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Next Time 'Round Lyrics
As I stepped out upon the landing my heart was already down the stairs
She's in the bedroom with that boy of hers
Though her face is creased and her eyes seem strange
There's a second-hand emotion on battered forty-five
My tears were never enough to keep that girl alive
Now she seems contrite will she make the change
Chorus:
The next time 'round
The next time 'round
You'll be someone else's baby
But I'll be underground
The Next Time 'Round
Then you took two steps forward and then one step on your back
Now it's a future for me and you that I lack
You'll be the one who'll stands out in the dark
Even when you're all dressed in black
Chorus
You've got something I want now
And I've got something I can't hide
I've got too much love for you now
Have you got too much pride
Sometimes I name and number all the things you gave to me
Your elastic love, this velvet-line purgatory
You used to take the breath out of me
Now I think you'll be the death of me
Chorus
You'll be in some sputnik baby
But I'll be underground
The Next Time 'Round
She's in the bedroom with that boy of hers
Though her face is creased and her eyes seem strange
There's a second-hand emotion on battered forty-five
My tears were never enough to keep that girl alive
Now she seems contrite will she make the change
The next time 'round
The next time 'round
You'll be someone else's baby
But I'll be underground
The Next Time 'Round
Now it's a future for me and you that I lack
You'll be the one who'll stands out in the dark
Even when you're all dressed in black
And I've got something I can't hide
I've got too much love for you now
Have you got too much pride
Sometimes I name and number all the things you gave to me
You used to take the breath out of me
Now I think you'll be the death of me
But I'll be underground
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Off of Blood & Chocolate. I remember listening to the entire record for the first time and realizing that every song had some connection to death in some way, as does "Next time 'round."
The storyteller's former girlfriend is either physically or emotionally dead. She's dead, or a living dead, zombie-like "her face is creased and her eyes seem strange...my tears were never enough to keep that girl alive" and "in the bedroom with that boy of hers", a young lover, rather than together with the storyteller. Possibly that "boy of hers" is not a physical lover, but heroin, lending her the creased face, strange eyes, and emotional death.
Next time (in another life, perhaps) the roles will somehow be reversed and she's going to be at the storyteller's funeral, dressed in black:
"The next time 'round The next time 'round You'll be someone else's baby But I'll be underground The Next Time 'Round"
The explanation is that she continued without the storyteller
"Then you took two steps forward"
and ended up in be with another man, or possibly shooting up, and dying in the process "and then one step on your back Now it's a future for me and you that I lack"
She's still ravishing, a stand out even when dressed in black "You'll be the one who'll stands out in the dark Even when you're all dressed in black"
Life with this girl was like a living hell, her womb being likened to a velvet lined purgatory:
Your elastic love, this velvet-line purgatory You used to take the breath out of me Now I think you'll be the death of me
Chorus
You'll be in some sputnik baby But I'll be underground
The Next Time 'Round
"The next time 'round The next time 'round You'll be someone else's baby But I'll be underground The Next Time 'Round"
@Gadgety Great Analysis!
@Gadgety Great Analysis!
This is quintessential Elvis. He mentions his obsession with pop music ("a second-hand emotion on a battered 45"), he drops some dismissive cynicism ("you took two steps forward and then one step on your back") and squeezes in a tender confession ("I've got too much love for you; you've got too much pride"). Perfect.
I forgot, the "elastic love" could also be interpreted as her definition of love being less tied to the storyteller, and more flexibly adaptable to other men, or to whatever, possibly drugs, clearly though it is not love exclusively to the man telling the story.