I guess this song's just about growing up and losing the innocence of childhood. Counting Crows seem to write a lot of songs about this. It's just beautiful, nostalgia always is.
I just love the way Duritz makes things so personal, looking back at specific things in his childhood. Things like the whole, 'leave my sister alone, because she don't deserve this.' I guess it's talking about how we grow up with our siblings and remember the things we used to do as kids together, and he's just telling time to leave her alone because she doesn't deserve to lose that innocence. I think the Nicold reference goes along the same lines. The picture I get is of an old friend, Nicole, who he hasn't seen in awhile and so still remembers her as a child. But now she's grown up, got married ('the altar is empty') and suddenly he kind of realises his childhood is gone. It's pretty sad stuff, very touching.
I guess this song's just about growing up and losing the innocence of childhood. Counting Crows seem to write a lot of songs about this. It's just beautiful, nostalgia always is.
I just love the way Duritz makes things so personal, looking back at specific things in his childhood. Things like the whole, 'leave my sister alone, because she don't deserve this.' I guess it's talking about how we grow up with our siblings and remember the things we used to do as kids together, and he's just telling time to leave her alone because she doesn't deserve to lose that innocence. I think the Nicold reference goes along the same lines. The picture I get is of an old friend, Nicole, who he hasn't seen in awhile and so still remembers her as a child. But now she's grown up, got married ('the altar is empty') and suddenly he kind of realises his childhood is gone. It's pretty sad stuff, very touching.