Ho Hey

I just discovered this song a few hours ago but it speaks to me right now and I'm really moved by it. The sound of this song and the video and the musicians and the rest of their catalogue that I am exploring seem filled with joy, honesty and "truth and beauty bombs." Although there is sadness in the lyrics about some decisions regretted or roads not taken I find that in my life it speaks directly to me at a time where it is not too late to make the decisions that make for a happy ending. This entire interpretation comes from that personal perspective of mine as advice coming from the future at a timely moment.

"I been trying to do it right I been living a lonely life I been sleepin' here instead I been sleepin' in my bed I been sleepin' in my bed" This sounds like a regretful lament about the dissatisfaction after choosing not to pursue a relationship, instead trying to make the smart, right or sensible decisions in life, not taking the wild leap, bowing out, waiting for the right time or for the situation or your state of mind and heart to be better. Instead of some reward for being sensible or safe or "doing it right" the singer is left feeling lonely with a missed opportunity.

"So show me family All the blood that I will bleed" Although this may be a stretch, I can read this from my perspective as asking for an image or vision of the "family" or relationship the singer could have built with that partner, of the "blood" ties or family bonds and experiences they could have created or "bled" together... I think I may be stretching the lyrics toward where I want them to go here, but the words and connotations and imagery here are powerful even if the meaning is not as fully clear as the rest to me.

"I don't know where I belong I don't know where I went wrong But I can write a song" This is much clearer to me as feeling lost after passing on this relationship, as though their place in life and sense of belonging in their own present is decreased, even though the singer cannot see which step or choice they could have made or done differently. Even with this confusion and uncertainty about what was done wrong or where to go next, the singer can still summon up their art in the form of writing a song to express what they are feeling inside their heart instead of the more rationale choices or the ideas in their head about sadness and regret.

"I belong with you, you belong with me You're my sweetheart I belong with you, you belong with me You're my sweet-(Ho Hey Ho Hey)" In the singer's heart (and in their "art" which I see in the chorus which is the "song they can write") the confusion melts away and the misgivings or regrets are not relevant, only the pure emotional conviction that even though they chose not to be together there is a certainty that they do belong together as sweethearts.

"I don't think you're right for him Think of what it might have been if we Took a bus to Chinatown I'd be standin' on Canal and Bowery And she'd be standin' next to me" I can't really improve on bellabella's excellent interpretation here about the bus to Chinatown signifying a specific instance or point in the chain of choices where the two lovers could have changed it all and gone down the road not taken, which might have brought them to Canal and Bowery (apparently the most famous place in the world to buy engagement rings) and then to a happy life together. I do love the subtle sort of caring touch I sense when the singer refrains from being directly dismissive or aggressive against the person his would-be-partner chose instead. To me saying "I don't think you're right for him" instead of something directly putting down the new partner does make it seem more like the singer is still caring for and a looking out for the partner they love and wishing for the greater happiness they could have together had they made the choice to take the "bus to Chinatown" when they had that opportunity.

"Love we need it now Let's hope for some Cause oh, we're bleedin' out" I think this reads to me in two ways:

1. Again showing a concern for their mutual happiness, instead of just the singer's own, and claiming that being together would stop the slow pain and diminishing that stemmed from choosing to be apart.
2. A general statement to the world at large about a need for love, and to pursue it and share it and reach for it, because the lack of love given, taken and shared is causing all of us collectively to wither and bleed out.