One for You, One for Me

I think this song is brilliantly written. Each line, of course, is a comparison between the "good" and the "bad," the victim as well as the violent, the rich and the poor, etc. I think it's about all being equals. In Hinduism, there is the idea that all people are part of the same "soul," for lack of a better word, Atman. They are all connected together, and connected to Brahman, the "god" as well. The idea is that you should always be kind to your neighbor even when they do wrong because, being of the same being or the same matter, we are all capable of doing the bad deeds that others do. And that's really a touching way to look at equality, I think, and not looking down upon even the "bad" people. I think this song is about not looking down on others because they are more weak or poor than you, but also not to look down on the criminals, the wrong-doers. And, I also can't help but wonder what is being divvied up, with the "one for you, one for me."

There's an old joke about two boys divvying up a handful of nuts near a cemetery. The boys are mistaken for the Devil and St. Peter divvying up the souls of the world, where one of the boys recites over and over "one for me, one for you".

Though that joke is probably irrelevant, I'm left wondering what's being divvied up in the song.

The titles of the tracks on the album all seem to reflect upon varying beliefs - Rastafarian (Haile Selassie), Wicca (Triple Spiral), Buddhism (Beginner's Mind), Judaism/Christianity (Ladder Song - "Jacob's Ladder" possibly?), and then a world where machines are equal to/rule/save humankind (A Machine Spiritual). Without knowing any of the lyrics as of yet to any of these songs, I'd guess that maybe different beliefs are being divvied up here with 'one for me, one for you'.

Err, I got the title backwards. 'One for you, one for me' is what I've been meaning.

I and I = rastafarian way of saying 'you and me' connoting oneness with Jah. Also a Dylan song.

this is irrelevant but once i saw the first interpretation on this song, i thought of another poem. it's the one called two dead boys and all the lines just keep spitting out contradictions on itself. this kinda has the same structure, not exactly contradicting but as said before reflect good vs. bad. or one side vs the opposite. this album is really well put together i must say<3

"Mercy"

It seems pretty straight forward to me "how did we get so far away from us" You and me, that is an awful lie, it's I and I" Referring to the human race losing touch on what is important and how everyone looks out for themselves, selfishness and greed.

One for the righteous One for the ruling class One for the tyrant One for the slaughtered lamb One for the struggle One for the lasting peace One for you and One for me

One for the Führer One for his child bride One for the wedding One for the suicide One for the bunker One for the broadcast booth One for me, now One for you

How did we get so far away from us? How did we get so far away?

One for the people One for the parliament One for the weary One for the malcontent One for the master One for the protégée One for you and One for me

One for the breadlines One for the billionaires One for the for the missing One for the barely there One for the certain One for the real confused One for me, okay, now One for you

Now that we’ve come so far away from us Now that we’ve come too far to say You and Me, You and Me That is an awful lie You and Me, You and Me That is an awful lie It’s I and I It’s I and I It’s I and I It’s I and I

The spoken bit at the end goes something like this:

"Well the transit is of love, it goes back to love again. You understand when somebody’s having a problem with your issues, but whatever trip they’re having a problem with, you try to bring it together; you try not to cause division; you try to make it as a cosmos. It’s a cosmos, then it unfolds like a flower, it just keeps unfolding, time keeps moving on. Instead of someone saying, “Naw man, we’re gonna do it like, we’re gonna be come Fascists, we’re gonna do it this way.” And you say, “No, we’re moving on and I hope I see you later where everybody’s okay.” And that’s the human race. When there’s total enlightenment, there will be peace, the world will be in bliss when there’s total enlightenment; so enlightenment is knowledge. As much knowledge as you can get people to seek and understand, ya know, and it’s mankind; it’s me, it’s you, it’s us that do it. But we have to call it to align. We say, “look I’m not gonna kick that guy’s ass, that happened ten years ago, I wish him well,” that’s love, ya know, and compassion. Or uhhh what do you call it (Mercy?)...what’s that?...(Mercy?)...mercy."

Ok, I think everybody here is missing the real meaning of this song, which can be understood in the last stanza:

Now that we've come so far away from us Now that we've come too far to say You and me, you and me that is an awful lie You and me, you and me that is an awful lie It's I and I It's I and I It's I and I It's I and I

The author realizes that him and he lover aren't meant to be togheter, and that their love is just fake, beacuse it is ''an awful lie''; the final line ''It's I and I'' regards the lonliness of Oberst after realizing this. Now it's just him with his own thoughts, without the girl he loves.

Pretty sad song :(