The Magnetic Fields

Zebra

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Zebra Lyrics

So we got married in Venice in June
So what?
We circled the Earth in a hot air balloon
So what?
and the rest of our lives
is one long honeymoon
well, that doesn't mean we're in love
If you really loved me
you'd buy me a beautiful pearl
buy you've already bought me
all of the pearls in the world
so there's one thing I crave
when my days become ho-hum and blah
I want a zebra
We've got so many tchotchkes
we've pratically emptied the Louvre
In most of our palaces
there's hardly room to manoeuvre
I shan't go to Balie today
I must stay home and Hoovre
up the gold dust
That doesn't mean we're in love
If you really loved me
you'd buy me the Great Pyramid
Oh, I'm so forgetful, you already did
But there's one think I need
if you won't think I'm greedy, my deah
another zebra
Zelda looks lonely, I want a zebra

Submitted by

anne Arbour On May 02, 2002

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Anne Arbour

Submitter

2002-05-02 00:47:53

2 Meanings

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Cover art for Zebra lyrics by Magnetic Fields, The

by oniontears

16y ago

I love this little song, definitely one of my favorites off 69LS.

I don't know if the meaning is obvious, but since no one else has commented, I'll offer my interpretation. It seems the song is basically about how "money doesn't bring you happiness". You can have all the material things in the world, all the pearls, the Great Pyramid, the treasures in Louvre (so that they all just seem like "tchotchkes" to you), but you can't stop wanting always more.

The narrator in the song has worked her way all the way from A to Z, through all the possible things you can own, and now she wants a zebra. But when she has that one zebra, not even that is enough; she must have another.

My Interpretation

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by aintthatfunny

1y ago

I like the double play. If we go with the "in your face" interpretation, it most certainly is about the money hungry lover. But I also like the subtlety of images. Long relationships often get destroyed by growing more habitual and less imaginative. When I listen to this, I often hear it as a plea to a lover to stay imaginative, keep up the romance and acts of surprise, even if those become repetitive (hence, 'I want another zebra')

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