Least Complicated

I think on the live CD, Emily says this song is about the first little boy she had a crush on in grade school or something. She bought him a toy ring and gave it to him and he rejected her and she ran away all upset.

What a fabulous song! Someone recovering from a breakup watching the purity of young love from a distance. There's bitterness in her thoughts, but she's affected by the simplicity of the kids.

Somehow, the personal component of this makes me think of "Something Real" from "All That We Let In". For some reason, I wonder if there's a connection between the boy she gave the ring to and the friend she left behind years ago.

What she actually says on "1200 Curfews" is, "This is a song I wrote- I was thinking about my little boyfriend in 6th grade, Danny. He was so cute, and I went to Woolworths and I bought him a ring with my allowance. And uh, as soon as I gave it to him, I knew that it- it wasn't the cool thing to do. And that was just the beginning- of the rest of my life! You have to laugh at yourself, because you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't."

I think that if you have ever come to realization that you are gay, this is a song that will make sense to you. I was hetersexualized at an early age, taught that I was to grow up and get married and pop out some kids. This never appealed to me, even early on, and I always thought something was wrong with with me. I tried very hard to hide from the fact that I was and always had been attracted to women, I tried to get the thoughts out of my head, I actually tried to be straight. Then I finally came to the conclusion that this was something that would always be with me, I loved women and that wasn't going to change no matter what. I started to accept the fact and flourish in it. So for me, the hardest thing to learn was my sexuality, but all along it was the only thing that was least complicated, something I knew all along.

You can't simply pretend that the Love you felt in the past didn't exist. You can't block out past feelings or relationships, no matter how much you'd like to. (See Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). The song conveys the notion that if you think you can "forget" about past loves by simply hiding out or, in a more modern sense, deleting them from your cell phone, you're probably wrong. Past relationships will always affect us, but we move on, taking them with us as we dare to enter into love again. "The heart will break, yet brokenly live on..."

I personally think this is one of those songs like "Blowin' in the Wind" or Faith No More's "Epic," a meditation on a general topic where the exact subject is intentionally ambiguous. Clearly there's a simple lesson that's hard to learn and easy to deny. What is it? That you'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling, i.e., you can't think or act your way out of love? That you can't skip or stop heartbreak? That you can't make someone love you if they don't? That your past affects your future? That the protagonist doesn't like boys in that way? All seem like valid interpretations, all inspired by the experiences that built the song and the imagery in it.

Since I brought them up, the other two songs, though probably not associated outside this comment, talk about something that's right in front of you yet can't be grasped. In the case of "Blowin'," it's probably an evident truth denied (sort of like "Least Complicated"), but it could be more like something on the tip of your tongue or something that just exists unknown; it's there, but you can't even name it, let alone know it, no matter how hard you try. In the case of "Epic," it's most likely sexual, although the exact act - or whether it's sexuality in general - is what remains ambiguous. Ambiguous enough that people can put their own non-sexual spin on it.

i like this song a lot. im surprised that theres only one comment for it. its just such a nice mellow sweet song. reminiscing about stuff. i like this song because it emphasizes simplicity. least complicated. no drama or pretention or analysis necessary. no stupid formulas for how to get close to someone like those found in stupid girly mags and all. just be. im just a mirror of a mirror myself. i dont understand all the lyrics though...im not sure what the ring represents. my first instinct is to think wedding ring, but traditionally, the guy gives it. but theres stuff about hiding in this song. sitting in the house, and resisting and staying hidden. away from the street that love has already left. she doesnt feel ready yet...before i think she was one of the people included in the "boy and girl are holding hands in the street." but after she broke up with whoever she's singing to, the street got empty of love, and now shes hiding two stories above. and she doesnt want to go back to the street to reopen her wounds. she cant start clean slated and risk love and all that again as if nothing had happened, so therefore she's conscienciously objecting and dodging the love draft lol. so she has to learn to love again. but she sits there watching above it all, seeing hte kids of the next generation in the street doign what she had done, go through teh whole relationship heartbreak thing just like she had. but shes afraid to dive in again and tries to reason and analyze, but then realizes that love is the least complicated emotion, though its hard to learn again. its sweet. so thats my take on the song. someone want to expand, agree or contradict me? :) a great song

"What made me think I could start clean slated?" is a great poetic line before the main one. I'm not so sure that it is about her homosexuality, I think this song is trying to convey the message that love isn't something you can force your way into understanding "You just stick the right formula in". Wouldn't it be nice if life were still that simple? She is admitting that she cannot comprehend everything.

This is one of the best songs I have ever heard in my life time.

I remember the first time I heard this song I was with my 1st girlfriend in high school. I love the lyrics is so innocent.