Rabbit Will Run

Last I saw mother, she rose from her chair When they caught me I'd just finished combing my hair 'cause a rabbit will run, and the colt hasn't long with the mare

We've all learned the earth while we've carried the throne We dove under the rivers and under our clothes And I still have a prayer, as sure as my settling bones

Last I saw mother, she covered my ears When they caught me I offered the captain a beer 'cause the rabbit will run, and the lion has nothing to fear

We bricked up the garden and know what it means And we've all kissed a virgin as if she were clean And I still have a prayer, despite all the colors I've seen

And judgment is just like a cup that we share I'll jump over the wall and I'll wait for you there Well past the weeds in our vision of things to come

We've all heard the rooster and all been denied And we've seen through the haze and the spit in our eyes And I still have a prayer, a well-weathered word to the wise

Last I saw mother, she smelled like a rose When they caught me, the captain, he opened my nose 'cause the rabbit will run, and the wind takes a bird where it blows

We've all traded lovers and woke up alone And we've clapped for the king though our fingers were cold And I still have a prayer 'cause I love what I cannot control

Last I saw mother, she acted surprised When they caught me, the captain, he cried like a child Because the rabbit will run, good dogs together go wild

We've all lived in grace at the end of the day And we've armed all the children we thought we betrayed And I still have a prayer, but too few occasions to pray

And judgment is just like a cup that we share I'll jump over the wall and I'll wait for you there Well past the weeds in our vision of things to come

And we've all found a reason for hiding a gun And we've helped out a few if we've hurt anyone And I still have a prayer, and so be it, I've done what I've done

Last I saw mother, she blew me a kiss When they caught me, the cuffs cut the blood from my wrist Because the rabbit will run and the pig has to lay in it's piss

We've all given half to the hand in our face We've all taken a stone from the holiest place And I still have a prayer, and I've furthered the world in my wait

This my favourite song from Kiss each other clean so far. The song feels a little like Trapeze Swinger, as Sam Beam put it, it feels like you've been on a journey by the end of it.

First thoughts: could be that the narrator is an outlaw of some sort, the rabbit running and him getting caught could be allegory though.

The beginning of the song starts off with him young: "as sure as my settling bones" (vanity of youth "combing my hair") and the song has 4 main elements: the mother (family?), the prayer (faith?), the rabbit (narrator?) and the captain (antagonist?).

General thoughts:

• I believe the rabbit could signify the narrator
• The mother is always positively mentioned
• There's no hostility towards the captain
• Perhaps it's about coming to terms with your legacy, the things you've done
• Or perhaps he is the outlaw of sorts, pushing against the prevailing forces he's furthered the world. As sometimes the fringes of society are the first to push norms and bring progress

cool hand luke

In the first verse, it's 'Because the rabbit will run, as the colt does along with the mare.'

I previously said that in the first verse, it should be 'as the colt does along with the mare'. I now think it could also be 'as the cold does along with the mare', which would keep with the natural theme Beam creates, with all the natural references (animals being the most prominent).

Also, one of the lines in this interpretation is 'a hunger I cannot control', but it's definitely ''cause I love what I cannot control'.

The line that says 'we've cloud for the King though our fingers were cold' is wrong too, I think, and it should be 'we've clapped for the King though our fingers were cold'.

For me, this song is about a soldier and his growing disillusionment with war. The rabbit is the symbol of the thing he's hunting or seeking to destroy. Could be a concrete enemy, or it could be something as general as freedom. There's a derogatory tone towards the rabbit for running instead of accepting a duty.

As the song progresses, we see how the narrators frame of mind changes each time he compares himself to a different animal. At first he's a colt who has to be separated from his mother to work on the field. He's scared, but that's the way things go. Then he's a brave, bold lion with nothing to fear. He believes strongly in what he's doing.

In the middle of the song, the narrator starts to feel less engaged with his cause. It's less him running to fight and more just going where he's commanded to go, the way a bird's path is dictated by the wind.

The next time he visits his mother, she is surprised when she sees him. There is a realization when the captain comes to get him that even though they are good men, the war is changing them, making them cruel and wild, like dogs on a hunt.

The last time the narrator talks about being caught after visiting his mother, he says they take him away in hand cuffs, "Because the rabbit will run, and the pig has to lay in its piss." Perhaps he is being arrested for war crimes? He is sentenced to dwell on his mistakes for the rest of his life? Suddenly the rabbit is praised for running compared to the pig who has to live in its own excrement.

Social inequality

From Sam's Drowned In Sound interview:

"You know, it’s the ultimate rationalization with God. Everybody thinks, “have I been good?” or “what do I deserve? Should I do this, or that?” and you have the mother in there, so there’s some form of guilt. And he compares himself to all these animals, which all carry a different connotation. At the end of the day it’s more about redemption, and whether he feels or deserves or needs to be redeemed. It’s enough of a storyline to hopefully hold people’s interest, but I’m not interested in showing what the guy’s done."

This might be a personal interpretation, but to me this song signifies someone who was once molested as a child by the so-called "captain", the effect this had on him/her as a person, the people around him/her, the way the victim treated people because of what happened to them and the way in which this affected the victims view of relationships.

I believe the captain might have been a priest or religious figure, someone who was meant to give direction to others i.e. captain. prayer is also mentioned throughout the song, but always compared to the futility of prayer, perhaps the victim prayed a lot during this phase to understand but never received any answers, my personal favorite "And I still have a prayer 'cause I love what I cannot control".

anyway, the rabbit running is the captain, finding himself in the situation where people are confronting him about what he has done to this child. The victim doesn't quite grasp the situation, feeling the captain is a guest and bringing him a beer, being to young to understand what's been done.

I can mention many quotes to support my interpretation, but i still believe this is only my interpretation.

The victim also went on to hurt kids him/her-self. "And we've armed all the children we thought we betrayed". I believe this is what leads to the cuffs on the victim at the end, having become an abuser. the whole song has an anxious tone to it. Perhaps this song mentions the girl from "boy with a coin"?

Would enjoy hearing feedback :)

John Updike