This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
You're not bloody swab paradise
You're golden stars licked to stick
A world with frogs and magic tricks
Floating logs and scissor kicks
And lemonade and sweaty sex
Hug me like I gave you checks
You kiss me like the upper crust
Tell me things to make me blush
Champagne bottle
Bon voyage
A souvenir garage
A melody to make me smile
Not that you've been gone a while
A purple medal eighth place
Backlit in a trophy case
Sign that says "For little Ace"
Supportive like an ankle brace
Not bloody cotton swabs and lies
Stolen checks and empty eyes
You're a county fair in July
Canadian field of wild rye
You kiss me like potted plants
Bite me like fire ants
Touch me like an old stamp
Olive oil and seven lamps
Not stolen cash I'll pay you back
Bloody paradise attack
Your Sunday at the puppy track
Time to take the long way back
Sweet as the apple of Peru
The inklings of the Eastern Sioux
Not bloody cotton swabs and lies
Stolen checks and empty eyes
But rather
You are the blood
Flowing through my fingers
[That's what I meant to say
Blood in my fingertips
I couldn't tell you that it's the other way]
All through the soil and up in those trees
[You are the blood that I may see you
That I see you
You're the blood in me
You're on earth though]
Girl you wake me to the smell of butter
Sunlight shone through wooden shutters
Naked sex and cuffed breast
Early morning back to test
Pouring rain and rubber suit
Cotton socks and rubber boots
I sprint across the parking lot
Cause that day we were unprepared
Dried our socks and on the stairs
Sound of rain is rain in gutters
Lightning seven seconds thunder
A mild snack late evening hunger
DVDs and VCRs
Fish tanks and jelly jars
The storm passes the room ours
The summer times and you move
Safety belt in summer cars
Lightning bugs to die in jars
The air conditioner saving grace
Grass stains and flushed face
Refreshing like a glass of milk
Your shaven legs were like silk
You kiss me like a bon voyage
A secret souvenir collage
Overalls and water parks
T-tops and baby sharks
Dragon rolls and frozen juice
Making out in photo booths
A lovely Saturday night alone
Full of films and baking pies
Not cotton swabs and bloody lies
I'll pay you back in plastic eyes
You are the blood
Flowing through my fingers
All through the soil
Through those trees
You're golden stars licked to stick
A world with frogs and magic tricks
Floating logs and scissor kicks
And lemonade and sweaty sex
Hug me like I gave you checks
You kiss me like the upper crust
Tell me things to make me blush
Champagne bottle
Bon voyage
A souvenir garage
A melody to make me smile
Not that you've been gone a while
A purple medal eighth place
Backlit in a trophy case
Sign that says "For little Ace"
Supportive like an ankle brace
Not bloody cotton swabs and lies
Stolen checks and empty eyes
You're a county fair in July
Canadian field of wild rye
You kiss me like potted plants
Bite me like fire ants
Touch me like an old stamp
Olive oil and seven lamps
Not stolen cash I'll pay you back
Bloody paradise attack
Your Sunday at the puppy track
Time to take the long way back
Sweet as the apple of Peru
The inklings of the Eastern Sioux
Not bloody cotton swabs and lies
Stolen checks and empty eyes
But rather
You are the blood
Flowing through my fingers
[That's what I meant to say
Blood in my fingertips
I couldn't tell you that it's the other way]
All through the soil and up in those trees
[You are the blood that I may see you
That I see you
You're the blood in me
You're on earth though]
Girl you wake me to the smell of butter
Sunlight shone through wooden shutters
Naked sex and cuffed breast
Early morning back to test
Pouring rain and rubber suit
Cotton socks and rubber boots
I sprint across the parking lot
Cause that day we were unprepared
Dried our socks and on the stairs
Sound of rain is rain in gutters
Lightning seven seconds thunder
A mild snack late evening hunger
DVDs and VCRs
Fish tanks and jelly jars
The storm passes the room ours
The summer times and you move
Safety belt in summer cars
Lightning bugs to die in jars
The air conditioner saving grace
Grass stains and flushed face
Refreshing like a glass of milk
Your shaven legs were like silk
You kiss me like a bon voyage
A secret souvenir collage
Overalls and water parks
T-tops and baby sharks
Dragon rolls and frozen juice
Making out in photo booths
A lovely Saturday night alone
Full of films and baking pies
Not cotton swabs and bloody lies
I'll pay you back in plastic eyes
You are the blood
Flowing through my fingers
All through the soil
Through those trees
Lyrics submitted by mctaggey
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
i love the way the lines "you kiss me like potted plants, bite me like fire ants" sound. anyone have any idea what they could mean?
they're just similies, albeit rather obscure and interesting
Well, potted plants are generally comforting, beautiful, living things. You would hope that whoever he loved enough to write these lyrics for (even if it's an imagined person) would be comforting, beautiful, and alive, or was once alive.<br /> <br /> Fire ant's stings burn, and I think in this case he just means that she stung him the right way when she was with him.
