Low Light Buddy of Mine Lyrics
He's a buddy of mine but I can't complain.
He knows you never look til the lights are low.
So we never demand and we never agree
And there's a new fruit humming in the old fruit trees
He's jealous of me and what we've got
But he can never end up where I found you
So we don't talk back and we don't say please
And there's new fruit humming in the old fruit trees
He's a buddy of mine, but that won't last
We both took him for when he showed up.
So we both get stuck and we both get free.
And there's a new fruit humming in the old fruit trees
The 'buddy' seems to be a very sneaky, dishonest friend of the main character in this song. He's waiting for the "light to change" and the "rain to pass" in the guy's relationship so that he can swoop in. That he "never looks till the lights are low" means that he always claims that he doesn't do or say a nasty thing intentionally, and sort of tries to sabotage his friend's relationship without him knowing. Of course, this is all from the narrator's perspective, so even if my assessment is correct, the situation might be a different one, since it seems to be very subtle and subdued.
It sounds to me like the "buddy" is a past self that he wants to forget. He sees how he was and is grateful that he is who is today. He realizes all that he has, all the pleasures and comfort of a new found companionate love, could never have been found if he was still as he had been. It's a song about change in a person, "new fruit humming in the old fruit tree".
Interesting. I was thinking that maybe "Buddy" is the third person of a lovers triangle, an ex-boyfriend of hers and an old friend of his, but that friendship "won't last" since 'he loves her and she loves he', and new fruit's 'humming' in the two main lovers' trees (maybe new fruit humming is a reference to rekindled desire?).
Interesting. I was thinking that maybe "Buddy" is the third person of a lovers triangle, an ex-boyfriend of hers and an old friend of his, but that friendship "won't last" since 'he loves her and she loves he', and new fruit's 'humming' in the two main lovers' trees (maybe new fruit humming is a reference to rekindled desire?).
I think leesKay is right, but the buddy is a new guy, just temporarily. They will get back together.
I think leesKay is right, but the buddy is a new guy, just temporarily. They will get back together.
During an interview Sam commented that this song was about a threesome.
@jed kingston for reals. he and his lady brought in a third to mix it up... discomfort follows.
@jed kingston for reals. he and his lady brought in a third to mix it up... discomfort follows.
ps. all of the Ghost on Ghost lyrics on here are horribly inaccurate.
ps. all of the Ghost on Ghost lyrics on here are horribly inaccurate.
To me this song is about three gay men. The man in the white car is someone who isn't out, perhaps even still in a heterosexual relationship. He is jealous of the narrator's relation with his boyfriend or maybe just the narrator's gay friends. He will never come out, he will never end up in a healthy relationship with another man but he might do some naughty things with other men in the parking lot. Maybe he had a threesome with the narrator and his partner? I imagine gay men are a little bit more sexually open than the rest of us, but still the narrator need to calm his partner down to avoid jealousy. Also the sentence about 'fruit humming' leads me to think of gay men.
I think this poem shouldn't be over-analyzed. For me it's obvious in its simiplicity. It's about an ex-partner who has started going out with someone else, who may have more obvious qualities, or at least seem to ("He can make a lot of money, he can touch his toes" and "He can rattle his bell in shining shoe") and the storyteller might even have at some point joined the party (making Sam's words about the song being a threesome believable) but the new guy knows, just as well as they do, that he will never really have with her what they have. Their love is not really challenged by him and they are a still team. I'm guessing the threesome ended up in the original twosome.
She's the buddy.
She's the buddy.
Oops, sorry. He's the buddy, but only in the low-light. Not a real buddy ("it won't last"). It's obvious.
Oops, sorry. He's the buddy, but only in the low-light. Not a real buddy ("it won't last"). It's obvious.