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Bernadette Lyrics
You and me in a playhouse
Living in a veil
We never need to go without
Memories bring no joy or peace
We are alone and all we need
Tuning out of their poison
Every waking day
Intolerance to overcome
Fortunes won by the boys with their guns
We are alone, nowhere to run
Bernadette, you are my liberty
I celebrate the day
that you changed my history
Of life and death
We'll always lead you into love and regret
But you have answers and I have the key
For the door to Bernadette
Winding down our emotions
Family and friends becoming ghosts to dream of
And pass on time we erase
Every face, every name
We are alone, no one to blame
Bernadette, you are my liberty
I celebrate the day
that you changed my history
Of life and death
We'll always lead you into love and regret
But you have answers and I have the key
To Bernadette
Living in a veil
We never need to go without
Memories bring no joy or peace
We are alone and all we need
Every waking day
Intolerance to overcome
Fortunes won by the boys with their guns
We are alone, nowhere to run
I celebrate the day
that you changed my history
Of life and death
We'll always lead you into love and regret
But you have answers and I have the key
For the door to Bernadette
Family and friends becoming ghosts to dream of
And pass on time we erase
Every face, every name
We are alone, no one to blame
I celebrate the day
that you changed my history
Of life and death
We'll always lead you into love and regret
But you have answers and I have the key
To Bernadette
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Bmg Rights Management
Writer
Christopher Corner
Duration
5:22
Submitted by
kwosan On Mar 21, 2011
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I don't know if Bernadette is a real woman but I suspect not. I think the carnivalesque swirl of this song is intended to convey her illusory status. She's the dreamgirl Chris hopes will make him whole, an imaginary being in the unhinged circus of these volatile times. Or, Chris Corner's ideal bearded lady. With her comes a new history of perpetual "nowness"; freedom and the abolition of his own loneliness through their shared loneliness. "Together as one, against all others"
Ultranaut I would say how it really is.
Ultranaut I would say how it really is.
IAMX member Janine Gezang is Chris Corners love and her real name is Bernadette. Look closer and see their insane connection, it's obvious and it's so beautiful.
IAMX member Janine Gezang is Chris Corners love and her real name is Bernadette. Look closer and see their insane connection, it's obvious and it's so beautiful.
That is quite wonderful then, I am happy Chris found someone real who can inspire him to create such incredible music!
That is quite wonderful then, I am happy Chris found someone real who can inspire him to create such incredible music!
Bernadette is a (healthy) solitude.
I have two options for what i think this song is about:
Bernadette was the lover of the singer, who passed away most likely due to war (Fortunes won by the boys with the guns) and the singer either imagines she is still with him, or is truly back as a ghost, but she can't remember who he is or anything they went through (Memories bring no joy or peace/Family and friends becoming ghosts to dream of and pass on, time will erase every face, every name) He tries to get her to remember everything they went through (But you have answers, and I have the key for the door to Bernadette) but its no use, and by the end he comes to accept that she is truly gone, and lets himself move on (Bernadette, you are my liberty. I celebrate the day that you changed my history)
The singer is obsessively in love with a woman, Bernadette, who he kidnaps and keeps to himself (You and me in our playhouse, living in a veil. We never need to go without, memories bring no joy or peace We are alone and all we need) hoping she'll forget all her friends, family, and her life before him (Family and friends becoming ghosts to dream of and pass on, time will erase every face, every name. We are alone) Inevitably his love of her is fruitless, as he is caught and imprisoned (I celebrate the day that you changed my history of life and death)
Makes sense or?
@Thund3randrain But she’s smarter than that and sees his evil plan. And won’t let him isolate her and make her dependent on him.
@Thund3randrain But she’s smarter than that and sees his evil plan. And won’t let him isolate her and make her dependent on him.
@Thund3randrain Because he was never man enough to actually spend time with her, which just left her always lonely. Not sweet or romantic. Makes sense or??
@Thund3randrain Because he was never man enough to actually spend time with her, which just left her always lonely. Not sweet or romantic. Makes sense or??
Everybody is talking about a person, but there's a lyric that questions me. What are "The keys to Bernadette" ? Is Bernadette really a person? I agree with katarina10 who says that Bernadette is a healthy solitude. That we're in a world where people are so toxic ("Fortunes won by the boys with the guns") that solitude is maybe the best option.
But again I'm going to contradict myself, at the end of the song, the music slows down and the singer only whistles after saying the name of Bernadette. I'd analyse this part as the singer dying alone, regretting his choices of life, because finally, loneliness wasn't worth it, and they still think about their old happy memories
[Edit: edited because I listened to the song and listened to the end]