Fare thee well
Trade in all our words for tea and sympathy
Wonder why we tried for things that could never be
Play our hearts lament like an unrehearsed symphony

Not intend
To leave this castle full of empty rooms
Our love the captive in the tower never rescued
And all the victory songs
Seem to be playing out of tune

But it's not the way
That it has to be
Don't trade our love for tea and sympathy
'Cause it's not the way
That it has to be

You begin
And all your words fall to the floor and break like china cups
And the waitress grabs a broom and tries to sweep them up
I reach for my tea and slowly drink in

[Chorus]
'Cause it's not the way
That it has to be
Don't trade our love for tea and sympathy
'Cause it's not the way
That it has to be
Don't trade our love for tea and sympathy

So fare thee well
Words the bag of leaves that fill my head
I could taste the bitterness and call the waitress instead
She holds the answer, smiles and asks one teaspoon or two

[Chorus: x2]

Don't trade us for tea and sympathy
Don't trade us for tea and Sympathy
We can work it out
Don't trade us for tea and Sympathy
Don't trade us for tea and Sympathy
We can work it out
Don't trade us for tea and Sympathy
We can work it out


Lyrics submitted by limegreenguitar

Tea and Sympathy Lyrics as written by Mark Hudson Greg Wells

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol CMG Publishing

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Tea And Sympathy song meanings
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22 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    The "tea" in this song refers to things said between two people who love each other. Some of the words are harsh and misunderstood, and "fall to the floor and break like china cups", whereas some of them are calmly and carefully spoken, "slowly dr[u]nk in". The waitress tries to clean up the broken words, and later offers sugar. They taste the "bitterness" of the words spoken, and the waitress offers sugar to sweeten the "tea" -- meaning they need to "sweeten" the words.

    This all might sound silly, but they've put a lot of analogies into the song. The waitress represents a kind of common sense -- trying to fix the mistake of using harsh words, and trying to find better words to use. The tea represents the words being spoken, and the bag of leaves represents those not yet said (not yet mixed).

    japhyon April 19, 2002   Link

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