He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Did I see you down in a young girl's town
With your mother in so much pain?
I was almost there at the top of the stairs
With her screamin' in the rain
Did she wake you up to tell you that
It was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man
Did I see you walking with the boys?
Though it was not hand in hand
And was some black face in a lonely place
When you could understand?
Did she wake you up to tell you that
It was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man
Will I see you give more than I can take?
Will I only harvest some?
As the days fly past will we lose our grasp
Or fuse it in the sun?
Did she wake you up to tell you that
It was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man
With your mother in so much pain?
I was almost there at the top of the stairs
With her screamin' in the rain
Did she wake you up to tell you that
It was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man
Did I see you walking with the boys?
Though it was not hand in hand
And was some black face in a lonely place
When you could understand?
Did she wake you up to tell you that
It was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man
Will I see you give more than I can take?
Will I only harvest some?
As the days fly past will we lose our grasp
Or fuse it in the sun?
Did she wake you up to tell you that
It was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man
Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man
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i'll say up front, im just as unsure as anyone else, but i been giving a lot of thought on this piece. first, im not sure the above lyrics are entirely correct, but even with the slightly different words ive considered, the general message feels the same to me... just as Reido and NeilYoungMan mentioned above, only more specific i think...
I read it as a man's perspective on his family: wife and child specifically... the marraige is teeter-tottering between hanging on ("will we lose our grasp, or fuse it in the sun?") and divorce ("a change of plan"). i see their child referenced as a kid sleeping in bed ("did she wake you up to tell you")... "she" being the mom, it would read something like, 'did mom wake you up to tell you things arent doing so good'... and his reply ("dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup with the promise of a man")... meaning something like 'dont worry, it will be ok'...
the most melancholy feeling in this song stems from how the father is comforting his child (promising to stick it out, maybe more to himself than her) despite the feeling that the love between he and his wife is fleeting... because even if he "olny harvest[s] some", his child's love is enough for him to stay.
shrugs that's my take on it...
the liricks are differentein here youtube.com/watch
@raius According to Jimmy McDonough's biography "Shakey" this song references his partner Carrie Snodgrass's childhood, where her mother used to waker her and her siblings up in the middle of the night to tell them she had changed her mind and decided not to go through with her plan to kill herself.
I'm surprised that there aren't more comments about such an amazing song either... It means a lot to me too, its amazingly beautiful. I think its just a song about giving your promise of love to someone, and hoping that everything will work out. ' as the days fly past, will we lose our grasp, or fuse it in the sun?' Will we drift apart or become stronger with time? Its got so many great lyrics, its a little piece of perfection.
@reido I'm born in the 1965, i have learn to play guitar and mouth harmonica with Neil Young's songs... but loggins and Messina, Simone and Gurfunkel and of course the italian way of it Lucio Dalla, Francesco De Gregori, the napolitan songwriter Edoardo bennato . This song for me, like seems for much in here, has so many means... we played this song on the steps of the Amalfi's Cathedral and american's tourist sung with us (it was about 1980 and some others summers later). The story is old but beatifull at the time I liked your comment, the same old, very much
To me, it seems like it's about a man who's girlfriend's mom is dieing, and he's giving her a promise that even when she's gone, she'll still have him. Since she's losing her mother, she feels sddenly lonely, and tries to fill the void with others (did I see you down in a young girl's town) And the "did she wake you up to tell you that it was only a change in plan" would be her receiving the news about her mother dieing. And him saying "dream up, let me fill your cup with the promise of a man" is him saying that you should never feel lonely because he's there.
what the hell, no comments. and now its 2005?? fuck people, this is one of the best damn Neil songs out there. I think it has something to do with a girl who might me cheating on him, or he is not giving her enough attention.
I spent all summer listening and singing this song, it's so beautifully sad. I'm not too sure what it's about, and I'm not sure I wanna know (for once) - it means a lot to me anyway
i dont know what its about either......maybe about a man growing up.......its a great song though
Yeah Neil is amazing. So are these lyrics.
not sure how much any of you folks like The Shins... but an amazing new eclectic band, with a brilliant lyricist/songwriter, James Mercer. he's done a cover of "harvest" at a couple live shows of his 10-10-2004 is one of them... its an excellent rendition... the way he sings the last verse is:
"will i see you give more than i can take? will we only harvest some? and as days fly past, will we lose our grasp, or fuse it in the sun?"
he also sings "sad face" instead of "black face"... whats your take on the second verse? i feel like ive got a solid idea about the song, but not sure entirely about that verse and how it fits.
Would you suggest one best album to become acquainted with The Shins?
the lyrics in this song is really sad i am lead to beleive he used to go out with a girl who's mother tryed to commit suicide by jumping down the stairs. read the start of the song again. in there relationship neil tryed to say to her i will be there for you hence the line "Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup With the promise of a man" but he did not love her as much as she loved him thats why its says "Will I see you give more than I can take? Will I only harvest some?"
She has left in her mind, he knows it but is in denial - the song means STAY, I'll try to work it our