Its about addiction. most likely to heroin. "you kiss me like potted plant," is a simile to the ecstasy, or euphoria that you feel. "bite me like fire ants" is saying that his withdrawals or initial injections sting or pain him. either the needle piercing him, or like I said, withdrawals.
What did buck 65 do in this song? Mix it?
Isn't Serengeti rapping and isn't the other vocal part sufjan?
I don't know what the song means, but every time I listen to it I wish it would go on longer. It's kind of, I guess, to me, this dark train of thought love song. Just this stream of consciousness about this girl.
I didn't think about the AIDS thing.
Buck 65 produced it... this song was originally by The Castanets of their album Cathedral... on Dark wasthe night disc 1 Sufijan covers the original and on disc 2, buck 65 remixes that and got serengeti to rap...
I agree with chelita83 however i dont see this as a sad song about the girl leaving or dying. I think he's just trying to say that she is his escape from his past life of drug abuse. She is loving and supportive and fun and perfect, and nothing like the "bloody cotton swabs and lies, Stolen checks and empty eyes" that haunt him.
The first verse is about disproving the stereotype of people who are HIV positive. Someone he loves, probably a girlfriend, is not a drug addict or a prostitute: "Not bloody cotton swabs and lies Stolen checks and empty eyes". Instead she's all of the beautiful things that he loves about life, eg. "You're a county fair in July, Canadian field of wild rye". The second verse is a continuation of that, possibly remembering her after she passed.
This song is amazing. I have no idea what it means. The first verse seems to be something about leaving someone behind, maybe a child? I don't know, I feel like the "checks" he keeps referring to are about child support, but that's probably totally off-base. And then the second verse is something about a girl that he left. The line that really sticks out to me in this song is "Lightning bugs to die in jars." The whole song is eerie and really well-done. It doesn't ruin the Sufjan version, which I was afraid it might, it just adds on to it.
Being that the song was written for an HIV benefit album, I think it's about a guy talking to his girlfriend who is infected. He's like reassuring her that she is wonderful, and he doesn't see her as dirty and infected, in the first verse.<br /> The second verse is about all his memories of her and the time he spent with her, maybe after she has died or is dying.<br /> You're right though, it's an awesome song.
Lyrically this is amazing. The second part particularly gets me, not sure why. It seems to be recalling two particularly perfect days he spent with his girl.
One, she woke him with breakfast, they got caught in a storm, went home dried out and watched films.
Then 'The summer times and you move' and all the things the got up to before she left, the "Goodbye Sex" - 'Grass stains and flushed face, Refreshing like a glass of milk, Your shaven legs were like silk, You kiss me like a bon voyage' going to a water park and 'Making out in photo booths, A lovely Saturday night alone'
The line 'Not cotton swabs and bloody lies' seems to hint at medical testing, but I don't know what the "bloody lies" could be.
Being that the song was written for an HIV benefit album, I think it's about a guy talking to his girlfriend who is infected. He's like reassuring her that she is wonderful, and he doesn't see her as dirty and infected, in the first verse. The second verse is about all his memories of her and the time he spent with her, maybe after she has died or is dying. You're right though, it's an awesome song.
This seems to me to be more about addiction (probably heroin, since there's a lot of references to injections, blood, cotton swabs, etc). I say addiction and not AIDS because he's also talking about stolen checks, lies, and empty eyes, all phenomenon that accompany an addict. But there are also good memories together, since addicts are often two people: the person you love(d), and the empty-eyed addict who lies and steals your things to get another fix.
'checks' should be 'cheques'
agree should be cheques since buck 65 is canadian, but the guy rapping might not be.<br /> <br /> and celiabedelia this track does use the basis of "you are the blood". however this is exactly what you want a remix to be, lyrics added. my guess it's called blood pt.2 for that very reason, with so much added to the original track it's become the sequel rather than a regular remix.<br /> <br /> i got from a cold impression that it is about a before and after with someone addicted to heroine, not that there is a double persona as mentioned on one of the previous posts. the singer is choosing to remember his girlfriend with beauty, because he keeps saying "NOT bloody swab paradise..." etc... he describes little beautiful moments that are universal and unexceptional, my favorite being: <br /> <br /> A purple medal eighth place<br /> Backlit in a trophy case<br /> Sign that says "For little Ace"<br /> <br /> by being a celebration of an eighth place medal it makes it a very personal thing, because he is proud of the very simple accomplishment. Which really is a great example of the moments you miss when someone passes away; it's the little things.<br /> <br /> but ya shit i didn't think about the HIV benefit album, which really does add a new element to this doesn't it. for such a powerful song to have it's origin as a remix, and then turn into such beautiful depth amazes.
just all the things that make you love someone. it doesn't have to make sense to us