Spider In The Snow

The Dismemberment Plan

The only thing worse than bad memories
Is no memories at all
From the age of 20 to 22 I had five friends
None of whose names I can recall
And as I would walk down K Street to some temping job
As winter froze the life out of fall
Yeah, I must’ve been having a ball, yeah
Different scene outside your window now
Same VCR, same cats
Different people at the very same job
Similar alley, different rats
The trash goes out on a Tuesday now
You got to make a note about that
Yeah, this time you’re where it’s at
You can’t say it but I know it’s in there
You don’t know it but I know that you’re scared
Obvious, alone —a spider in the snow
Now you find the very same pit still yawns
Deep down within the very same gut
The very same ghosts still seem to haunt you down
Down those lines you always tried to cut
You thought you just might need a little change
And now you find you got nothing but
How can a body move the speed of light
And still find itself in such a rut?
You can’t say it but I know it’s in there
You don’t know it but I know that you’re scared
Obvious, alone—afraid to not let go
You can’t say it but I know it’s in there
You don’t know it but I know that you’re scared
Obvious, alone—a spider in the snow


Lyrics submitted by 66exeter, edited by ZeroOne

Spider In The Snow song meanings
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3 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment
    This song is about a person going out of their way to avoid any kind of close ties with anyone else. During a low period in his/her life the protagonist of the song had five friends/acquaintances, and cannot remember any of their names just a short time later. He/she works in a temp job, daily doing the same labor amongst a group of strangers, forming a bond with no one. The protagonist is afraid of getting close but doesn't even realize it. The narrator tries to impress this point on the protagonist, but it never sticks. The protagonist just keeps doing busy-work like to take away the sting of being alone. I'm not 100% sure what a spider in the snow has to do with any of this, but I imagine it is a way of saying the protagonist feels cold, alone, exposed (a black spider would stand out against white snow). JMHO.
    PBCrunchon September 04, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    I don't know that the protagonist in this song is specifically going out of his way to avoid ties, but that he is untied and lost and lonely and doesn't make the effort to make the ties because they just aren't coming to him. It's typical post-collegiate depression after being a part of something as rich and constantly active as collegiate life, being out on your own with no friends, working temp jobs to make a living will make anyone feel lost, alone, and confused. And I think your Spider in the Snow theory is dead on, PBCrunch.
    TheBMon October 12, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    i love the "trash goes out on a tuesday now, gonna have to make a note about that" bit. something so mundane is of note to your week, until it too fades into routine. This song and The City make me feel quite similar. any1 else get this?
    InfiniteJesteron December 08, 2004   Link

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