above you
To have something to hold
And know I could choose to grow
And I'd have said "hey
You know I'm in control
I'll let you know if you have to come and choose a name"
But before I met you
I was only a kid
You know there were moments
When you thought you would break me
But you wanted to take me
So you did.
That we are apart
I've put my hand across my gut
I plan to beat it with a heart
I was only a baby
Now I'm what you made me
Twice, you let it fall
And once I tried to make a light
To keep myself in yours
When you are playing?
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Whoa, this isn't about a fling, it's about being raped, I'd guess by her ex-boyfriend, from the rest of the song. "Well, you didn't stop, when I told you to stop".
The first six or seven lines suggest to me that this isn't about abortion, but about her thinking she was pregnant after having unprotected sex - 'You didn't stop, when I told you to stop...' / 'There was a month when I wasn't sure' / 'I would have liked to have something above you'. It doesn't have the sadness that songs like Tori Amos's 'Playboy Mommy' have that would suggest miscarriage, and I don't think there's anything to suggest abortion because it's all about what she's going to do if she IS pregnant or she IS going to have a baby.
Yeah, I can see that. It makes me think of another of Tori's songs, "Silent All These Years", in which she sings "Boy you best pray that I bleed real soon." Basically, it's like "we had unprotected sex, I could have been pregnant for all you know, so show me some respect", that kind of thing. I think it's easier for men to walk away from sex unscathed, but it has a longer affect on the women - whether emotionally, or physically, with pregnancy, or the worry of it at least.
Yeah, I can see that. It makes me think of another of Tori's songs, "Silent All These Years", in which she sings "Boy you best pray that I bleed real soon." Basically, it's like "we had unprotected sex, I could have been pregnant for all you know, so show me some respect", that kind of thing. I think it's easier for men to walk away from sex unscathed, but it has a longer affect on the women - whether emotionally, or physically, with pregnancy, or the worry of it at least.
I think it's clearly about how close they got to having a baby. And how that made her happy in a way:
And once I tried to make a life To keep myself in yours
She's hoping this guy will stay with her if they're having a baby together.
How are there no comments?? Amazing song. Clearly about a fling, she got pregnant, had an abortion but didn't really want to...it's so sad, but very beautiful. I love how she depicts how unimportant she was to him and yet how important he was to her, and that it may have been nothing to him but they almost had a baby; emphasises how easily some people can throw others away when there is always a lot more to it. Emmy is so great.
When she talks about "the one and five in four" she's referring to the standard country bass line, which leads me to wonder whether the person she is addressing is maybe a bass player. Certainly not many other instrumentalists would talk about playing that. You can hear this type of line on a couple of songs on the album, noticeably at the start of "Dylan".
When she talks about "the one and five in four" she's referring to the standard country bass line, which leads me to wonder whether the person she is addressing is maybe a bass player. Certainly not many other instrumentalists would talk about playing that. You can hear this type of line on a couple of songs on the album, noticeably at the start of "Dylan".
Yeah, she said in a interview. Her ex-boyfriend was a bass player. I don't play bass, I don't know but you're right.
Yeah, she said in a interview. Her ex-boyfriend was a bass player. I don't play bass, I don't know but you're right.
Indeed a sad beautiful song.
Indeed a sad beautiful song.
the lyrics are missing a whole verse
Great song. Certainly not about rape, and I dont think it's about abortion either.
It's a reminder how close we come sometimes to having a baby, either in a moment of passion, or wishfully thinking it might cement a relationship.
Makes me wonder how different my life would be now if my first true love had become pregnant. It was only luck sometimes that she didn't, and for several years after we finished at uni, split up and got jobs at other ends of the country I wondered if she had perhaps become pregnant and not told me.
She hadn't, and it wasn't for another twenty years that I found somebody else that I wanted to have a baby with. That baby is now a bubbly two and a half year old, and the sunshine in my life.
It clearly is about rape, within a relationship. It's a brilliant juxtaposition of an incredibly sad story with an upbeat tune... Powerful stuff.
Why would it be about rape? I think it's quite clear that the line "well, you didn't stop/when I told you to stop" just describes how they had unprotected sex and how they tried to avoid pregnancy by not having him come inside of her. She told him to pull out - he didn't. I'm quite sure that's all since Emmy The Great has many describtive, yet simple, lines like this one in many of her songs. It's a song about a woman who suspects herself of being pregnant which in some way makes her happy because it would give her en occassion to be with a man who she clearly cares about more than he cares for her.
This above is missing a few lines.
This above is missing a few lines.
"Well, I am a woman you know I'm a woman But before I met you I was only a kid. You know there were moments when you thought you would rape me you wanted to take me So you did."
"Well, I am a woman you know I'm a woman But before I met you I was only a kid. You know there were moments when you thought you would rape me you wanted to take me So you did."
Maybe you're hearing "rape me" as "break me" in that line. Either way, I think you need to retract saying the lines are clear.
Maybe you're hearing "rape me" as "break me" in that line. Either way, I think you need to retract saying the lines are clear.
You said: "I think it's quite clear that the line "well, you didn't stop/when I told you to stop" just describes how they...
You said: "I think it's quite clear that the line "well, you didn't stop/when I told you to stop" just describes how they had unprotected sex and how they tried to avoid pregnancy by not having him come inside of her."
You are extrapolating a very complex scene from the line "you didn't stop when I told you to stop." And I think you are wrong. That line is not clear in the way you interpret it. There is no talk about protection, there is no talk about the spilling of seed. Why would a simple mistake of not pulling out, as you interpret, make her a woman? Change her from a baby to a woman?
"no means no" is a very common phrase. Stop means stop. In most other contexts would refer to rape. And even in your supposed scenario, "It's not rape, she just told him to stop screwing her because she knew he was about to come." Well if she said stop, and he didn't, then that is rape, bro.
Statistical research on the subject often find one in four girls is raped in their lifetime. I've also seen one in five.
http://aspiringeconomist.com/index.php/2009/09/11/rape-statistics-1-in-4/
There is one article on the matter. There are more.
The thought that she was unaware of the connotations and associations she was messing with, seems absurd. I find it unlikely one writes a song that a significant portion of people say, "Hey that's about date rape." and then one keeps it as is, and says, screw it if people think my boyfriend raped me.
As pointed out by others, this alludes to a specific person she dated. If this isn't about rape, she's an asshole because people know who this is about.
Here is a review of the album that also mentions that the song is about rape.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jun/07/emmy-the-great-review
That the song is clear, seems a stretch of the imagination given the evidence. It's a poem, it's open to interpretation, you can read into a line any way you wish to muster. This is mostly to point out that people are confused.
Rape makes no sense in relation to the rest of the song. Why would she WANT to be pregnant in order to keep him in her life? There aren't that many people out there that want to be pregnant with their rapists baby. It's about how she sorta wishes she was pregnant so the man she loves would have a reason to stay with her. and it's definitely 'break me'.
Rape makes no sense in relation to the rest of the song. Why would she WANT to be pregnant in order to keep him in her life? There aren't that many people out there that want to be pregnant with their rapists baby. It's about how she sorta wishes she was pregnant so the man she loves would have a reason to stay with her. and it's definitely 'break me'.