Wishes

I'm VERY surprised that I haven't seen any comments where anyone points out the obvious meaning of the main lyrics "Wishes on a wheel". I think of it like this - the wheel is the kind of wheel you'd see on the price is right or something like that. A spinning wheel that you spin and never know what you're going to get.

Wishes would be things you want in life, things you wish for. You never know where the wheel lands, you never know what you're going to get. Wishes on a wheel.

I took this song to be from the perspective of a suicidal student who questions if life is even reality. "The roses on the lawn Don't know which side you're on" Is he asking on which side of the roses you are on (left right) or on what side of the lawn you are on (above or beneath, meaning dead)

" In a daze it will change" Saying "It will change" means that the changing of sides will not be optional. It's going to happen (Death), and the kid's perspective that the transition from life to death, from this reality to this "other" reality will happen in a daze, thus there is no ending but merely a transition.

" Wishes on a wheel" or perhaps bullets in a gun. Wishes on a wheel

"The voices in the hall Will carry on their talking Carry weight you can't take" Referring to the pain he is experiencing from gossip, peer pressure, bullying, or whatever. Notice he said in the hall, which leads us to believe this is happening in school.

" Wishes on a wheel" Is it even real?" Again questioning this reality as the true reality. Alluding that there may be something more elsewhere.

"The contact that you make The moment when a memory aches" Expressing that pain is the result of his connection with life. Literally contact creates memories that result in pain.

" Who can tell? You do it well" In spite of this pain, others around him can't tell that he is suffering because he is putting on a great face in spite of how life is impacting him.

Wishes on a wheel " How's it supposed to feel?" Life is "supposed" to be good and living a joy, but this person is asking "how are these painful experiences supposed to feel, because they aren't feeling like how life is being advertised. In other words, he's asking how should I be interpreting what's happening to me, because I just interpret pain.

"One in your life It happens once and rarely twice One in your life It happens once and rarely twice" This one is tricky because it says it happens once, meaning that it is not optional. It's not that it can happen, but that it will happen. And yet it is possible to happen twice. I thought of growing up physically (which will happen once) and perhaps growing up in maturity (which happens rarely), but that didn't fit the rest of the song. I'm left with him talking about death. It does happen once, and rarely twice for those who have the "near death experiences" where they are legally dead and yet come back.

"The roses on the lawn Won't know which side you're on" Again referring to not sure of reality, being dead or alive.

"On that hill Forever still" This line clinched it for me. On the hill, forever still. In a word dead. But listen to his voice and the music at this point. It is so beautiful, as if this person is imagining the peace and tranquility that will be found in death. An escape from the things he mentioned before. The weight he can't bear, the aching memories from each contact with life.

Wishes on a wheel How's it supposed to feel? Wishes on a wheel Wishes on a wheel

Really wish I had a different interpretation but I can't get away from this one.

I was contemplating the meaning of this and so I looked for other's opinions. Here's Pitchfork's take anyways.

First off, they generalize this whole album: "Bloom has a definite thematic fascination with idle youth and the bittersweet residue that remains once it's gone." Then they go onto talk about this track specifically... "Toward the end comes a mid-tempo, quietly spectacular song called "Wishes", on which Legrand sings about "the moment when a memory aches." It might be tempting to call that feeling nostalgia. But the sort of nostalgia Bloom employs feels so distant from the definition that word has taken on lately when we talk about music. What they do feels not just wonderfully self-contained but improbably intimate: It's a huge testament to Legrand and Scally that, although they're one of the most popular bands in the indiesphere at the moment, their music still has the hushed air of an overheard secret."

My uninformed interpretation: The song has to do with a death and the grieving process. Maybe some guilt over not grieving as much as you feel you're obliged to, or maybe being in such shock that you can't seem to behave as you ought to. The wishes could be wishing the person didn't die, or wishing you could feel the pain you know is coming.

The roses on the lawn Don't know which side you're on

(Roses are indifferent to you. Whether you're alive or dead, or how you feel inside)

In a daze it will change

(I read this as "[You're] in a daze [but] [that] will change" i.e. the shock that someone has died will disappear and you will leave the daze and feel the grief)

Wishes on a wheel Wishes on a wheel

The voices in the hall Will carry on their talking Carry weight you can't take

(This strikes me as a grown-up conversation taking place just out of earshot for a youth. Weight you can't take might be the death, which would be supported in a later line...)

Wishes on a wheel Is it even real?

(Is that person really dead?)

The contact that you make The moment when a memory aches Who can tell? You do it well

(Grief finally sets in, but you cannot express it "properly")

Wishes on a wheel How's it supposed to feel?

(confusion over why the loss isn't felt the way it's "supposed" to be felt)

One in your life It happens once and rarely twice One in your life It happens once and rarely twice

(this type of disarming shock from death only hits you once? 'm not sure about this part.)

The roses on the lawn Won't know which side you're on On that hill Forever still

(The roses don't know you're in a grave, why have them at a funeral?)

Wishes on a wheel How's it supposed to feel? Wishes on a wheel Wishes on a wheel

dammit I love this song!!

this song reminds me of a mad men episode called the wheel, the episode's tone fits the lyrics and sound of the song, so so beautiful. she sings this song with so much emotion!

Best song on 2012. It sounds like the last sing I would like to hear before dying.

'The roses on the lawn Don't know which side you're on' - She/He doesn't know if (s)he's special like a rose or if (s)he's just like everybody else, just green lawn.

'In a daze it will change' - She's about to find out! 'Wishes on a wheel' - Her/his wishes is spinning.

'The voices in the hall Will carry on their talking Carry when you can't take' - People are going to talk good things about they both, even if sometimes, they can't believe there are good things to talk about them.

'Wishes on a wheel Is it even real?' - S(he)'s in doubt about their love.

'The contact that you make' - with their eyes, their touch. 'The moment when a memory aches' - when s(he) thinks about the good times they spend together. 'Who can tell?' - Who lived a love like their love?

'Wishes on a wheel How's it supposed to feel?' - S(he) doesn't know how to feel, happy or sad.

'One in your life It happens once and rarely twice' - Real love just happen one time in live, and a few times, twice.

'The roses on the lawn Won't know which side you're on On that hill Forever still' - It doesn't matter if s(he)'s a rose or green lawn, s(he) was loyal and it's all that matters.

I think the line "On that hill, forever still" is about idealizing aspects of a past relationship in one's mind. The hill represents the curve many relationships take. At first it's nothing, and then it builds and peaks before it starts to destruct.

In our memories we can live at the top of that "hill" forever, whereas in the real world things continually change.

My first impression was this song is about death.

"The roses on the lawn Don't know which side you're on"

The roses don't know if you are above or below the dirt, don't know if you are dead and buried or walking around. One side of the dirt is the living and the other the dead.

"One in your life It happens once and rarely twice"

You die, once in your life you die. I don't think this was a reference to love, some people fall in love all the time, it's not something that happens only once. It is rare but some people have reported coming back from the dead, out of body experiences that sort of thing.