Okay, this is probably way off (and just because of personal experience), but this song actually seems to me to be about miscarriage. "The wretched hollow"-- you could not describe it better. Especially when you and your partner are at a loss as to where to go from there. You want to hide away (be "closed to the earth")-- and the fluorescent lighting/old magazines just seems like a doctor's office. That's my personal read at least.
i really love this take on it... i think all of her songs kind of appeal to different audiences in different ways, and the fact that you can take that from it is great. i can also totally see where all of it makes sense.
i really love this take on it... i think all of her songs kind of appeal to different audiences in different ways, and the fact that you can take that from it is great. i can also totally see where all of it makes sense.
I miscarried our baby girl a month ago due to full triploidy (she had 69 chromosomes instead of 26, a condition that is "incompatible with life"), and when I heard this song on Pandora it struck me the exact same way. I've found a lot of comfort in music, and this song grabbed me right away.
I miscarried our baby girl a month ago due to full triploidy (she had 69 chromosomes instead of 26, a condition that is "incompatible with life"), and when I heard this song on Pandora it struck me the exact same way. I've found a lot of comfort in music, and this song grabbed me right away.
Where do we go from here?
How do we carry on?
I can't get beyond the questions.
Clambering for the scraps
In the shatter of us collapsed.
It cuts me with every could-have-been.
Where do we go from here?
How do we carry on?
I can't get beyond the questions.
Clambering for the scraps
In the shatter of us collapsed.
It cuts me with every could-have-been.
My husband and I have been strained since the loss, because...
My husband and I have been strained since the loss, because I'm devastated and he doesn't know how to make things better. We are "shattered;" I feel like a failure as a woman because I lost our baby, and he feels like a bad husband because he can't fix it. We find ourselves wondering about her and what she might have looked like and become
Pain on pain on play, repeating
With the backup makeshift life in waiting.
Every time things start to feel like they might be getting better, something happens to remind me of what we've lost, like a song stuck on repeat. We're stuck living in this weird limbo between devastation and ok, our "makeshift life."
Everybody says that time heals everything.
But what of the wretched hollow?
The endless in-between?
Are we just going to wait it out?
This is the perfect description of how I feel right now. Everyone keeps saying that it will feel better in time and I'll heal, but right now I just feel so empty. I’m in the limbo between our loss and the future, and I’m not sure how to get out and move on
There's nothing to see here now,
Turning the sign around;
We're closed to the Earth 'til further notice.
A stumbling cliched case
Crumpled and puffy faced
Dead in the stare of a thousand miles
When something like this happens, you close off to everyone around you. Our society isn't well programmed to handle miscarriage, and a lot of people mistakenly think they are helping when they tell a bereaved mother that it's ok because it "wasn't really a baby yet." So to avoid hearing that again and again, I don't talk about it and pretend I'm ok, while really crying alone when I don't think anyone can see.
An all-out one, only one street-level miracle.
I'll be an out-and-out, born again from none more cynical.
I keep finding myself wishing things could have been different, that there would have been a small miracle that could have saved her. Miscarriage can shake your faith and your trust in God, and you find yourself praying to find that faith in life again, and needing proof before that can happen
Everybody says that time heals everything
Oh in the end.
But what of the wretched hollow?
The endless in-between?
Are we just going to wait it out?
And sit here cold?
We'll be long gone by then.
And lackluster in dust we lay
Around old magazines.
Fluorescent lighting sets the scene
For all we could and should be being
In the one life that we've got.
I agree, this feels like a doctor’s office to me. I've had endless doctor’s appointments to make sure that my body is healing and coping with the loss, and as I sit in my O.B's office surrounded by pregnant women and baby magazines, I can't help thinking of why I should be here and mourning her loss all over again
In the one life that we've got.
Everybody says that time heals everything.
But what of the wretched hollow?
The endless in-between?
Are we just going to wait it out?
We sit here
Just going to wait it out
Sit here cold
Just going to threat it out
Wait it out.
Whether this song was written about a miscarriage or some other loss or trauma, it is a beautiful song that perfectly captures the hopeless feeling you have when your entire world is shaken and everything that could have been is torn away. I also think the end offers a little hope, as she’s stopped asking “are we just going to wait it out?” and has decided to take control of things and says definitively “we sit here, just going to wait it out.” To me that feels like a regaining of some peace and calm in a time when everything feels so completely out of control. It’s a hope that I so desperately need to find right now.
As always, another beautiful song from Imogen Heap that is so full of meaning for so many different people.
