Exhibit A
We are friends in a sleeping bag splitting the heat
We have one filthy pillow to share and your lips are in my hair
Someone upstairs has a rat that we laughed at
And people are drinking
And singing bad Scarborough Fair on a ukulele tear

Exhibit B
Well, we found an apartment
It???s not much to look at
A futon on a floor
Torn-off desktop for a door
All the decor's made of milk crates and duct tape
And if we have sex
They can hear us through the floor
But we don???t do that anymore

And I lay there wondering, what is the matter?
Is this a matter of worse or of better?
You took the blanket, so I took the bedsheet
But I would have held you if you'd only

Let me

Exhibit C
Look how quaint
And how quiet and private
Our paychecks have bought us a condo in town
It's the nicest flat around
You picked a mattress and had it delivered
And I walked upstairs
And the sight of it made my heart pound
And I wrapped my arms around me

And I stood there wondering, what is the matter?
Is this a matter of worse or of better?
You walked right past me and straightened the covers
But I would still love you if you wanted a lover
And you said
All the money in the world
Won't buy a bed so big and wide
To guarantee that you won't accidentally touch me
In the night

Exhibit D
Now we're both mostly paralyzed
Don't know how long we've been lying here in fear
Too afraid to even feel
I find my glasses and you turn the light out
Roll off on your side
Like you've rolled away for years
Holding back those king-size tears

And I still don't ask you, what is the matter?
Is this a matter of worse or of better?
You take the heart failure
I'll take the cancer
I've long stopped wondering why you don't answer

Exhibit E
You can certainly see how fulfilling a life
From the cost and size of stone of our final resting home
We got some nice ones right under a cherry tree
You and me lying the only way we know
Side by side and still and cold

And I finally ask you, what was the matter?
Was it a matter of worse or of better?
You stretch your arms out and finally face me
You say I would have told you

If you'd only asked me
If you'd only asked me
If you'd only asked me


Lyrics submitted by melismatan

The Bed Song Lyrics as written by Amanda Palmer

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

The Bed Song song meanings
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3 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    I love "we got some nice ones right under a cherry tree, you and me lying the only way we know: side by side and still and cold" and it wasn't until recently that I had an epiphany that Amanda may be alluding to the story of George Washington cutting down the cherry tree.

    daretheghoston January 03, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love this song how it presents romance and love like an museum exhibit defining important things in (her?) life.

    zeroZon September 03, 2013   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    It's about how people in relationships gradually drift apart, and stop communicating, and how terrible this can be emotionally. There's nothing about materialism. The point she's making is how, when you're in your twenties, etc, all you really have is each other, but gradually life pulls you apart until you have everything except each other.

    zeroZon October 10, 2013   Link

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