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Pleasant Street Lyrics
Pleasant Street
You don't remember what to say
You don't remember what to do
You don't remember where to go
You don't remember what to choose
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down
All the stony people
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street
The sunshine reminds you of concreted skies
You thought you were flying but you opened your eyes
And you found yourself falling back to yesterday's lies
Hello, Pleasant Street, you know she's back again
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down
All the stony people
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street
At twilight your lover comes to your room
He'll spin you, he'll weave you 'round his emerald loom
And softly you'll whisper all around his ear
"Sweet lover, I love Pleasant Street
I wheel, I steal, I feel my way down to kneel"
All the stony people
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street
You don't remember what to say
You don't remember what to do
You don't remember which way to go
You don't remember who to choose
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down
You don't remember what to do
You don't remember where to go
You don't remember what to choose
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street
You thought you were flying but you opened your eyes
And you found yourself falling back to yesterday's lies
Hello, Pleasant Street, you know she's back again
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street
He'll spin you, he'll weave you 'round his emerald loom
And softly you'll whisper all around his ear
"Sweet lover, I love Pleasant Street
I wheel, I steal, I feel my way down to kneel"
Walking 'round in Christian licorice clothes
I can't hesitate
And I can't wait
For Pleasant Street
You don't remember what to do
You don't remember which way to go
You don't remember who to choose
You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down
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This is one of my favorite Tim Buckley songs!
I think it's about depression in general but to get a little deeper into it I think it's about living in the past and not being able to forget. In this instance I think the narrator is trying to forget about a former lover and can't do it.
Some quotes from the song in relation to this:
"And you found yourself falling back to yesterday's lies"
"Hello, Pleasant Street, you know she's back again"
"At twilight your lover comes to your room He'll spin you, he'll weave you 'round his emerald loom And softly you'll whisper all around his ear "Sweet lover, I love Pleasant Street""
Assuming this interpretation is right I think that this line, "You wheel, you steal, you feel, you kneel down " means that the girl will wheel and steel means she'll lie and take (or break) his heart and he's well aware of it but he can't help wanting to be with her again...he still remembers all the good times (pleasant street).
Reading back over the lyrics I think the narrator may have done the same to her as she did to him, furthering this thought that they just aren't good for each other (but can't help wanting each other anyways)
my two favorite lines from this song:
"The sunshine reminds you of concreted skies You thought you were flying but you opened your eyes"
I think it's about heroin addiction.
@damanarie I always felt it was about heroin addiction too. An irresistible need that leads to a loss of self worth, and the close familiarity with that state of being
@damanarie I always felt it was about heroin addiction too. An irresistible need that leads to a loss of self worth, and the close familiarity with that state of being
fantastic song! my favourite bit is when he repeats "down, down, down..." before the chorus. totally builds up the tension then explodes into the chorus. incredible. don't have a clue what it's about really. he might've just felt a strange, dark emotion while playing the guitar and it poured out
I read that Tim said in an interview that the song is about an "acid head from Brooklyn". I had thought it was about heroin addiction. I assumed "Christian Licorice clothes" meant funeral clothes worn by the addicts due to the death of so many friends. But if it's about acid that wouldn't make as much sense. Great song regardless.