La Cienega Just Smiled

I think the song is about him having an affair with a younger girl, who ends up being his true love. I think he is battling with the fact she is younger, he fears this is just infatuation for her and not really true love and so daren’t risk what he has in fear the young girl will grow tiresome and leave him eventually anyway. However, I don’t think he leaves her, I think she leaves him, despite her love for him, knowing he will never believe her and has to be cruel to be kind and set him free in the misguided knowledge he will one day get over her. I think this is an incredibly sad and romantic song about two people who love each other so much they believe that by being apart, no matter how much it hurts, it is the right thing to do for the sake of the other person. It is out of pure love they have to break away from each other. I think he is trying to justify the split, with excuses such as her age and her faked nonchalance.

"Ah the night...here it comes again It's on with the jeans, the jacket and the shirt"

• I think this is him remembering the begin of the affair, the little extra effort he made with his appearance, the excitement of this new relationship, the night that he has been looking forward to all day when he gets to see her.

"How'd I end up feeling so bad For such a little girl"

• This is confession at falling for the girl when he obviously didn’t think he would. It emphasises how incredible he sees this girl to be, she won him over when he obviously sees this is as a near impossible thing to do, and he’s asking how she managed to make him fall so deep. It’s also a hint at her being younger than him, he’s saying he should have known better, i.e. an older woman might have been able to trick him, but how could a young innocent girl have such an effect on his emotions, he should have been more in control.

"And I hold you close in the back of my mind"

• This could be a hint that the end of this relationship has come, but that he will never forget her. In his mind they will always be with each other, he will always really belong to her and vice versa. This is also a hint that their relationship/affair will always remain secret, he cannot tell anyone, just bury his memories and his love for her in a place where no one can take it away from him.

"Feels so good but damn it makes me hurt And I'm too scared to know to how I feel about you now"

• I think these lines signify that he never intended to fall so deep. Perhaps it is forbidden, he is trying to deny the feelings he has for her. It is him reminding himself that no matter how much he loves her, it is because of these very feelings that it had to end.

"La Cienega just smiles..."see ya around"

• His view of her reaction is one of acceptance but it’s a forced acceptance. They both knew from the start they could never be together exclusively. She is putting on a brave face for him.

"And raise my glass 'cause either way I'm dead Neither of you really help me to sleep anymore One breaks my body and the other breaks my soul"

• He knows that he must get out of this self pity; even if he had left his woman/wife/long term partner and risked everything for this girl, there would still be no perfect ending as it would cause so much pain. Whatever he does there will be heartache, it’s a lose-lose situation anyway. He realises the amount of heartache this girl and the affair they’ve been having has already caused him as it is. These are almost fake feelings though as it because he loves her so much he has to try and justify the split with whatever reason he can think of to stop himself returning to her. The raising his glass is the realisation that he has to keep smiling and carry on, he has to hide his heartache and carry on as normal, perhaps to his family, wife or friends he could never tell of his affair to.

"La Cienega just smiles as it waves goodbye"

• I think this part is the study of her goodbye, deep down he is searching for something to change this goodbye, he doesn’t want it to be happening. He hates how clinical and matter of fact it is. He hates how she is being the mature one, when he, the older one should be taking that role when instead he is breaking inside. He hates the weakness he feels about himself for having to let her be the one to make the cut, to put on the brave face for him.

"Ah the night...here it comes again It's off with the jeans, the jacket and the shirt"

• This time when he remarks about the night coming again, it is said in a feeling of monotony, back to the dull nights again. The taking off of the clothes is a metaphor for the lies coming off, a sense of relief almost though there are also stronger connotations of a feeling of sadness at not having this little girl to impress anymore. He no longer cares, the happy, vibrant person he was with the girl has been left behind, he back to his quiet, boring, usual self. It is ‘off’ with the lies, the deceit and the facade but even more so it is off with the contentment, the happiness, the love and the feeling of inner peace this girl brought him.

I think that he calls this girl 'La Cienega' is perhaps that if is a girl he's had an affair with he has been used to having a fake name for her, perhaps on his phone/email/hotels etc. As 'La Ceinega' is spanish for 'marsh' or 'swamp' it could also connate that she is foreign to him and his world yet an exotic and welcome intrusion on his once boring exsistance, however, the translation of 'marsh' suggests this once foreign girl has become his one familiarity. The choice of 'marsh/swamp' could also be a metaphor for her completely consuming him and sucking him into her.