Actually, this song meant something entirely different to me than what you guys have gotten from it.
For me, this is a brother speaking to his baby sister. It's sort of a sad sound, but to me there's not so much longing in it... Or at least, not longing for the girl he's speaking to. More a longing for the way things used to be. He used to be the one to take care of her, the one to talk to her late into the night on the front stoop, the one who had such a close bond with her that they didn't even need to speak for each to understand how the other was feeling. Now, she's fallen in love.
The thing that really says brother to me is that he doesn't ask for her back, he doesn't speak about how she would be better off with him, and he doesn't seem in any way bitter about "losing" this girl. He just wants to ask her some questions.
"Does his company make light of a rainy day?
Do his hands in your hair feel a lot like a thing you believe in, or a bit like a bird stealing bread out from under your nose?"
He wants to know if this man makes his sister happy. That is what's important to him.
"Do you carry the words around like a key or change?"
To me, this is asking if his sister truly loves this man. "The words" to me means, "I love you." Think about the two items he asks about. How do you carry a key? Carefully, attentively. To lose a key means to be shut out from something that is important enough to you to lock it, and you do not give a key to just anyone. How do you carry change? Carelessly, absently. Change is thrown around, and you might give it to a random stranger by the roadside.
And to be honest, I'm not sure I understand the very last verse... but I know that it makes me personally imagine a small girl running to meet her brother with her arms out like a bird.
On another note, this song makes me cry almost every time I hear it, not only because it makes me think of my brother, but because it took me a very long time to understand what he meant by "a bird stealing bread out from under your nose." In fact, it took until the first time I was kissed. It was really strange... it was the oddest, saddest feeling... sad, but not sad. In that moment, I understood exactly what was meant by the question, "Do his hands in your hair feel a lot like a thing you believe in, or a bit like a bird stealing bread out from under your nose?" Because it definitely felt like the latter. I almost felt as if something very small, but something I had come to take comfort in had been stolen from me, but having it stolen wasn't even an entirely unwelcome sensation. I'm not even sure how to explain it... it's more just something I understand on an emotional level, not so much an intellectual one, I think.
i like how u took a much different approach than anyone else, but ive never had a sibiling make light of a rainy day, actually on the contrary they usually piss me off even more when i cant run away from em. and i had gotten as far as u on the key or change part however i didnt see the contrast between meaningful and irrelevant. and i find it hard to believe ur talking about being kissed. more something involving a little more skin?
i like how u took a much different approach than anyone else, but ive never had a sibiling make light of a rainy day, actually on the contrary they usually piss me off even more when i cant run away from em. and i had gotten as far as u on the key or change part however i didnt see the contrast between meaningful and irrelevant. and i find it hard to believe ur talking about being kissed. more something involving a little more skin?
Actually, this song meant something entirely different to me than what you guys have gotten from it.
For me, this is a brother speaking to his baby sister. It's sort of a sad sound, but to me there's not so much longing in it... Or at least, not longing for the girl he's speaking to. More a longing for the way things used to be. He used to be the one to take care of her, the one to talk to her late into the night on the front stoop, the one who had such a close bond with her that they didn't even need to speak for each to understand how the other was feeling. Now, she's fallen in love.
The thing that really says brother to me is that he doesn't ask for her back, he doesn't speak about how she would be better off with him, and he doesn't seem in any way bitter about "losing" this girl. He just wants to ask her some questions.
"Does his company make light of a rainy day? Do his hands in your hair feel a lot like a thing you believe in, or a bit like a bird stealing bread out from under your nose?"
He wants to know if this man makes his sister happy. That is what's important to him.
"Do you carry the words around like a key or change?"
To me, this is asking if his sister truly loves this man. "The words" to me means, "I love you." Think about the two items he asks about. How do you carry a key? Carefully, attentively. To lose a key means to be shut out from something that is important enough to you to lock it, and you do not give a key to just anyone. How do you carry change? Carelessly, absently. Change is thrown around, and you might give it to a random stranger by the roadside.
And to be honest, I'm not sure I understand the very last verse... but I know that it makes me personally imagine a small girl running to meet her brother with her arms out like a bird.
On another note, this song makes me cry almost every time I hear it, not only because it makes me think of my brother, but because it took me a very long time to understand what he meant by "a bird stealing bread out from under your nose." In fact, it took until the first time I was kissed. It was really strange... it was the oddest, saddest feeling... sad, but not sad. In that moment, I understood exactly what was meant by the question, "Do his hands in your hair feel a lot like a thing you believe in, or a bit like a bird stealing bread out from under your nose?" Because it definitely felt like the latter. I almost felt as if something very small, but something I had come to take comfort in had been stolen from me, but having it stolen wasn't even an entirely unwelcome sensation. I'm not even sure how to explain it... it's more just something I understand on an emotional level, not so much an intellectual one, I think.
i like how u took a much different approach than anyone else, but ive never had a sibiling make light of a rainy day, actually on the contrary they usually piss me off even more when i cant run away from em. and i had gotten as far as u on the key or change part however i didnt see the contrast between meaningful and irrelevant. and i find it hard to believe ur talking about being kissed. more something involving a little more skin?
i like how u took a much different approach than anyone else, but ive never had a sibiling make light of a rainy day, actually on the contrary they usually piss me off even more when i cant run away from em. and i had gotten as far as u on the key or change part however i didnt see the contrast between meaningful and irrelevant. and i find it hard to believe ur talking about being kissed. more something involving a little more skin?