These lyrics are a bit wrong. I'm probably just being nit-picky, but I think it changes the meaning a bit:
1/15 began with a phone ring
I heard and I stirred
but I wasn't hurt.
Tonight's lines are yours to keep
go back to sleep and that's wonderful
when your world at it's worst seems bearable
but it's not so terrible to stay...
terrible to say why won't
you change and walk into
the rain used to love to
splash and play it will be
here forever; every-
one's so convinced they
know everything is true all i
believed in was you. I do.
it was a wonderful puddle that i
played in and i was so
young when it hit me; no
one you can believe. but
that's terrible when these
evil white lines make hysterical
habit forming beautiful. i
miss my friends they live
next door but insincerity's
so hard to ignore. it was a
wonderful puddle that we
played in and at two and a
half we hit back! isn't that
wonderful, so wonderful,
that as they gather round our graves,
splash and play they'll say...
why'd you have to change and
walk into the same where
the dirty rain drains?
and you're gone in the morning
and everyone's so convinced they know everything is true
all i believed in was you. I do. I do. I do. I do... believe in you.
I agree with mschwab, this song is about seeing someone you grew up with turn into an addict (see "evil white LINES make hysterical habit forming beautiful"). When you're young and playing in puddles you have all the promise in the world, to be different and do anything, but this person fell into "the same... where the dirty rain drains," and the friend could be dead because of it. I think they may not be dead yet, because he still believes in them and hopefully that they can overcome it. Either that or they have died and he still believes in what they were not what they became.
Also this tends to fit in with Bob Nanna's passion for writing about childhood, the past, nostalgia, etc. If you ever have read his blogs or Threadless posts, he leads you to believe that he's very focused on the past and incidents that make him remember the past. So it's pretty likely that a friend's drug addiction made him remember how simple life used to be. Sad song but there's still a bit of hope there. And also, his friends live right nextdoor but he can't reach them (or at least one of them) because of addiction possibly.
These lyrics are a bit wrong. I'm probably just being nit-picky, but I think it changes the meaning a bit:
1/15 began with a phone ring I heard and I stirred but I wasn't hurt. Tonight's lines are yours to keep go back to sleep and that's wonderful when your world at it's worst seems bearable but it's not so terrible to stay... terrible to say why won't you change and walk into the rain used to love to splash and play it will be here forever; every- one's so convinced they know everything is true all i believed in was you. I do. it was a wonderful puddle that i played in and i was so young when it hit me; no one you can believe. but that's terrible when these evil white lines make hysterical habit forming beautiful. i miss my friends they live next door but insincerity's so hard to ignore. it was a wonderful puddle that we played in and at two and a half we hit back! isn't that wonderful, so wonderful, that as they gather round our graves, splash and play they'll say... why'd you have to change and walk into the same where the dirty rain drains? and you're gone in the morning and everyone's so convinced they know everything is true all i believed in was you. I do. I do. I do. I do... believe in you.
I agree with mschwab, this song is about seeing someone you grew up with turn into an addict (see "evil white LINES make hysterical habit forming beautiful"). When you're young and playing in puddles you have all the promise in the world, to be different and do anything, but this person fell into "the same... where the dirty rain drains," and the friend could be dead because of it. I think they may not be dead yet, because he still believes in them and hopefully that they can overcome it. Either that or they have died and he still believes in what they were not what they became.
Also this tends to fit in with Bob Nanna's passion for writing about childhood, the past, nostalgia, etc. If you ever have read his blogs or Threadless posts, he leads you to believe that he's very focused on the past and incidents that make him remember the past. So it's pretty likely that a friend's drug addiction made him remember how simple life used to be. Sad song but there's still a bit of hope there. And also, his friends live right nextdoor but he can't reach them (or at least one of them) because of addiction possibly.