Why I Like The Robins

This song reminds me of a Summer rain storm. Or the way it feels right after a Summer rain. I'm not sure why.

This song is nothing short of beautiful to me. It feels like a deep love, care, devotion and companionship. If I’m being entirely honest it’s hard to listen to this song without crying sometimes. The use of the animal, the robin is something not lost on me in thematic purpose. They’re a kind of nostalgic animal, to me anyway. I used to see them all the time as a kid along with Blue Jays and Woodpeckers. They’re a bird, free, with soft yet striking colours. The exchanging roles in the lyrics, “So hand me the glasses and teach me how to use them, I want to look to.” (Asking for the other person to show them where to look or how to be directed in what they should want, to meet each other in that shared emotion / or alternatively “I want to look too”, as well making it a shared experience / defining connection) It feels entirely raw and pure, especially with the lyrics afterward being, “I’ll take the glasses and cover for you, you get some sleep and I’ll stay till 2.” The act of doing something for another person, staying with them when they’re asleep is a very intimate action. The concept of “covering” for the other person and doing something for them while they’re asleep, and staying later, maybe than expected. There’s a clear nostalgic quality to this song, it taps into the memory and invokes feelings. “She’s looking for birds she met last fall, who said they’d come back different than all. She’s waiting for six who know about sound and promised to come back upside down.” These lyrics show that in my opinion. As well as the way the rest of the song continues in changing parts of this lyric. > “I’m looking for six who know about sound. We promise to come back upside down.” Once it becomes we it’s then shifted to the last lyrics being, “She’s got colours to spare and I don’t care what they choose. I’ve got nothing to do and nothing like you left to lose.” I can’t entirely explain it but to me that is the perfect ending to this song. Almost like a declaration or straightforward showing of affection and previous underlying emotion now brought forward. It feels of yearning, maybe desperate, severe desire for connection and to be with one another. It’s solely of love and want. “Nothing like you left to lose” feels exactly like that, in terms of a statement. The individual feels that they’ve never had anything like this, that this is maybe the only thing they’re concerned about losing. That this woman bears a greater importance in their life, and to me, that is beautiful. This song hurts in all of the right ways to me. I couldn’t understand the lyrical content being lost on someone, it’s straight forward and simultaneously entirely poetic / elusive. This song makes me think of a love that transcends time, if that makes sense at all. Makes you feel connected to a past version of yourself, a younger self. A love that makes you feel as though you were never strangers for a moment and have known each other in “every lifetime” so to speak. This song bears heavy on me, I feel a deep attachment to it and it will always be one of my top Hum songs if not single-handedly my favourite Hum song.

This song seems to be about love and how you'd do anything for them...

the way this song builds up is perfect

I absolutely love HUM; they’ve been my favorite band since 1994, and I still listen to their albums monthly (usually on a road trip since they’re great from start to finish).

Back in college, I dissected “You’d Prefer an Astronaut” as term paper for an English comp class (we had to pick a piece of literature, and I argued the lyrics were poetry; the prof agreed). I no longer have the paper, but I still recall the gist of it.

For as beautiful and ethereal as the lyrics are, the album tells a relatively simple but heartfelt story of a relationship’s inception, duration and aftermath. In short: Little Dipper — two “star-crossed lovers” get together despite parental disapproval

The Pod — This relationship used to rock, but now it’s full of drug-related drama

Stars — The girl is becoming disillusioned, feeling that she’s missed better opportunities in life because of the choice to be together; resentment builds

The Suicide Machine — this is the man’s perspective. He feels like he’s stuck in a boring rut of the same old B.S.; drugs help him cope.

Very Old Man — the decision is made to break up. Ironically, the climax of the story is “softly recorded”

Why I like the Robins — After the break-up, the woman is hoping that all the guys who used to want her still will. The guy just wants to sleep around.

I’d Like your Hair Long — He’s annoyed and conflicted because he wants her back, but not the way she was. He’s angry that she wasn’t what he expected.

I Hate it Too — meaningless sex isn’t as awesome as it sounds; he misses her.

Songs of Farewell and Departure — this is kinda like when a play has a narrator who leaves the audience with some final thoughts about the “moral of the story” that was just told. So, the last few songs are almost like the stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Eventually, the guy copes and is alright.

I think this song is about how much Michael Jackson adores and misses his little "kiddies" that he grew to love, now that he's move to Bumbfuck Egypt!! Either way, this song is so damned melodic and clean sounding it's sickening. I wished that more people knew about Hum.