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.
I was cold in a dream
Somewhere close to the surface
Between the ice and the stream
There is three inches of air
So I swam towards the light
I let my breath get there first
When I opened my eyes
I saw myself in the mirror
And I knew I would do like my father has done
Yes, we will never break from these chains
Your life's gonna course like a history book
Don't be frightened of turning the page
'Cause it's all the same, it will always be the same
Somewhere close to the surface
Between the ice and the stream
There is three inches of air
So I swam towards the light
I let my breath get there first
When I opened my eyes
I saw myself in the mirror
And I knew I would do like my father has done
Yes, we will never break from these chains
Your life's gonna course like a history book
Don't be frightened of turning the page
'Cause it's all the same, it will always be the same
Lyrics submitted by I Saw Star Wars
Mirrors and Fevers Lyrics as written by Conor Oberst Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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this guy has a way with words-- unlike anybody else. his songs are so rich in metaphorical and poetical lyrics. every one of them makes stop and think
so i swam towards the light. <3 what an amazing song. I love it i lvoe it i love it
where is this song?
I believe it was on the "Don't be Frightened of Turning the Page" EP. This is a really good song... well almost everything he puts out is. He is a friggin' genius.
Yeah, it is on the "Don't Be Frightened of Turning the Page" EP
This is a terribly pessimistic song, but goodness, he can really create an image...create emotions.
The meanings seems clear to me at least, that no matter what, you can't break from the barriers of what you are destined to be. And to Conor, these barriers are heavy chains.
Don't be scared of tomorrow because it will be just as miserable as today.
Maybe I'm missing the optimism?
Tihs song is about feeling like you're suffocating and as hard as you try, as hard as you swim to get to the surface and just breathe, there is a layer of ice keeping you. He may even have intended it as something you can see through, but cannot pass.
He is living in the three inches between the water's surface and the layer of ice. Keeping his head above water is all he can do, but that's where he's always going to be. He's going to grow older, his dreams and crazy youthful ambitions will find themselves boiled down to paying the bills, and eventually he'll start a family. And he'll be just like his father.
He is no savior, no saint, no hero; he is going to be just like his father. Just like I am. And just like everybody is, because that is the cycle of life. But the hope is in that you shouldn't be afraid of it, because it is calm. He tells you not to be frightened of turning the page and to just accept it, because those are the bounds of reality and of mortality.
Ultimately the feeling is of contentment, not pessimism.
Does anyone know who sings the songs on the noise collage at the start? They go "i think youve lost what you love, theres..." something// And the other one is "you make me pure you make me pure" and something else..
On the Noise Floor album Conor says of this song :
When putting together this collection we were first worried we wouldnt have a cumbersome enough intro to begin the record (a tradition we started to ward off the casual listeners). Luckily there was this track from the Don't Be Frightened of Turning the Page EP. The collage was created from dictaphone recordings from our first trip to Europe. This is also the one a capella Bright EYes in existence, thank god.
C:
this song is drastically underestimated.