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The Bellhop Lyrics
I like to drive fast in my car
but I know I won't get too far,
Before I see the setting sun
and stop my car and start to run
Towards the curved edge of the earth
that separates the sky from dirt.
In a meadow under stars
I realize how small we really are.
Since I am born of modern man
I find it hard to take a stand
For the laws of gravity
that demonstrate you're just like me.
Everyone I've ever met
is so in love with wet cement,
And hands and feet pressed into it
of all the people they will never know.
Our skin will rot and decompose
and we will become one of those
Where all the worms have made their homes,
But all our names will be in stone. "Oh no!"
Though I am afraid,
I will be alone for a while.
and yes I am afraid
that I will be alone for a while.
but I know I won't get too far,
Before I see the setting sun
and stop my car and start to run
that separates the sky from dirt.
In a meadow under stars
I realize how small we really are.
I find it hard to take a stand
For the laws of gravity
that demonstrate you're just like me.
Everyone I've ever met
is so in love with wet cement,
And hands and feet pressed into it
of all the people they will never know.
and we will become one of those
Where all the worms have made their homes,
But all our names will be in stone. "Oh no!"
I will be alone for a while.
and yes I am afraid
that I will be alone for a while.
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'Everyone I've ever met, is so in love with wet cement,' (This line, is absolutely beautiful. I think of sinking, or falling, and the cement going hard; people being stuck, suffocating. It's seems such an unusual thing to say, to love something so...deathlike.)
'And hands and feet pressed into it, of all the people they will never know.'
You are wrong about some things, I think. I don't think it's talking about wet cement in the cold, gripping, closing-up-ness sense. (Once, as a child, helping my parents lay foundations for the new house extension, jumping around in wet cement wearing over-sized gumboots, jumping, leaving the boots behind, falling into the wet cement face first).
I think it's talking more about the impression you leave on something, like wet cement, when you touch it. People (myself included) worry about being remembered (or not being forgotten) after they are gone, or leave, or are dead. What sort of effect do I have on people? Do I make them happy? What am I achieving with the work I am doing? I'm building towards something; something that's over quickly, almost as soon as it's begun? ("The lightning strikes and leaves before the language leaks "it lightens""). Something that will be remembered for a few years, and then left on a headstone in a graveyard (with overgrown, wet, thick grass, always overcast)? Something that someone else will be remembered for?
("and while I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to earth"). It is about doing things when you can (when you feel like it), altruistic maybe (endlessly so), hoping that people appreciate it enough to think of you occasionally. ("I know I say that I'm just fine / but I hope you wonder from time to time").
The line reminds me of an amazing line by an amazing lyricist, John K Samson, who says "I'll drown the urge for permanence and certainty / crouch down and scrawl my name with yours in wet cement". He's happy not knowing if it means he's with her.
(This is not the song, you were supposed to comment on :P) What can I say? Hehe you are probably right, one of those childhood things I missed out on. (like BOWLING and BUMPER BOATS :P and ALLITERATION .... :D) but seriously, I guess I just look at it from a medium perspective, lol blame it on a fine art's background, I get all Krauss, on things :P but no, I did not mean to dispute the impression part! That was a part I liked too. Although it still makes me kind of sad, for different reasons.
(This is not the song, you were supposed to comment on :P) What can I say? Hehe you are probably right, one of those childhood things I missed out on. (like BOWLING and BUMPER BOATS :P and ALLITERATION .... :D) but seriously, I guess I just look at it from a medium perspective, lol blame it on a fine art's background, I get all Krauss, on things :P but no, I did not mean to dispute the impression part! That was a part I liked too. Although it still makes me kind of sad, for different reasons.
I played this song for a friend of mine and he said it sounded like they were talking about celebrities. With that idea in mind, I see it like this:
(Since I am born of modern man I find it hard to take a stand For the laws of gravity that demonstrate you're just like me.) -This part seems to be talking about the speaker being frustrated with people idolizing celebrities and other people in power, when he sees them as being just like everyone else. Still affected by the laws of gravity and such.
(Everyone I've ever met is so in love with wet cement, And hands and feet pressed into it of all the people they will never know.) -This seems like a reference to the Chinese Theater and all the hand prints of stars in the cement. The tourists putting their hands into them and being so in love with people they'll probably never know on a personal level.
(Our skin will rot and decompose and we will become one of those Where all the worms have made their homes, But all our names will be in stone. "Oh no!") -We're all going to die. Rich and famous or not. Kind of an odd parallel with the names in stone on a grave and the hand prints in the cement.
(Though I am afraid, I will be alone for a while. and yes I am afraid that I will be alone for a while.) -Not too sure here, maybe the speaker's fear of being shut out for not idolizing the same people everyone else idolizes.
All in all, this is probably my favorite song by Pomegranates. It's real catchy.