I like to start at the literal level and then go deeper if need be, because I feel like a lot of" is a symbol for this, is a symbol for that, and everything is a symbol". I'm not saying that that's necessarily a bad way to interpret things, but I just prefer my way. So, with that said...
"all of the prisoners serving life sentences
wait for the earth to suddenly shake
for the walls to somehow suddenly come crumbling, tumbling
and for the bars to somehow magically break"
Prisoners don't want to be in prison.
"oh there's nothing wrong with them that a thousand books can't fix
that a thousand arms can't hold down"
Our law books, our psychology books will set them straight, and if they don't, then all our cops and guards and their arms (both body parts and guns) will have to do the job.
"on the ground they're tattooing the stones with cusses like cavemen
your momma was here"
That stereotypical image of a prison... out in the yard breaking the stones, and instead of just chipping away at them, they graffiti them. I've never been to prison so I'm not sure if that actually goes down, but you always see it in the movies; it's a common image.
"but they wanna run through the air with no barriers or obstacles
gunmen or guard dogs or priests
and to rise from the mud and start over and over
with the people all
DEAD"
This is such a hopeful part until the last word. To me this whole part, with the lighter music and the images of running freely --with the people all dead!-- is like a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that this is some f'ed up shit that these life-sentencers are thinking... or maybe it's some f'ed up shit we're thinking the life-sentencers are thinking.
"uh uh uh uh uh
if hans christian anderson could have had his way with me
then none of this shit would have ever gone down"
I don't know. I'm kind of following the "goodness and morality" argument here. Especially since it has to do with childhood (HCA and his fairy tales commonly read to children, I mean). But I'm still unsure.
"in my cell i'm tattooing myself with mermaids and swallows
and though i do swallow
my momma thinks i'm grown but i'm really just little"
I do swallow -- hello, male inmate prison behaviour? This doesn't seem like there should be much of an issue on interpretation. The other parts that evoke images of childhood ("mermaid and swallows", "i'm really just little") just mean, to me, that "I'm" just misguided, not a bad person.
"and someday i will remember
someday i will remember
someday i will remember"
Again, not sure. But I do like when she chops the words up into a million pieces!
Oh, I should have mentioned, I see Regina as singing from a male perspective in this song. But the rest of the song... I've pretty much got it down in my head. Even if it's all wrong, that's how I like to see it.
I like to start at the literal level and then go deeper if need be, because I feel like a lot of" is a symbol for this, is a symbol for that, and everything is a symbol". I'm not saying that that's necessarily a bad way to interpret things, but I just prefer my way. So, with that said...
"all of the prisoners serving life sentences wait for the earth to suddenly shake for the walls to somehow suddenly come crumbling, tumbling and for the bars to somehow magically break"
Prisoners don't want to be in prison.
"oh there's nothing wrong with them that a thousand books can't fix that a thousand arms can't hold down"
Our law books, our psychology books will set them straight, and if they don't, then all our cops and guards and their arms (both body parts and guns) will have to do the job.
"on the ground they're tattooing the stones with cusses like cavemen your momma was here"
That stereotypical image of a prison... out in the yard breaking the stones, and instead of just chipping away at them, they graffiti them. I've never been to prison so I'm not sure if that actually goes down, but you always see it in the movies; it's a common image.
"but they wanna run through the air with no barriers or obstacles gunmen or guard dogs or priests and to rise from the mud and start over and over with the people all DEAD"
This is such a hopeful part until the last word. To me this whole part, with the lighter music and the images of running freely --with the people all dead!-- is like a tongue-in-cheek way of saying that this is some f'ed up shit that these life-sentencers are thinking... or maybe it's some f'ed up shit we're thinking the life-sentencers are thinking.
"uh uh uh uh uh if hans christian anderson could have had his way with me then none of this shit would have ever gone down"
I don't know. I'm kind of following the "goodness and morality" argument here. Especially since it has to do with childhood (HCA and his fairy tales commonly read to children, I mean). But I'm still unsure.
"in my cell i'm tattooing myself with mermaids and swallows and though i do swallow my momma thinks i'm grown but i'm really just little"
I do swallow -- hello, male inmate prison behaviour? This doesn't seem like there should be much of an issue on interpretation. The other parts that evoke images of childhood ("mermaid and swallows", "i'm really just little") just mean, to me, that "I'm" just misguided, not a bad person.
"and someday i will remember someday i will remember someday i will remember"
Again, not sure. But I do like when she chops the words up into a million pieces!
Oh, I should have mentioned, I see Regina as singing from a male perspective in this song. But the rest of the song... I've pretty much got it down in my head. Even if it's all wrong, that's how I like to see it.