Dragon's Lair

Of couse there's a whole lot of ambiguity here, but I think this song might be about trying to rebuild a (dysfunctional) relationship.

"But my dear, oh my dear I’d like to fight the good fight for another couple of years ‘cause to say the war is over is to say you are a widow

You’re not a widow yet!"

He's reassuring her that, even if he hasn't always been there ('sorry that I'm late'), he's willing to fight to make the relationship work, and that she shouldn't think it's over quite yet (shouldn't consider herself a 'widow')

"If you are sharpening your scissors I am sharpening my scissors, And I am sharpening my sword"

He's saying that is she's willing to fight (sharpen her scissors), he is too, and maybe fight even harder (sharpening his sword).

"So you can take me to the dragon’s lair Or you can take me to Rapunzel’s windowsill Either way it is time for a bigger kind of kill… A bigger kind of kill."

He's saying that no matter which direction she decides to take the relationship, they have to do something about it. She can either accept him ("take me to Rapunzel's windowsill") or decide that it's too late to patch up their relationship. The 'bigger kind of kill' is saying that whatever they do, (solve the problem or put an end to the situation) they need to do something big and commit to it. So either put their hearts into the relationship or take the next step and end it. I think.

"I see your face..." "You're such a champion"

He clearly still feels very strongly for her and respects her a lot. Maybe even idolizes her. He's clearly been distracted though (first verse). I think these lines show that he really willing to fight to win her back.

I'm still not quite sure about:

"There’s a swan among the pigeons of Barcelona’s floor There’s a Samson with Delilahs lining up outside the door"

Maybe he's saying that she's a "swan among pigeons" XP (Also that she's far away from him maybe.) The next line could be that there are lots of girls he could have, but they would betray him? I'm really iffy on this. I think I get the idea, but can't get it into words.

Now I could be very, very wrong about all this, but that's how I interpret the song. :P

I like the idea of the complicate relationship but I like to think that the trouble is not just the trivial jealousy/unfaithfulness matter. It seems like the two lovers lives far away or anyhow they both have a very independent and busy life. He knows that she's the right one for him and he truly loves her, however he's not yet ready to renounce to his freedom ("the good fight") because in doing that he would die inside ("to say the war is over is to say you are a widow"). Eventually they're living this sort of open realtionship in a period of life in wich people start to marry and settle down ("So this one’s for the critics and their disappointed mothers"). This would explain also the "confetti" from the party, maybe a wedding.

In this sense I would interpret also the refrain: the "scissors" could be used by her (Rapunzel) to cut her tress and let him down (end the relationship) but if she threat to do so he is ready ot embrace the "sword" - not to fight with her - but to face the "Dragon", or rather the beast that keep him always travelling. Either way it's time to find a solution to this situation ("a bigger kind of kill")

After the firs impetus he sounds like he's taken by nostalgia (the song slow down) and he regrets all the time he wasted walking around chasing for something, for someone ("I kicked up a whole country of dead, dead leaves last fall"). Maybe he's leaving once again ("seen from the back of a train") and the dead leaves remember him of all the "memoirs of old conversations", the love letters ("papers") that seem so pointless now that he's experiencing the lost of her.

But, in the very end I can ear a spell of hope in his voice, because he knows that she is "such a champion", the only one that can understand and bear his restlessness and his expectations ("catching the statuettes that falls from the pedestals I tend to build too tall") and one day she will help him to defight the Dragon.

Any help appreciated. Will credit you at the top.

Would either of you mind posting a complete lyric for what you have? Thanks.

I’m sorry that I’m late I went blind I got confetti in my eyes I was held up at yesterday’s parties I was needed on the congo line

But my dear, oh my dear I’d like to fight the good fight for another couple of years ‘cause to say the war is over is to say you are a widow

You’re not a widow yet! You’re not a widow yet! You’re not a widow yet! You’re not a widow yet!

So this one’s for the critics and their disappointed mothers For the cupid and the hunter shooting arrows at each other Ain’t no such thing as a saint, Ain’t no such thing as a sinner, oh

There’s a swan among the pigeons of Barcelona’s floor There’s a Samson with Delilahs lining up outside the door If you are sharpening your scissors I am sharpening my scissors, And I am sharpening my sword So you can take me to the dragon’s lair Or you can take me to Rapunzel’s windowsill Either way it is time for a bigger kind of kill… A bigger kind of kill.

Oh I see your face when I close my eyes Oh I see the muscles in your legs from the way you always rise To the occasion of catching things that fall Like the statuettes on pedestals I tend to build too tall. But I have navigated Iceland I’ve laid my claim on Portugal I have seen into the wasteland Oh the future Oh the future of us all.

?????????????????? Of dead, dead leaves last fall ?????????????????? Of dead, dead leaves last fall Dead leaves Dead leaves Dead leaves Dead leaves Seen from the back of a train I rode away from your station They drifted in the air Like memoirs of old conversations Sprung from a leather case You opened in the wind To watch the papers chase each other Into oblivion

(You’re such a champion You’re such a champion I hide behind your sun You are the champion) x3

So you can take me to the dragon’s lair You can take me to Rapunzel’s windowsill Either way it is time, oh it is time For a bigger kind of kill… A bigger kind of kill

A bigger kind of kill (x10) A bigger kind of kill, kill, kill, kill, kill A bigger kind of kill (x3) A bigger kind of kill, kill, kill, kill, kill

The question marks are definitely "I kicked at a whole country/Of dead, dead leaves last fall." It's really hard to hear when you don't know what to look for but once you know it it's clear.

FrogRubdown - yeah, I definitely agree.

I keep thinking I understand the big picture meaning of this song (if there ever completely is one), but then I listen to a set of lyrics juxtaposed to the ones just before it instead of the ones after it and I get a totally new meaning.

Leave it to Spencer Krug. Amazing, amazing creationist.

the question marks are officially:

I kicked up a whole country of dead, dead leaves last fall.

http://sunsetrubdown.net/lyrics.php

??????????????????? = I kicked up a whole country of dead, dead leaves last fall.

(both times)

To me this is definitely about wanting to be successful as an artist (success is the dragon to be slain), and trying to decide whether to keep working with the same people you've seen the world with (and are drifting apart from emotionally and creatively) the possible widow being the current co-artists, or to move on.