Okay, this is probably way off (and just because of personal experience), but this song actually seems to me to be about miscarriage. "The wretched hollow"-- you could not describe it better. Especially when you and your partner are at a loss as to where to go from there. You want to hide away (be "closed to the earth")-- and the fluorescent lighting/old magazines just seems like a doctor's office. That's my personal read at least.
i really love this take on it... i think all of her songs kind of appeal to different audiences in different ways, and the fact that you can take that from it is great. i can also totally see where all of it makes sense.
i really love this take on it... i think all of her songs kind of appeal to different audiences in different ways, and the fact that you can take that from it is great. i can also totally see where all of it makes sense.
I like this idea. It relates really well with the song. I think thats what I'm going to believe from now on. thank you for posting this.
I like this idea. It relates really well with the song. I think thats what I'm going to believe from now on. thank you for posting this.
I miscarried our baby girl a month ago due to full triploidy (she had 69 chromosomes instead of 26, a condition that is "incompatible with life"), and when I heard this song on Pandora it struck me the exact same way. I've found a lot of comfort in music, and this song grabbed me right away.
I miscarried our baby girl a month ago due to full triploidy (she had 69 chromosomes instead of 26, a condition that is "incompatible with life"), and when I heard this song on Pandora it struck me the exact same way. I've found a lot of comfort in music, and this song grabbed me right away.
Where do we go from here? How do we carry on? I can't get beyond the questions. Clambering for the scraps In the shatter of us collapsed. It cuts me with every could-have-been.
Where do we go from here? How do we carry on? I can't get beyond the questions. Clambering for the scraps In the shatter of us collapsed. It cuts me with every could-have-been.
My husband and I have been strained since the loss, because...
My husband and I have been strained since the loss, because I'm devastated and he doesn't know how to make things better. We are "shattered;" I feel like a failure as a woman because I lost our baby, and he feels like a bad husband because he can't fix it. We find ourselves wondering about her and what she might have looked like and become
Pain on pain on play, repeating With the backup makeshift life in waiting.
Every time things start to feel like they might be getting better, something happens to remind me of what we've lost, like a song stuck on repeat. We're stuck living in this weird limbo between devastation and ok, our "makeshift life."
Everybody says that time heals everything. But what of the wretched hollow? The endless in-between? Are we just going to wait it out?
This is the perfect description of how I feel right now. Everyone keeps saying that it will feel better in time and I'll heal, but right now I just feel so empty. I’m in the limbo between our loss and the future, and I’m not sure how to get out and move on
There's nothing to see here now, Turning the sign around; We're closed to the Earth 'til further notice. A stumbling cliched case Crumpled and puffy faced Dead in the stare of a thousand miles
When something like this happens, you close off to everyone around you. Our society isn't well programmed to handle miscarriage, and a lot of people mistakenly think they are helping when they tell a bereaved mother that it's ok because it "wasn't really a baby yet." So to avoid hearing that again and again, I don't talk about it and pretend I'm ok, while really crying alone when I don't think anyone can see.
An all-out one, only one street-level miracle. I'll be an out-and-out, born again from none more cynical.
I keep finding myself wishing things could have been different, that there would have been a small miracle that could have saved her. Miscarriage can shake your faith and your trust in God, and you find yourself praying to find that faith in life again, and needing proof before that can happen
Everybody says that time heals everything Oh in the end. But what of the wretched hollow? The endless in-between? Are we just going to wait it out?
And sit here cold? We'll be long gone by then. And lackluster in dust we lay Around old magazines. Fluorescent lighting sets the scene For all we could and should be being In the one life that we've got.
I agree, this feels like a doctor’s office to me. I've had endless doctor’s appointments to make sure that my body is healing and coping with the loss, and as I sit in my O.B's office surrounded by pregnant women and baby magazines, I can't help thinking of why I should be here and mourning her loss all over again
In the one life that we've got.
Everybody says that time heals everything. But what of the wretched hollow? The endless in-between?
Are we just going to wait it out? We sit here Just going to wait it out Sit here cold Just going to threat it out Wait it out.
Whether this song was written about a miscarriage or some other loss or trauma, it is a beautiful song that perfectly captures the hopeless feeling you have when your entire world is shaken and everything that could have been is torn away. I also think the end offers a little hope, as she’s stopped asking “are we just going to wait it out?” and has decided to take control of things and says definitively “we sit here, just going to wait it out.” To me that feels like a regaining of some peace and calm in a time when everything feels so completely out of control. It’s a hope that I so desperately need to find right now.
As always, another beautiful song from Imogen Heap that is so full of meaning for so many different people.
@jbess Well that just hit me like a truck.
@jbess Well that just hit me like a truck.