1 Meaning
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A

Wisteria Lyrics

Let's not drive away just yet
Give me a moment more
To walk through those rooms again
To walk through that door

If we turn off the radio
I've only to close my eyes
And the wind in the sycamores
Will carry me home

The vine of my memory
Is blooming around those eaves
But it's true it's a chore to tame wisteria

I'm tempted to ring the bell
Mayber they'd let me in
Or maybe it's just as well
To let just be

Remember the price we paid?
It wseemed like a lot back then
Remember the love we made
The day we moved in?

(chorus)
1 Meaning

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Add your thoughts...
Cover art for Wisteria lyrics by Richard Shindell

When asked, on twitter in early 2023, about the meaning of the song, Shidell responded:

"Circa '94 I heard a story about a Bosnian Muslim family in Sarajevo during the siege, humans trying to stay maintain their humanity while during a genocide. One daughter was determined to carry on with her flute lessons. She was the spark.

Onto meaning, which is more complicated. Again, I prefer to let songs lead their own lives. But it was written such a long time ago. It feels now almost like someone else's song. In a way, it is. That puts me in a similar position to any other listener.

Hearing it now I think of Russia's genocidal invasion of Ukraine, and the word "nowhere" as referring to the strategy of severing a people's identification with, connection to, presence in and memory of a place.

But why "nowhere"? Isn't that what the aggressor seeks, to make a nowhere of one people's place in order to make it a somewhere for others? The choice of "nowhere" is a risky one. But I interpret it as an affirmation of the girl's (a people’s) subjective agency.

Yes, her place is a real place, and it is hers. But it's also history, memory, society, kinship, language, and culture. It lives as long as she and they keep practicing."

Song Meaning
 
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

Ask a question...