Such Small Hands

The letting people down and the alcohol are two different people. She let him down because her body couldn't keep a promise. To me that suggests she cheated on him which would go along with the rest of the album.

She cheated on him and left him. But he still loves her. He dreams that she'll return and start to make things right.

Hearing the door open symbolizes somebody entering his life. But he only ever has people leave him. He begins to feel angry and wishes that the airplane she left on had crashed (A line that links this song to Andria and Fairmount).

Finally he turns to alcohol to solve his problems. It makes him better able to deal with his fear of the past. But it doesn't last long and soon the ghosts of the past come back to haunt him once again. He also asks her to please stay away because her returning will only make his problems worse.

I think I saw you in my dreams you were Stitching up the seams on every broken promise That your body couldn't keep (He imagines this person apologising for something she has done wrong. Most likely cheating on him. He imagines- and hopes- that she is trying to fix whatever she has broken in the first place, but is quickly brought to the fact that it was't reality hence the repetition of it only being a dream)

I thought I heard the door open but I only heard it close (He thought the relationship was mending, only to find it sealed shut. She no longer wants anything from him.)

I thought I heard a plane crashing, but Now I think it was your passion snapping (He compares their broken relationship to a plane crash. Dead-ended, hopeless and tragic. He only mentions her lack of passion since his is still avid.)

I think you saw me confronting my fear, it Went up with a bottle and went down with the beer and (He turns to alcohol to deal with the pain she has caused him. She notices this but decides to turn a blind eye to it.)

I think you ought to stay away from here (He still loves her but is realising she is doing more harm than good by sticking around.)

There are ghosts in the walls and they Crawl in your head through your ear (The ghosts are her 'secret' lover/s. They convince her what she is doing is fine and harmless as she continues to hurt him.)

Keep in mind this is only my interpretation. I love this song and La Dispute.

name is in reference to a line of an ee cummings poem, which la dispute also used as lyrics for "two"

"nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands"

this song is about people who let other people down based on inner problems like struggles with drugs or alcohol and giving up on their dreams and losing track of their lives

"I thought I heard the door open, oh no Thought I heard the door open, but I only heard it close" he was hopeful about the relationship, thinking it was full of opportunity when in fact it was a shut door (not a possible relationship or a dead end)

"I thought I heard a plane crashing But now I think it was your passion snapping" he is comparing her falling out of love with him with a plane crash, a rather heavy metaphor that probably speaks for itself (fast, unstoppable, explosive, deadly, tragic, catastrophic etc) any passion she had for him dissipated all at once

"I think you saw me confronting my fear It went up with the bottle and down with the beer" use/abuse of alcohol to simulate courage, 'liquid courage' as the saying goes its possible he was drunk while confronting her or using booze as a coping mechanism

he obsessively thinks about this girl to the point of being almost haunted by it. this song leaves me with this empty 'looking back on what was and what could have been' feeling. the 'you oughta stay away from here' part makes me feel like he doesn't want her to see any of his brokenness or see how haunted he is but still strongly desires for her to make things right again

The song is about his lover cheating on him with other men. "On every broken promise that your body couldn't keep." He contemplated suicide after discovering the truth, his "fear" he was afraid to face. "I think you saw me confronting my fear. It went up with the bottle and down with the beer." Though he feels attached to her, he wants nothing to do with her. "And I think you oughta stay away from here." There are a lot of rumors going around that seem to haunt him at every turn. "There are ghosts in the walls and they crawl in your head through your ear." He dreams of his lover never cheating on him and they returning to how things were. "I think I saw you in my dreams. You were stitching up the seams on every mangled promise that your body couldn't keep."

This is a very powerful delivery for the beginning of the album. Very awesome indeed.

I love this

Amazing song!!!!! Holy crap.

It would be nice if someone put what this song actually means, since i don't know. Thank you.