This is a song about hopelessly failed relationships of all kinds.
"You can't save the unsavably untogether." In other words when it's over it's over and there's nothing you can do about it.
The first verse is about a friend that turned out to be a pathological liar - "She told outrageous stories ... 'till the endings were changing from endings before." So the singer gave up on her - "She's not touching me anymore."
The second verse seems to be about a romantic relationship that was so confining that it was like being "shipwrecked" on an island with him. For a while she tried to ignore his "outrageous demands," but eventually she just surfed away. Like the end of the first verse "He's not touching me anymore."
The third verse is much more cryptic and open to interpretation, but I think it's about the singer's relationship to a certain part herself. The first verse ends with "I couldn't help HER, I got hard." The second is "I couldn't help HIM I got hard." But this time it's "I couldn't help IT, IT got hard," which implies that it's not about another person; it's about her own choices in her own life.
The "bird" on her back I think represents her desire to be something that she isn't and it "keeps her turning and twisting to see" . She tries to be the kind of person that "throws outrageous parties" - she wants to be "golden." But because that's not really her and she gives it up - "The bird keeps its distance and I keep my speech." So a relationship with something inside yourself can be a hopeless as a failed relationship with someone else.
Anyhow that's my interpretation. I'd be interested to hear others.
Eventually she gives up that
@Centri_Alpha - fair point. "bird's nest on my back" isn't so far from "monkey on my back." And "I keep my speech" could be that her speech isn't slurred from being high any more.
@Centri_Alpha - fair point. "bird's nest on my back" isn't so far from "monkey on my back." And "I keep my speech" could be that her speech isn't slurred from being high any more.
This is a song about hopelessly failed relationships of all kinds. "You can't save the unsavably untogether." In other words when it's over it's over and there's nothing you can do about it.
The first verse is about a friend that turned out to be a pathological liar - "She told outrageous stories ... 'till the endings were changing from endings before." So the singer gave up on her - "She's not touching me anymore."
The second verse seems to be about a romantic relationship that was so confining that it was like being "shipwrecked" on an island with him. For a while she tried to ignore his "outrageous demands," but eventually she just surfed away. Like the end of the first verse "He's not touching me anymore."
The third verse is much more cryptic and open to interpretation, but I think it's about the singer's relationship to a certain part herself. The first verse ends with "I couldn't help HER, I got hard." The second is "I couldn't help HIM I got hard." But this time it's "I couldn't help IT, IT got hard," which implies that it's not about another person; it's about her own choices in her own life.
The "bird" on her back I think represents her desire to be something that she isn't and it "keeps her turning and twisting to see" . She tries to be the kind of person that "throws outrageous parties" - she wants to be "golden." But because that's not really her and she gives it up - "The bird keeps its distance and I keep my speech." So a relationship with something inside yourself can be a hopeless as a failed relationship with someone else.
Anyhow that's my interpretation. I'd be interested to hear others. Eventually she gives up that
@iguanadon55 I interpreted the third verse as being about drugs/alcohol.
@iguanadon55 I interpreted the third verse as being about drugs/alcohol.
@Centri_Alpha - fair point. "bird's nest on my back" isn't so far from "monkey on my back." And "I keep my speech" could be that her speech isn't slurred from being high any more.
@Centri_Alpha - fair point. "bird's nest on my back" isn't so far from "monkey on my back." And "I keep my speech" could be that her speech isn't slurred from being high any more.