3 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
In Love But Not At Peace Lyrics
Love took a long time, it followed me here
And it landed on light feet, and it whispered in my ear
Love spoke of my past as a valuable test
And smiled, and said, "She who loves last loves best."
'cause you know life is hard, but now you also know your mind
So now you're going out to love, but on your own side this time
Where you still think of famine, and you still dig up train fare
And you won't mind the wrinkles cause you'll know how they got there
In love but not at peace, in love but not at peace
Once for me love was the boat inside of a bottle, it felt like a gondola ride
When you float with the nick-nacks, and you don't hear a sound
Where the fish never lived, and you don't miss the ground
And the moon hangs above like a valium pill
And I say I'll be fine, but I don't think that I will
But today I got work, and I like it that way
It's a case of a still life gone cinema verité
In love but not at peace, in love but not at peace
And I still need the beauty of words sung and spoken
And I live with the fear that my spirit will be broken.
And that's the way I thought it would be
And that's the way I always wanted it to be
So I'll keep you wondering what time I'm arriving
And you'll drive me crazy with your back seat driving
And I'll talk in my sleep, and you'll steal all the covers
We'll argue it out, and we'll call ourselves lovers
And I'll stay in my body, and you'll stay in your own
'cause we know that we're born and we're dying alone
So we turn out the light while the sirens are screaming
And we kiss for the waking, and then join the dreaming
In love but not at peace, in love but not at peace
Song Info
Submitted by
aur0ra On Dec 05, 2001
More Dar Williams
Iowa (Traveling III)
When I Was a Boy
As Cool As I Am
February
The Christians and the Pagans
When I first listened to this song, I thought it was about a love that was quiet and everyday. Just getting through the day together, not roses and tripping through the daisies kind of love. Now when I listen to it, I hear it as this woman who settled for a love that did not bring her any peace, and how it's not perfect. They call themselves lovers, but they know they'll still die alone.
I dont think this song points out either way what kind of love she is in. I don't really know of many loves that involve peace, except for the loves that take years to get to, the kind no one really writes songs about, and this song seems like something i would write after being with someone for a year or so... anyway. This song points out more key things i feel when i'm in love. "i live with the fear that my spirit will be broken' and "'cause we know that we're born and we're dying alone" because when it comes right down to it, we will all die alone... death is very much an experience for an individual, not a couple (grief, of course, is not)
It's about falling in love later in life, and how that's a different - and similar - experience to the kind of love you experience when you are young.
I especially love the line "and you won't mind the wrinkles 'cause you know how they got there."