I love this song. Annie Clark is awesome. Her melodies are delicate and sweet, and yet they have a dark side, something going on underneath the surface. A unique combination of her soft voice with guitar distortion.
In my opinion, the song is about a woman and her relationships. Almost everything in the song is a metaphor or a symbol.
======
"Lover, I don't play to win, but for the thrill, until I'm spent" -
"Lover" - she is addressing her partner, but he represents all her lovers.
"I don't play to win" - winning is metaphor for a meaningful, loving relationship. She's clearly not looking for that, but just for a thrill. When she doesn't feel like playing anymore, it's over.
"Paint the black hole blacker" -(whispering to herself) the black hole is her emotions, her heart, her relationships, the situation that she is in. Every meaningless relationship makes things worse, makes her emptier, heartless, and drives her further away from the possibility of a successful relationship.
"I threw flowers in your face on my sister's wedding day" - Even when someone close to her is 'winning', she does not feel the need, or does not wish to experience it herself - she throws the flowers in his face (again a symbol that the relationship is meaningless...).
"You showed up with a black eye looking to go start a fight" - A fight symbolizes a relationship. He'd been hurt before (= a black eye), in a previous relationship with someone else, but when he met her, he was willing to try again.
"Playboys under your mattress, like I wouldn't notice" - She does not trust him. Even though he wants to be with her, she is being cynical, as if she knows it's going to go wrong, and doesn't want to get her hopes up.
The woman had been hurt herself, in a previous relationship. That is why she does not trust men. That is why she compares a relationship to a fight. That is why she is not allowing herself to love again, or to feel anything, and declares in advance that her relationships are just for the thrill.
"What do I share?
What do I keep?
From all the strangers who sleep where I sleep?..."
(to herself, not the lover) She is asking herself whether she is happy with this situation. The men in her life, the men who she shares her bed with, are just like strangers. They might as well be strangers. She does not allow herself to open up to them; she does not trust them, and keeps herself from feeling anything.
"Desperate don't look good on you, neither does your virtue" - The guy is trying to make this work, but she does not appreciate his efforts. She thinks he's 'desperate' for trying to make it more than it is. She is also not impressed when he does something good; In other words, nothing is going to make her budge.
"You showed up with a black eye looking to finish a fight" - The guy is giving up - this is the end of their relationship. He is hurt (just like he was before), and he wants to end it.
"Lover, I don't play to win, but for the thrill until I'm spent..." - She, on the other hand, does not want to get hurt again. She acts as if it doesn't matter. She had told him at the very beginning, that she doesn't play to win - he should not have expected anything.
=====
That's it... I don't know what Annie meant, but I had fun giving it some thought... :)
I love this song. Annie Clark is awesome. Her melodies are delicate and sweet, and yet they have a dark side, something going on underneath the surface. A unique combination of her soft voice with guitar distortion.
In my opinion, the song is about a woman and her relationships. Almost everything in the song is a metaphor or a symbol.
======
"Lover, I don't play to win, but for the thrill, until I'm spent" - "Lover" - she is addressing her partner, but he represents all her lovers. "I don't play to win" - winning is metaphor for a meaningful, loving relationship. She's clearly not looking for that, but just for a thrill. When she doesn't feel like playing anymore, it's over.
"Paint the black hole blacker" -(whispering to herself) the black hole is her emotions, her heart, her relationships, the situation that she is in. Every meaningless relationship makes things worse, makes her emptier, heartless, and drives her further away from the possibility of a successful relationship.
"I threw flowers in your face on my sister's wedding day" - Even when someone close to her is 'winning', she does not feel the need, or does not wish to experience it herself - she throws the flowers in his face (again a symbol that the relationship is meaningless...).
"You showed up with a black eye looking to go start a fight" - A fight symbolizes a relationship. He'd been hurt before (= a black eye), in a previous relationship with someone else, but when he met her, he was willing to try again.
"Playboys under your mattress, like I wouldn't notice" - She does not trust him. Even though he wants to be with her, she is being cynical, as if she knows it's going to go wrong, and doesn't want to get her hopes up.
The woman had been hurt herself, in a previous relationship. That is why she does not trust men. That is why she compares a relationship to a fight. That is why she is not allowing herself to love again, or to feel anything, and declares in advance that her relationships are just for the thrill.
"What do I share? What do I keep? From all the strangers who sleep where I sleep?..."
"Desperate don't look good on you, neither does your virtue" - The guy is trying to make this work, but she does not appreciate his efforts. She thinks he's 'desperate' for trying to make it more than it is. She is also not impressed when he does something good; In other words, nothing is going to make her budge.
"You showed up with a black eye looking to finish a fight" - The guy is giving up - this is the end of their relationship. He is hurt (just like he was before), and he wants to end it.
"Lover, I don't play to win, but for the thrill until I'm spent..." - She, on the other hand, does not want to get hurt again. She acts as if it doesn't matter. She had told him at the very beginning, that she doesn't play to win - he should not have expected anything.
=====
That's it... I don't know what Annie meant, but I had fun giving it some thought... :)