All Arise

ACTUALLY

treant is right about the second lyric, but it's "You spit thick and you cross your heart, but the culvert's all run dry" and "I'll just be mine tonight"

has the cd booklet sitting right next to her

there are other minor changes, but it's close.

"You spit thick and you cross your heart, but the clover's all run dry"

"So the dollar shop shoppers broke the lock and they knocked you down"

"you spit thick and you cross your heart, but the coffer's all run dry"

"so the dollar shop shoppers broke a law and they knocked you down"

This song is about a boy who's girlfriend keeps lying to him/cheating on him.

The first verse is about how she wants to break up, but she wants him to break up with her. That way, her reputation will remain intact. However, she keeps on lying/cheating, so the "lynchpin" won't make a difference- she already has a terrible rep.

She'd better find a way to convince him that she'll do better- such as using her eyes, crying. He hears it gets harder to be convincing when all of a sudden he's seen through her lies after she's been lying successfully to him for a long time. She's like a ship at sea- it's her fault that she's now stranded, alone.

She swears that she's telling the truth, but she's been crying wolf for so long that it's too late, his patience has all run out. She won't commit to an honest relationship and he's sick of it. "I'll just be mine tonight"- he's committing to ending the relationship.

She tells him a ludicrous story that he doesn't believe. He tells her to "call the coppers" instead of coming running to him from now on. He's sick of being with her simply because she needs someone to "push her around"- she feels insecure without a boyfriend. She keeps on stealing/doing what she does, though, so now no one will take her.

"HURRRRRRRR!!!!! THEY SAY 'ALL ARISE' IN THIS SONG!!!! LOL LIKE A BONER!!!! THIS SONG MUST BE ABOUT JERKING YOUR DICK OFF LOL!!!! HURRRRR!!!!!"

^^^ This is LITERALLY what you are saying. This is NOT even an EXAGGERATION of what you are saying. You are an idiot. You're a moron. Don't post.

The real question here is who's the more reprehensible idiot, the guy who's like:

"HURRRRR IF YOU THINK 'BOUT IT THESE WORDS MATCH JERKING MY DICK OFF!!!!!!!"

Or the guy who replies like:

"HURRRRR!!! WOW!!! YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!!!! THIS SONG MUST BE ABOUT JERKING MY DICK OFF!!!! YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!!!! LOL THIS MUSICIAN IS SO DIRTY WRITING ABOUT A SONG ABOUT JERKING DICKS OFF!!!! LOL!!!!! THANKS FOR TEACHING ME THIS OBJECTIVE FACT!!! I WILL NOW TELL ALL MY FELLOW IDIOT FRIENDS ABOUT THIS WACKY 'FACT' THAT THIS SONG IS ABOUT JERKING YOUR DICK OFF!!!!!"

All I know is that I hate them both.

... >_> Anyway. To me, the first stanza is about those attention-seeking girls. She wants a new reason to get attention, something else to whine about. The speaker wants to be spared the dramatic story, and so he skips to the end where she saves herself/gets saved.

The second stanza is him suggesting she find another, less annoying way to get people to pay attention to her. Her looks, maybe, from the line "Better kick it from your big, brown eyes." The line after that is him telling her that people will get bored and start ignoring her if she keeps crying wolf etc.

"You spit thick and you cross your heart, but the culvert's all run dry from keeping shotgun shy" She's swearing that she's not lying or blowing things out of proportion, but she can't bring herself to fake more tears, because she cries all the time to get people to have pity on her. (A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. - Wikipedia)

"All arise! I'll just be mine tonight." Everybody watch what he's doing, because this is the right way to deal with her : refuse to buy into her drama/go on a pity date with her.

"So the dollar shop shoppers Broke the lock and they knocked you down Better call the coppers if you need someone to push you around" So everyone else finally figured out her game, and know she has to find someone else who will pay attention to her. She thinks she needs someone to create real drama, possibly actually hurt her.

"But you keep on stealing..." No matter what, she's always looking for the next pity date/person who doesn't know she's an attention whore.

I know that doesn't connect all the way, but I came here hoping for an interpretation and not finding any reputable ones, I decided to post my own opinion.

I think it's about a girl who goes after commitment and of a true relationship and the narrator is begging her to give their relationship a try.
"Baby wants a new spin Baby wants a broken heart Here you found a lynchpin to keep it all from falling apart But you keep on rollin', you keep on rollin’." She says she wants love but she doesn't. She pushes guys away when she gets close, making her unhappy and heartbroken. Still, even after a breakup, she still does it again.

"Better find a way, better kick it from you big brown eyes Here it tightens up when you fall on the fifteenth try Like a ship at ocean, Like a ship ocean Like a ship at ocean, like a ship at sea." He's telling her to get rid of this fear. He's been trying to have patience for her but it's been really affecting their relationship and he's losing patience with her.

"Stick thick and you cross your heart, but the clover’s all a'drag From keeping shotgun shy, all arise, and just be mine tonight So the dollar shop is shut and they knocked you down." She promises she'll be better but she isn't and the relationship is worn out from all of her antics. He's telling her to abandon her fears because he can't keep going on like this. "The dollar shop" is his patience and understanding for her fears; he's getting sick of it.

"Better call the coppers if you need someone to push you around But you keep on stealin’, you keep on stealin’, You keep on steal, there’s nothing left to steal." He's telling her to get someone else if she's going to be like this because he can't keep doing this anymore. She keeps taking and taking and now he has nothing else to give her.

"Stick thick and you cross your heart, but the clover’s all a’drag From keeping shotgun shy, all arise, and just be mine tonight. Just be mine tonight Just be mine tonight."

This is his last appeal for her to change. Just my interpretation.

New Thoughts: I listened very, very carefully and, despite what is printed in the CD's liner lyrics, Colin never says, "I'll just be mine tonight." He merely says, "Just be mine tonight." I interpret that minor change to mean that the singer is "accepting" the infidelity and still "wants" her anyway. Also, if you listen very carefully to the very end (turn it up!) you will hear the vocals trail off, almost into a mutter, as if resigning himself to the fact that he is (madly?) in love with an unfaithful woman, and he will be "happy" if "she'll just be his TONIGHT". Listen again

Musically this sounds like a lost Uncle Tupelo song.. it's awesome.