You went into the kitchen cupboard
Got yourself another hour and gave
Half of it to me
We sat their looking at the faces
Of the strangers in the pages
Until we knew them mathematically

They were in our minds
Until forever
But we didn't mind
We didn't know better

So we made our own computer
Out of macaroni pieces
And it did our thinking
While we lived our lives
It counted up our feelings
And divided them up even
And it called our calculation
Perfect love

Didn't even know
That love was bigger
Didn't even know
Didn't even know that love was so, so
Hey hey hey hey

Hey this fire, hey this fire
I'm burning us up
Hey this fire, hey this fire
I'm burning us
Oh, oo oo oo, oo oo oo oo

So we made the hard decision
And we each made an incision
Past our muscles and our bones
Our hearts were little stones

Pulled 'em out they weren't beating
And we weren't even bleeding
As we lay them on our granite counter top

We beat 'em up against each other
We beat 'em up against each other
We struck 'em hard against each other
We struck 'em so hard, so hard til they sparked

Hey this fire, hey this fire
I'm burning us up
Hey this fire, hey this fire
I'm burning us up
Hey this fire, hey this fire
I'm burning us
Oh, oo oo oo, oo oo oo oo
Oo oo oo oo oo oo


Lyrics submitted by incurable_humanist, edited by Sefumax

The Calculation Lyrics as written by Regina Spektor

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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The Calculation song meanings
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32 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    Okay, so my interpretation is this... The protagonists of this story are two people in 'love.' Outwardly they do all the things that appear to be love, and they are, for all intents and purposes, functioning within this. It is, however, formulaic -- a calculation. The song is about the decision that people make to open up (make an incision) and delve into a deeper, riskier place in hope of a greater experience of love. These characters find that inside, their hearts had withered from lack of use -- the macaroni computer has made them redundant-- so they resuscitate their emotional lives by physically creating sparks like with flint and steel.

    saabninefiveon June 28, 2009   Link

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